Today was the big day: the National Basketball Tournament. All the best teams from the country gathered for this weekend of sports fun, and our team had been good enough to receive an invitation.
As we drove to this contest, my stomach churned. What if we lost? What if all the other teams were way better than our team? I tried to ignore this feeling, but my brain couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Our first game was against the Wildfire, a team from San Francisco. At halftime, the game was close, with the opposing team having the lead of 27-26. But after two lucky three-pointers by my teammate Brody to start the half, and with the other team running out of stamina, we pulled away 56-44. We would advance to the next round.
During lunch, my friend Roger and I talked about the game. Roger was on our team, and he was our best player. He had the best dribbling I had ever seen.
Our second game was against a team called the Best Team. Despite their name, they weren’t good at all. We DESTROYED them. The final score was 70-26. We couldn’t believe we were moving on to the next round! Maybe we had a chance to win this thing!
Our next game wasn’t until tomorrow, so we went and hung out near the other games, watching other teams either cheer with the happiness of their victory, or hang their heads in the sadness of their loss. That night we slept well. We were filled with energy for the next round when we woke up. The winner advanced to the finals.
The semifinal game started precisely like how we wanted it to. We hit some early layups and soon found ourselves up 16-9 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, they slowly crept up, and the game was tied 36-36 at halftime! However, just like the first game, they ran out of energy, and we won by one point, 60-61! We were headed to the finals.
In the finals, we would be against a team that was at least two years older than us, and each of them were a head taller than us. This team would be tough to beat. They won the tipoff and their point guard sunk an early three-pointer. Then, they began to go down low, and their center bullied his way to an abundance of easy layups. In the first quarter, they were up 27-12. During the second quarter, a guy on their team tripped Roger and injured him! Without Roger, we were really dead.
The score only worsened, and during halftime we were down, 50-23. Our coach gave us a pep talk.
“Look. This team is good. I know. They might be better than us. But what do we do when we’re down? We believe and we fight. This team might be more talented than us, but we have more mentality. So, let’s go outside and fight, okay?” Everyone felt more encouraged.
During that second half, we FOUGHT. Brody sank 3 threes, and my other teammate Eric and Justin terrorized on defense and got open layups. We managed to mount a vicious comeback, and with one minute left, the score was tied, 60-60. Roger and my buddies on the bench went wild. The pressure was on. When I was on defence, a person tripped me and I felt the blinding pain in my knee, rolling around in agony. I heard the other team’s bench go wild as they scored again and obtained a two-point lead.
I stumbled over to the bench. We only had 5 players that weren’t injured. Then, Brody got his 6th foul and got sent out of the game. We only had 4 players. The ref told the coach that either Roger or I needed to be sent into the game. Since I was more lightly injured than Roger, the coach sent me into the game there were only 10 seconds left of the game, and the score was 60-62. We needed a three-pointer, and FAST. I quickly dribbled up the court, looking for someone to pass to. No one was open. I had to take this one myself.
I did a crossover and dribbled to the left-wing and shot an open three.
The next half second felt like an hour. The ball hung in the air, making its way to the hoop. I closed my eyes, hoping for the best. Both benches had their eyes glued on the ball, and their players had terrified looks on their faces. I heard the BZZZZ! from the buzzer.
I was too scared to look. When I felt the courage to open my eyes, I saw a miraculous sight. The ball went through the hoop. We won.
As we drove to this contest, my stomach churned. What if we lost? What if all the other teams were way better than our team? I tried to ignore this feeling, but my brain couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Our first game was against the Wildfire, a team from San Francisco. At halftime, the game was close, with the opposing team having the lead of 27-26. But after two lucky three-pointers by my teammate Brody to start the half, and with the other team running out of stamina, we pulled away 56-44. We would advance to the next round.
During lunch, my friend Roger and I talked about the game. Roger was on our team, and he was our best player. He had the best dribbling I had ever seen.
Our second game was against a team called the Best Team. Despite their name, they weren’t good at all. We DESTROYED them. The final score was 70-26. We couldn’t believe we were moving on to the next round! Maybe we had a chance to win this thing!
Our next game wasn’t until tomorrow, so we went and hung out near the other games, watching other teams either cheer with the happiness of their victory, or hang their heads in the sadness of their loss. That night we slept well. We were filled with energy for the next round when we woke up. The winner advanced to the finals.
The semifinal game started precisely like how we wanted it to. We hit some early layups and soon found ourselves up 16-9 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, they slowly crept up, and the game was tied 36-36 at halftime! However, just like the first game, they ran out of energy, and we won by one point, 60-61! We were headed to the finals.
In the finals, we would be against a team that was at least two years older than us, and each of them were a head taller than us. This team would be tough to beat. They won the tipoff and their point guard sunk an early three-pointer. Then, they began to go down low, and their center bullied his way to an abundance of easy layups. In the first quarter, they were up 27-12. During the second quarter, a guy on their team tripped Roger and injured him! Without Roger, we were really dead.
The score only worsened, and during halftime we were down, 50-23. Our coach gave us a pep talk.
“Look. This team is good. I know. They might be better than us. But what do we do when we’re down? We believe and we fight. This team might be more talented than us, but we have more mentality. So, let’s go outside and fight, okay?” Everyone felt more encouraged.
During that second half, we FOUGHT. Brody sank 3 threes, and my other teammate Eric and Justin terrorized on defense and got open layups. We managed to mount a vicious comeback, and with one minute left, the score was tied, 60-60. Roger and my buddies on the bench went wild. The pressure was on. When I was on defence, a person tripped me and I felt the blinding pain in my knee, rolling around in agony. I heard the other team’s bench go wild as they scored again and obtained a two-point lead.
I stumbled over to the bench. We only had 5 players that weren’t injured. Then, Brody got his 6th foul and got sent out of the game. We only had 4 players. The ref told the coach that either Roger or I needed to be sent into the game. Since I was more lightly injured than Roger, the coach sent me into the game there were only 10 seconds left of the game, and the score was 60-62. We needed a three-pointer, and FAST. I quickly dribbled up the court, looking for someone to pass to. No one was open. I had to take this one myself.
I did a crossover and dribbled to the left-wing and shot an open three.
The next half second felt like an hour. The ball hung in the air, making its way to the hoop. I closed my eyes, hoping for the best. Both benches had their eyes glued on the ball, and their players had terrified looks on their faces. I heard the BZZZZ! from the buzzer.
I was too scared to look. When I felt the courage to open my eyes, I saw a miraculous sight. The ball went through the hoop. We won.
