The State Championships

This story is about a State Championship basketball game and it is fiction.

We were ready to inbound the ball. There’s 2 seconds left. I needed to make the three to win States. The play is designed to go to me. I get the ball and shoot. I hear the buzzer sound. To everyone there, it’s just a sound. But to me, it will either be the sound of triumph or the sound of disappointment. Everyone in the gym holds his or her breath. The ball hits the front of the rim and flings up into the air. As it comes down all I think about is my dad looking down from above and my coach who is the reason I’m not in jail…

        

It was my senior year, and it was my last game as a high school basketball player. I was listening to Def Leppard on my I Pod on the bus. It was the bus to States. I was in the top 50 high school prospects in the country for basketball, but none of that mattered to me now. I just wanted to help my team win the State Finals for California. I was nervous for the game but it was a good kind of nervous. It was the type of nervous that you want to have. The type of nervous that gives you that adrenaline rush. We finally arrived at the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers, where we’d play the Baja Tigers for bragging rights as best team in the state. I get into my shorts and jersey and then put my warm-ups on over them. I head out onto the court. The place is huge and the feeling of being on the court is amazing. We do our normal pre-game warm-ups and get ready to start the game. 

 

        It was the worst half of basketball we have ever played. The Tigers got off to a quick start and went on a 21-2 run to start the game. I was 3-10 shooting in the half which, pathetically, is the best shooting percentage in the game for our team. Right now the score is 45-17. We’re down 28 points. No one speaks about the game. The air in the locker room smells like sweat, tears, and defeat. I break the silence. I stand up and give a speech, a speech that motivates the entire team, a speech that makes us feel like we can do anything, and a speech that I got from a movie. We head out of the locker room feeling like we can accomplish anything. As I start to walk out, I stop. I start to think about the speech I just gave. The movie I got it from was the last movie I watched with my dad before he passed away from cancer. He’s my inspiration for playing. If it wasn’t for him I’d just be some average player who’d probably be a back up. I wouldn’t even be here experiencing the greatest accomplishment of my life. 

        

There’s 19 seconds left in the game. I get the ball and start to drive the lane. I then notice one off our players out of the corner of my eyes. I dish it to him and he hits a three pointer, our 15th of the game, State championship record, and the game tier. Then the Tigers go down and make a lay-up due do a mental lapse by our defense. Our coach calls a timeout. We discuss our last play-the most important of the game. We’ve decided to call a full court pass and hope someone gets it from our team. There’s 4 seconds left. The ball is thrown and it’s tipped by the opposing team out off bounds under our own hoop. This allows us a chance to either tie the game or win it. We opt for the win. We get ready to inbound the ball. There’s 2 seconds left and I need to make the three to win States. The play is designed to go to me. I get the ball and shoot. I hear the buzzer sound. To everyone there, it’s just a sound. But to me, it will either be the sound of triumph or the sound of disappointment. Everyone in the gym holds his or her breath. The ball hits the front of the rim and flings up into the air. As it comes down all I think about is my dad looking down from above and my coach who is the reason I’m not in jail. 

 

I was out drinking one night and I got pulled over. I was arrested for a DWI. Luckily, the officer that arrested me was my coach’s brother. He pulled some strings and made the whole mess go away. My coach told me that if I wanted to make it to the big time, I’d have to turn my act around. I had been in and out of trouble my whole life. It had gotten worse when my dad had died. My coach made me promise that I’d work harder than I ever have before as a favor for what he had done and as a favor to my dad. Now, one year later, my hard work had paid off and we were in States. I suddenly snap back into reality. The ball comes down, hits the rim again, and doesn’t go in. Disappointment, shame, and horror take over every fiber in my body. But I then hear a whistle. The referees called the Tigers for a technical foul because during the shot, the punched one of our players while beginning to celebrate. The coach of the Tigers begins to argue and he gets hit with a technical. Meaning we get four free throws and a chance to win the game. My coach allows me to shot them. The pressure’s on. I make the first. I need one to tie and two to win. I swish the second. We’re guaranteed to a least go to overtime. I then miss the third. I have one last chance to win the game. I take a deep breath and focus. I let my mind take me away to a place where I feel relaxed. I line up and take the shot. The ball seems to hang in the air for minutes yet it was only 3 seconds. The ball hits the back off the rim, bounces up, and goes in. We won the game. We are the California State Champs. The feeling of shame, disappointment, and horror become an overwhelming feeling of excitement and accomplishment. I feel on top of the world.  

 

        

 

 

Author's Note

The original story is longer and much different. I changed it because my teacher said it was very "play-by-play". If u want to read the original then send me a message.

Reviews

[SR Urie]

Hiya Red',

Great story, buddy. Great setting and character description, your first person is right on the money, and I don't even have any gripes about puntuation or grammer. Keep it up! Don't stop with that one game, give us some more of your ability to transfer thoughts and experiences to fill the void on the blank page.
Good job! BZ

[Becca*Type2012]

Nice story. I liked how you tell the story of how you got to be in the position you were in with two points down and the play was degisned for you to get the ball and shoot the quick three. The only question I have is do you play basketball?