***JARQUIN 73 - 65 STARLING STRIKE | Q4 | 03:24 REMAINING***
Me: (huffing) I'm tired. I can't anymore.
Jace: now's not the time to be saying that.
Me: (letting out a tear) you don't understand Jace. I can't, i-i just can't anymore.
Jensen: hey hey hey. Look at me, we're getting through this together.
Me: (crying) I can't breathe anymore, all my ribs hurt, the refree is choosing to be blind. And we're losing. I don't wanna lose.
Jace: neither do we. But we can't let them see us weak. We can't let them have the last laugh after all the shit they've pulled. We have to push for this remaining three minutes
Jensen: I know you're hurting, believe me I know. But us losing will hurt more, so please wipe your tears.
Jace: come on, We're the unholy trinity. It's time we showed them why we're called that.
Me: (sniffing) I don't wanna lose. (Sniffs) I don't wana.
*** FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES EARLIER***
Now you lot would probably be thinking of how we got to that stage, I mean it's rare to see me cry. Seat tight, I'm about to fill you in. Wait pause, that sounded weird. Let's rephrase it, I'm about to fill you guys in on what led to that moment. Still sounds weird but whatever.
** JARQUIN FILTHY DRESSING ROOM**
Coach John: okay here's the list of their starting five and what you should know about them. Their point guard is called Adi-Adichinobi??. Heavenly grace. Keima help me with this.
Me: I don't understand.
Coach John: you're a native of here right?.
Me: I mean yes??. But you're just being racist coach.
Coach John: what the h-, how am I been racist. Would you rather prefer I butcher their names?.
Me: (chuckling) honestly yes. We haven't had a good laugh in God knows when.
Coach John: and making your coach a clown would make a good laugh?.
Me: do you want the honest answer?.
Coach John: (raising a brow) get your black ass up here and read their names.
Me: yes sir.
It's okay to tease coach once every while, but there are times where not even me try to. Coach is like a hydrogen bomb or something, no one knows when he loses it.
Me: okay. Jarquin High. Point guard, Adimchinobi Amadi. Shooting guard, Chidikanma Beluolisa.
Jensen: what kind of names are these?.
Me: meaningful ones?.
Coach John: Jensen shut up. Keima continue.
Me: Cheluchi Azubuike, small forward. Paul Alozie, center. And finally Simon Chideziri, power forward.
Coach John: thank you for that Keima. Return.
Me: yes coach
Almost immediately after sitting
Jace: are all names like that?.
Me: like what?.
Jace: yours is Ikemefuna right?. Do all names from your tribe sound long?.
Me: not really.
Jensen: you mentioned they have meaning earlier.
Me: yeah, we have this tradition where you're tasked with naming your children with things that'll favour them in life, or things that testify to their birth. Something like that.
Jace: so what does yours mean?.
Me: mine?.
Jensen: yes, your name. What does it mean.
Me: to put it simply. It means "I'll never lose my strength". Or "my strength will never fail".
Jensen: wow.
Jace: so every name you called earlier have their own meaning?.
Me: every single one of them.
Coach John: oh would you look at that!. Our players back there have their own tactics and ideas to share.
Jensen: no coach we don't.
Coach John: then why do I see your mouths moving
Jace: sorry coach.
Coach John: Look, boys, I'll be honest with you. I don't know how to say it slowly, so I'll just rip the bandage off. The moment we stepped into Jarquin's home to play a semi-final match, we signed up to be used. I'm not expecting them to play like angels. Even in the Eastern Conference, they are not known for that. If you go out there with the mindset that the ref is going to call out every foul then I'm sorry to say this, but we'll lose. From what you've seen these last fews days I'm sure you can tell that they have no plans of playing fair. But then, I don't want my boys to falter. They can only rob us if we give them the chance to. They can only rob us if we play on their level. We have to be ten times of whatever they came prepared for. We can't be slow, we can't play like children, at least not today. Today, you're all full grown men, men who will win this match. Am I understood? .
Team: yes coach!!.
Coach John: Jensen, Jace, keima, James and Matt. I need your A game today. No scrap that, I need more than your A game. Your starting Will determine our ending. Am I clear?.
Team: yes coach!!.
Coach John: now everyone pay attention. Now's intel on them. Their point guard, numbered 0. From what I've gathered they call him agent 0. They say he finds space in a defence where there's none. He basically their own wonder kid averaging 9.2 assist per game.
Matt: Jesus. 9.2?. That's absurd.
Coach John: I know. Luckily for us, you'll be covering him. Next, their shooting guard numbered 11. He hits 45% from deep. And he has a unique trait they brag about. Once he hits one, he keeps hitting. Although in his case we have some form of good news. He's all attack. Meaning when defending, they'll be doing so with four men.
Timone: will that make any difference?.
Coach John: that mentality is why you still haven't broken into the first team.
Timone: sorry coach.
Coach John: next, their power forward averaging 14.1 rebounds per match. He literally never leaves the paint. He treats there like his property. Jace you have a long day ahead of you.
Jace: okay coach
Coach John: their small forward, numbered 7 averages 3.5 steals per game. He's quick and has a very sharp eyesight. No ball hogging around him. And finally, their center numbered 35. He averages 4.2 blocks per game. With what I've checked and seen. He doesn't care about scoring. He just cares about not making you score. And as if that wasn't enough. He's standing at 6'3. A 17 year old who's 6'3. Just crazy.
Me: you're sounding like you don't believe he's 17.
Coach John: I don't even believe he's 20. But that'll be that. Now focus on our plan. I didn't have the time to come up with a name, so we'll just call it 'our plan'.
Jensen: yeah. It's good.
Tobi: yes coach. Good.
Coach John: James. You'll be the key to this plan. Every one already knows how dangerous the unholy trinity are. Everyone knows the threat they possess. But only a few know of James. My trinity, you're all magnets, magnets that will work wonders. This is what I want. When you see James moving forward. I want all three of you to move to the right side of the court. If he's coming from the right then moves your asses to the left. You're shit to flies and I'm hundred percent sure they'll follow all three of you. Meaning for majority of the game it's gonna be 2 on 2. Now Matt I want you to always drift center. They'll either put a man on you too, or see you as less threat. Both favours us. James you're the best at 1v1 and if they wanna tag team you, feed Matt. Y'all understand?
Team: yes coach!!.
Coach John: this plan will be like follow the bait. Except it's just for the first quarter. From the second quarter we'll switch things up again after forcing them to adapt to this. Do you understand
Team: yes coach!!.
Coach John: now do your final prep. Say your prayers if you do. Let's match out.
Team: yes coach!!.
This is it I guess, our most important match of this season. I felt pressure before Starfield second leg, I felt more before the victory match. All those don't compare to what I'm feeling now. I can't put this into words. But if there's one thing I know. It's that we must win. We have to win
Jensen: stoked?.
Me: (sigh) I guess
Jace: We're winning this.
Me: yeah yeah. It's only the seventieth time of you saying it. Let go
Jensen: right behind you guys.
The eight bench players made their way to the bench with coach. And we just waited for the PA ANNOUNCER to call on us. He did try his best to hype us up and even though the whole crowd went nuts from the hyping, we didn't bulge. Not because we weren't feeling the praises, but more of having a bigger goal upstairs. Jensen and I did a light warm-up before stepping on the court to join the Jarquin players. Now I must say this, their inner court was worse. This is the first time I'm seeing an uneven court with cracks in a lot of places. Again I ask, what exactly do the high ranking boards do?, cause this shouldn't be allowed.
Referee 1: now I would need one of you to step up for the jump ball.
Jensen: Matt, your cue
I mean realistically he's the tallest of us all. But then what the fuck, I now understand why coach was overreacting. I swear on my fucking life this Paul guy who plays center for them is not under 18. This bastard looks like he has a wife and four fucking kids my age. I refuse to believe he's 17. You can literally see his shaving bumps, this guy have been shaving for ages. What exactly do the board even do?.
Referee 1: are you ready?.
Matt & Paul: yes
Referee 1: okay here we go
I'll be honest, I don't know how Matt won the tip off from that giant of a teen, but he did and Jensen grabbed the ball. Time to put coach plan to action.
Jensen threw a pass at me while drifting right, and just as coach predicted he dragged a player with him. Jace made his own move and Paul the giant followed suit. Let's get our first point. It was almost five seconds of me just holding the ball without doing anything, so to avoid the turnover I started my first dribble, but that was my mistake. Like I said earlier the court was uneven, and a simple bounce took the ball out of play, a simple bounce I can do in my sleep. I looked at the referee to complain but he just shrugged it off. Without even any warning their number 7 who's known to be a thief picked the ball and made a throw to their Agent 0. How he went pass Matt, I can't tell. But before we knew it we were down by 2.
Coach John: (screaming) REF!. THAT'S A DEAD BALL!!. YOU DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH IT!!!
Our bench: (going riot)
Jensen: (running towards the ref) he never gave you the ball, you saw that.
Referee 1: (coldly) Play on. It was a clean transition. Get back on defense or it's a T.
I know coach warned about this, but I wasn't expecting this level of robbery, this is way too obvious. If you wanna rob, at least be reasonable about it.
Jensen: okay, let's get our head back in it, it's our game from here. Follow coach instructions. Am I clear?.
Team: yes.
Matt was tasked with inbounding the ball back in play and oh my heavens did they not let us breathe. Paul the center was on Jace neck, literally breathing down on him. Their number 7 Cheluchi, was just right behind me, not even giving me the space to turn. Simon their power forward was on Jensen.
Our whole defensive plan went up In smoke. Everyone coach assigned to us assigned a new player to themselves. Even after trying to reshuffle, they stucked on us. Matt made a throw towards Jace who was man-marked by a literally fucking giant. And this is where Jace talent showed. Without even fully receiving the ball, he immediately hit a bounce pass to me. While attempting to receive the ball, the thief marking me came from no where and before I knew what was happening he's hitting a chest pass to their shooting guard, Beluolisa who hit a fucking 3 on our head. Now I know why he has that god damn stat. STARLING [0] - [5] JARQUIN. Fuck.
Coach John: (screaming) Timeout.
Referee: (nodding) you have thirty seconds.
*After we hurried over to his side*
Coach John: what is happening?. This isn't what we talked about. It's barely 20 secs and you're already losing your cool. Is this how you plan to win the treble?. Huh?. Fix up. I see them trying to shake you by marking different people. Shake them back. Move to who I assigned to you while defending and focus on our plan while attacking. Am I good?.
Team: yes coach!!.
Coach John: get your ass back there and win this quarter.
Team: yes coach.
Coach John: (holding me back) I saw that mistake that lead to the both baskets. Don't let that get to you. Instead I'll appreciate my chaos bringer, my wonder kid. Start adapting before it gets too late.
Me: on it sir.
Coach John: good. Let's win this.
Fuck this. It's time to introduce the wonder kid to them. No more mistakes.
Referee 1: (blows whistle)
They made the same defensive stand and I loved that. I wanted that thief to mark me again. You average 3.5 steals per game. Good, try stealing from me again. I signaled to Jace to repeat what we just did and he obliged. Inbound pass from Matt to Jace who immediately hit a bounce pass to me, but this time I was smart enough to go to the ball making the thief after my life follow suit, I guess he wanted to steal my shit again. Not this time.
I made an attempt to catch and pass the ball which made him immediately stretch his hand attempting a reach-in, fucking roach. That was his mistake though cause I immediately hit the ball in the air towards James who was standing almost perfectly alone in the left side. Beluolisa dashed back In an attempt to mark James, but that was his mistake, when James is in his mood, not even Matt can hold him. Breaking his ankle, James made an attempt to lay it up and ended up smashing the ball in the basket. We were back in this. And to you Beluolisa, fucking eat concrete. Having the guts to hit 3 on us. I have beef with y'all.
Coach John: (screaming) that's what I'm talking about !.
Sit down coach. The fun ride is just starting. I caught a glimpse of the so-called referee communicating with the second referee and I just laughed. I get it, try to rob us as much as you want, we won't give you that chance.
Their giant immediately tried to kick things off and he started scanning for who to pass to.
Thief: here!. Pass it here
The center, Paul fired a hard chest pass toward him, but our little fans were not having any of that. They let their voice be heard.
I Dashed into the passing lane, eyes on the referee and the thief. Coach tasked me with you. You're not going anywhere, at least not with me on you.
I didn't reach for the ball, I just shadowed his hip, forcing him to turn his back to the basket. Jace immediately Slid into position to cut off any cross-court pass
Jace: Kei. Relax. We have him trapped in the corner.
The fuck you mean by relax?. Who had him here in the first place. I'm not lashing out at my teammate trust me, I just got caught off guard. Now back to our dear thief who was looking panicked. Agent 0 made a quick move behind us and signalled Cheluchi hoping for the pass. We expected that too, since he had no space to perform any dribble, his only option was a jump pass and the fool went for it. Is he stupid?. He's not taller than neither Jace nor I. And his only good trait is being a thief. Okay fine I know I've been overusing the word thief, I'm just mad he actually stole a ball from me. I guess I'm that petty.
Cheluchi tried hitting a jump pass, and reading his play, both Jace and I jumped up to counter that and he panicked. He immediately cancelled that and landed on both feet with the ball still in his hand, clear travelling violation. This next one was on me cause I stopped defending hoping the ref would call it. My mistake, he let play continue and Cheluchi made a swift pass to Beluolisa their sniper who hit another 3. STARLING [2] - [8] JARQUIN.
Me: referee what the fuck!. Didn't you catch that?!!. How can there be three of you and you're all blind!!!
Jace: (holding me back) stop that
Me: can't you all fucking see the shit he's pulling out of his bag?.
Referee 1: I won't take this nonsense from a child I'm old enough to birth. I started this game way before your parents thought of conceiving you. I know the rules more than you'll even do. (Walking towards coach) Get him off this floor this instance or the next whistle is an ejection.
Coach John : (obviously livid) John prepare, keima switch place.
Me: what?. Coach I did nothing. He's just being a fucking prick.
Coach John: don't even argue with me. I'm not in the mood for that. Get out. Now!.
Me : yes coach.
Why am I getting punished?. What did I even do?. Why am I the scape goat. I'm trying to win this match damn it. Why am I being targeted. I hate this. I hate this so much. And now I feel like crying. I hate this feeling. I hate this feeling I'm having. Why do I feel like things will only go bad from here?. Why can't they just play fair? This isn't right, it's not. I hate this. I fucking hate this.