4th and Final Quarter 7:51 left in the game
Colin is holding the ball near the left wing, guarded by Devon. There are no players on the corner. He got all the room to play and the baseline is wide open.
The time to get even has come and it's in the first possession of the quarter. Colin is using his right forearm to shield the ball while he dribbles with his left hand. He takes a look at the opposing players' positions.
Basing on this, he estimates he is a step or two ahead of the opponents' defensive help after getting rid of his man. So, he attacks. A forward dribble with his right foot plus a hesi then an explosive blow by along the baseline leaving his defender behind. Devon tried to poke the ball but Colin rapidly switches it to his right hand preventing a steal.
When he got to the paint, Dorian rotated to block him. Colin floats it up to the left side of the board for a teardrop off the glass.
Instead of a swat, Dorian commits a foul when he made contact in the air trying to reject Colin's high-arching shot. The ball went in the basket resulting to a three-point play opportunity.
Colin was floored but he roared after knowing it was an and one.
"Payback!" He slams his hands on the floor.
Lucas and Aaron ran up to pull him up.
"I knew you'd settle the score." Lucas said.
"Great shot, bro." Aaron taps his shoulder.
Colin shoots but the free throw is no good.
Mitty Monarchs 41 - 36 Summit Skyhawks
Dorian secures the rebound and passes the ball to Devon who dishes it to Isaiah.
Isaiah Taylor dribbles it to the right corner. This time he is defended by Brandon. Upon noticing the defense isn't set up yet, Isaiah quickly used his crossovers against a slower opponent then penetrates into the baseline. A slight left hand push off then a step back jumper on the right short corner. Bucket!
41-38. Mitty leads by a single possession.
'Devon and Isaiah are a deadly duo plus they got Dorian on the post. We need to defend these guys as a team.' Lucas thought.
And that they did. The Monarchs provided timely help defense whenever a teammate lost his defensive position. Because of this, they got a mini 7-3 run. A 7 point lead, 48-41.
The championship now felt closer, but that's when disaster struck. Aaron got his 4th foul on the 6:12 minute-mark of the game and was substituted by senior Jason Anderson.
Summit smelled blood. They went on for a crucial 9-2 run with the duo leading the Skyhawks. Back to back 3s by Isaiah and a Devon fastbreak and one nifty lay up. What's more demoralizing is that it resulted in Colin getting his 4th foul. Both he and Aaron are a foul away from getting thrown out the game.
The game is tied at 50, with 3:20 left.
Coach Tim Kennedy called for a timeout.
"Aaron, I'll get you back in the game. Colin, you'll stay. Whether you foul out or not, give everything you've got in the game. There's only 3 minutes left to play. It's now or never." Coach TK motivated his players.
"Yes, coach." The team replied in unison.
"Brent, Lucas, whoever is defending Isaiah, guard him closely. Don't give him space to shoot the ball at the 3-point line. If you get beaten by the dribble, your teammates will provide help so don't foul him recklessly. We are in the penalty and we can't afford giving them easy free throws at this crucial point." The coach reminded both of them.
The buzzer sounded as the coaches finished their respective instructions.
Colin, Brent, Lucas, Jason and Aaron walked up to the court determined to win the game.
The Monarchs have possession of the ball. Colin is handling the ball at the top. He gives it to Lucas who fed Aaron at the left block. Aaron is manned by Dorian. He backs down the Skyhawks star forward. Another Summit player goes to the paint and puts Aaron in a double team situation. Aaron dishes a skip pass to the right wing. Brent caught the ball and wanted to shoot it but the right corner defender left the player he's guarding and rotated to contest Brent's shot attempt.
Brent faked a shot and gave a setup pass to Jason for a wide open jumper on the right short corner. Jason calmly sinks the shot.
"Nice shot, Jason." Brent praised him.
"Good pass, bro." Jason replied smiling.
Archbishop Mitty is back on the lead, 52-50.
Devon Alexander is dribbling at the left wing. With a quick first step, he erupts and takes it to the rack, catching his defender slacking. After blowing past Colin, he euro steps with his left foot and showed a Jrue Holiday fake pass to the left corner that fooled and made Brent scramble in panic to try and intercept the pass that wasn't coming.
When Devon stepped his right foot on the block, Jason and Aaron collapsed on him. The three players jumped at the same time. Devon avoids contact in the air and casually executes a wrap around pass to the open Dorian Cason on the right side of the paint.
He banks it up with ease and made the shot.
Lucas was unable to help 'cause he stayed on the high post as he was trying to prevent a kick out pass to either players who are on the right corner and top of the 3-point line.
'Godda**it, this guy is the real deal.' Lucas is amazed by the opponent's flashy play.
Fontana Summit instantly ties it again at 52.
This time Brent is the one advancing the ball up the court. He passes the rock to Jason at the right wing who then feeds it to Aaron at the low post. When Aaron received the ball, he didn't back down against Dorian but face him up instead. He plans to beat his man off the dribble.
Lucas had a plan of his own. He jabs step with his right foot to get his defender off balance then explodes for a backdoor cut along the baseline. He wanted to get a pass from Aaron and score an uncontested layup or dunk.
Aaron saw Lucas cut and threw the ball up in the air aiming for an alley-oop pass. Lucas maybe above average in height than most of his peers but his vertical is not there yet.
'You m*therf*cker!' Lucas cursed inwardly.
He jumped and caught the ball with both hands. But instead of laying it up or dunking it, he awkwardly made a return pass and imitated the Smith to Shumpert back to Smith "double alley-oop" when they're still playing on the New York Knicks.
Aaron's eyes widen but he reacted quickly and jumped, catched and performed a two handed reverse dunk with force and power.
Most of their teammates on the floor, on the bench and even the fans on the stands had either both their hands on the side of their heads or covering their mouths from shock.
'What in the world are these two doing?' Coach TK has surprise written in his eyes.
Dorian Cason just stood near the rim and stared at his opponents as they celebrated the impactful two-person offensive play.
Coach Steve called for a timeout right away.