Heart Of A Champion

That Girl

                      The tournament ended about a few weeks ago now and I managed to move on. For three weeks, I've been hitting the gym with John. I managed to get into the inter-school lineup for Team C and we have a game later today. "Hey, look at her." I said. "Where?" he replied. "The girl in the pink shirt, she looks beautiful." I said. "That is Emma, one of the most popular freshmen students, I admit that she is indeed very pretty." he said. For me to describe her, she is that kind of girl that should go and win beauty pageants. 

                       "Hi, Emma!" I said, waving my hand. "Hello, you're Franco, right?" she asked. "Yup, nice to meet you." I said to her. "Nice to meet you too." she said. "By the way, can I get your phone number? You know, so that we could know each other better." I said, giving my phone to her. "Yes, of course." she takes it and puts in her contact number. "Thanks!" I said, with a little bit of joy coming from my heart. "No problem with that." she said in reply. That was the most nerve-racking three minutes that I've ever experienced in my life. Well, besides that last game against the Juniors.   

                        Finally, the time has come. Classes have already ended and it is time for the game. We went to the stadium and warmed up. A guy suddenly pops up in front of me. "Hey, is this the guy that missed two clutch shots in a row? How shameful." he said. "You better know what you're saying." I said, feeling confident about my game. "Hahaha, that made my day!" he laughed at me. "I guess we will see who's getting blown out tonight." he added.

                         As what I have expected, I start as the point guard for our team. Mark tips-off for us and he wins it. I hold the ball and signaled for a pick. Mark saw my signal and went on to set a screen. I pass by my man, who trash-talked me earlier, and proceeded to drive to the rim. I lay it up without hassle, but I didn't expect what happened next. He chased down the layup and it goes out of bounds. He gave me a look that I will never forget. He was looking at me like LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals when he blocked Stephen Curry from behind.

                          Nine minutes passed and we were already down by 25, 7 to 32. I get subbed out and I take the blame after making only 1 out of 9 field goal attempts in the quarter. "Stop shooting! This is not what I expected from you." he said. Try to limit those shots and work more to find the open man." he added. Those words ran straight through my brain.

                          I get subbed in in the second quarter and we were down by 37, 12 to 49, with 4 minutes left. Composure. That's all I need. I set up the pick and roll yet again. Mark sets a screen, and rolls to the basket. I find Christian open in the corner. I give it to him, and BANG! He makes it! My man tries to go past me but I was fast enough to block his way. I somehow managed to snatch the ball from him. I turned on the jets and went straight to the rim for the easy layup. My opponent passes it inbound to another opponent, now he's the one who is turning on the jets, only to get blocked by Mark. Now it's my time to shine. I tried to dribble in front of my man. Spinning past him and snatching it back. I got his ankles to break! I pull up, and, I made it! We have managed to cut the lead to 29, 20 to 49. I know we are still in this game. I got the board and passed it long enough to look like a normal pass you can see in the NFL. Mark catches it inside, and makes the shot, and one! He makes the charity shot. The other team gets called for a 24 second violation. So I run to the three point line with 5 seconds left and took a three, and it is in! The lead is cut to 23, 26 to 49. We go to the half with our heads up, visualizing what we could do in the quarters to come. 

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Dedicated to: Maureen ( who told me to do this LOL JK XD)