Big Shot

01. and so we meet again

"Three."

"Two."

"Timeout!" Coach Cronin calls.

A breath escapes my mouth at the sound of the referee's whistle. I throw him the ball before making my way towards the huddle. There's a disappointed look on Coach's face as I walk over, I watch as he looks at the clock and sighs before directing his attention to me. 

"What happened out there, King?" he asks. "If Kendrick calls out a play then y'all need to stick to it." 

"I'm sorry Coach, I wasn't thinking." I sigh as I wipe the sweat from my face with my jersey.

"Well, you better start, and that goes for all of you," he looks around before directing his attention to the whiteboard in his hands. "Listen, we're sticking with blackjack. Calin I need you here, alright? Kendrick is gonna pass the ball in and Isaiah you're gonna give it to EJ, remember to stay out of the corner." 

"Got it." we all say in unison. 

"Jalen, you keep everyone out of Calin's way. We got thirty seconds, let's go y'all!" 

The buzzer sounds as we make our way back onto the court. Kendrick bumps my shoulder as he makes his way to the line. "Don't fuck this up, King," he warns as he walks away.

"Ignore him," Cameron pats me on the back. "You got this."

I smile, Cameron was pretty much my only real friend on the team. He always encouraged me to play my best and sometimes after practice, we would stay later and come up with plays and different ways we could pass the ball to each other—wait. 

"I have an idea," I whisper. "Remember last week after practice?"

He furrows his brows. "What are you—Oh!" Cam's eyes widen when he realizes what I'm talking about. "You know Coach is gonna be mad, right?"

"Just stay open," I say.

We get in our designated positions as the buzzer sounds. The ref hands Kendrick the ball, he quickly passes it to me and I follow Coach's orders by passing the ball to EJ. I watch as Cameron moves to his spot and Jalen stops one of Washington State's defenders by setting a pick. 

"The Bruins are in possession of the ball, let's see if they can get the upper hand on the Huskies defense." 

EJ moves to the outside, stalling with the ball so Cameron can get set and some time can run off the clock. I watch as the clock gets to fifteen seconds, I clap to gain EJ's attention. We switch positions as he passes me the ball. Only one guy was defending me as I faced the front of the basket, he wasn't one of the best defenders, so I easily got past him with a fake-out. 

"Would you look at that fake out! Looks like King is going for a last-minute layup!"

The rest of Washington's team comes running after me as I sprint to the basket, I quickly look to see that Cameron is wide open. 

Five...

Four...

Adrenaline fills my body as I jump, pretending to shoot a floater but instead passing the ball to Cameron. 

Three... 

Two...

Cameron shoots and the buzzer sounds right when the ball goes in with a swish. 

The cheers of the crowd send excitement rushing through my body, a large grin forms on my face as Cameron and my other teammates run over to engulf me in a giant team hug. 

"That's it! That's game! Cameron Calin with a three and Isaiah King with the assist! The Bruins win with an ending score of 99-96!" 

***