Slam Dunk by Kate Jaimet

Author:Kate Jaimet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2009-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

chapter thirteen

The girls played hard the whole second half. They ran our offense, and a full-court, man-to-man D. But every time we evened the score, Lisgar would pull ahead again. With three minutes left in the game, we were trailing 50–54.

Maddy had the ball in the frontcourt. She was trying to keep it alive while the other girls set up our offense, but the Lisgar defender was bugging her like a kid sister on a long car trip. Maddy was getting tired.

Brenda ran down to set the screen for Ifrah. Ifrah made her move into the key, but Ifrah’s defender slipped past the screen and blocked the passing lane. Trouble was Maddy had already picked up the ball to pass. Now, she needed to get rid of it. She twisted back and forth on her pivot foot, looking for an open player. Finally, she threw a desperate pass to the right wing. The Lisgar defender grabbed it out of midair and took off on a breakaway.

Maddy turned and started to run after her. The Lisgar girl crossed the centerline, driving hard. By the time she reached the three-point line, Maddy was so far behind I was ready to call for Search and Rescue. But that was no excuse for what Maddy did next. She stopped running and started to walk, while the Lisgar girl went straight for a layup and two points.

That is not what you’re supposed to do in that situation. I mean, what if the Lisgar girl had missed? What if there was a rebound and a chance to turn it around? Maddy should have been chasing that girl like a cop chasing a graffiti punk. I don’t care how far behind she was. But I knew what Maddy was thinking. She was thinking: Why should I chase her? We’re not going to win anyway.

See, she was thinking like we’d already lost the game. Thinking that we tried our best. We made it to the semifinals. It wasn’t our fault if our point guard went missing in the middle of the playoffs. It wasn’t our fault if our coach walked out on us. No one could blame us for losing the game.

Those aren’t the kinds of thoughts anyone’s supposed to be thinking when you’ve still got a chance to win. But I knew Maddy was thinking them because I caught myself thinking the same things. Thinking that no one could blame me if the girls lost. I didn’t have to step in as coach. I could have just blown the whole team off after Mrs. Ramirez left. At least we tried.

See, my mind was already making up all kinds of excuses to make me feel better for losing. Then I looked up in to the stands, and I caught sight of the guy from Billingsview Terrace. The guy who was messing with Inez.

He was standing near the exit door, leaning with one hand against the wall and turning his head back and forth. Looking all around the gym. Looking for something.

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