Second Half

The whistle blows indicating the start of the second half starting with team D's ball possession since team C won the tip-off, credits to me. The opposing point guard walked the ball to the half-court and their shooting guard received it to avoid a trap approaching by our shooting guard.

Now, team C's shooting guard is wide open on the left side of the court so Jonah had to leave his post and help since he is the only one closest. Team C's SG immediately passed the ball to the guy Jonah left behind and instantly shot a 3-pointer but it missed.

It hit the back of the rim and is now up for the rebound. I tried my hardest to box out Ikenna or even just trouble him a little to not allow him to make a proper jump.

The ball is falling in favor of my direction so I confidently grabbed the rebound and looked across our side of the court and saw that Alec is already sprinting hard from the half-court. Without hesitation, I threw a hail mary full-court pass to Alec, and thank God he received it perfectly and made the easy lay-up since the closest opponent is several steps behind that play.

Alec pointed his finger at me showing acknowledgment of the very good play I made and I reciprocated with the same gesture because that catch was a good one also.

28-22

We're now up by 6 points and we're back in our defensive position. This time the point guard made a pick and roll play to Ikenna but I read it ahead of time so I easily intercepted the pass to Ikenna giving me a steal. I ran full speed to our side of the court and no one seems to be close to me so I jumped really high and made a two-handed dunk.

My teammates went wild and cheered at me loudly jumping and colliding our bodies celebrating the spectacular highlight I just made.

30-22

Team D looks completely demoralized which is the effect that I was aiming for. Not everyone knows that a highlight reel can be more than just freestyle points. It is also a way to break the opponents' morale making them commit to more mistakes and allowing my team to find our rhythm to make better plays.

Right now only Ikenna is the one not affected by our consecutive scoring. He demanded for the ball and made a 15-foot jumper from the baseline. I could've contested that shot and maybe he could've missed but I went for his fake and that cost me a basket.

It was like playing 5 vs 1 if I'll be honest. Although the matchups with Ikenna were exciting and challenging, that's all really that their team can do. His teammates made some shots but missed badly. So I really can't blame the guy for losing this one.

The final buzzer sounded and the game is over.

The final score is 61-39.

We won the game easily in the end since only Ikenna can score, but a lot of credit goes to my teammates who were just hustling every possession and making the right plays at the right time. We'd make a good team, to be honest.

I finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and one block. Yes, I finally got one block from Ikenna when he was forced to take a shot, so I took advantage and made a clean block.

By the way, I shot 11/18 from the field, 6/10 from the 3-point line, and 1/1 from the free-throw line.

One reason why I shot at such a large volume in only 20 minutes is because of the opponent's turnovers and sometimes their defense just can't stop me who is clearly taller than them except for Ikenna, but he's not defending me since I'm a forward in the offense and he's a center.

Ikenna made an amazing job and finished 22 points despite the loss. The coaches are gonna be considering him on getting a starting spot from this performance I presume.

Speaking of the coaches, Coach Alford requested us to gather up to announce their evaluation on who passes and who doesn't.

"First off, I'd like to acknowledge everyone's effort in today's tryouts. We are truly delighted to know that we will have a good chance to make a run in this coming national tournament."

We clapped our hands in response to the coach's praise.

"Alright, not all of you will be chosen a spot in the team so I will now announce the guys who are eliminated and are given a choice to back out or enter the second string team."

As Coach Alford announced the names who did not make the cut, I was surprised that 3 of my teammates made it through. They are Aaron, Tony, and Alec. Sadly Jonah has to leave to the second string. It's tough because he's already a junior and it's his last year next year in high school so we tried to console him.

But it seems he doesn't mind getting picked. He reasoned that he only tried to play basketball because his girlfriend threatened him that if he doesn't make it at least to the second string, she will not sleep with him after the Junior-Senior High Prom which they promised to each other.

I bet his balls are all tied up right now. I sympathize with him. But then he made it to the second string so I congratulated him and told him which brand of condoms to buy and what flavors girls love on the first try. Of course, he didn't believe me since I'm only 14 this year and also admitted to being a virgin in this life. But he actually kept in mind my advice the whole time. Good for him.

"Now there are 8 of you left who will compete tomorrow against the current varsities to evaluate who will make it to the starting lineup. All of you are already part of the team so congratulations. We are looking forward to tomorrow's performance." After that, coach Alford allowed us to go home.

As I looked at the current varsities, there were two that particularly made me turn my head. One is a guy with blonde curly hair that's standing around 6'10, and the other is a guy standing 5'11 and is highly recognized as the team captain. The tall guy is named Jerrold Smith who is a senior playing the center position, and the other guy is Isaac Hamilton, the point guard, and team captain.

I've heard a lot from the coaches that these two in particular are national-caliber players, but sadly the team just can't support them properly. Now that they have me and Ikenna, I'm pretty sure the coaches and staff are throwing a party with the huge potential the team has. I also agree. Ikenna can be a strong PF and I will be the SF. Jerrold will still be the Center and Isaac also remains to be the PG.

The coaches only needed to decide who the best SG is best suited in the lineup. But I still can't wait to compete for the varsities and test my abilities on bigger and smarter players. I believe that with me and Ikenna on the same team can pack a mean offense on any team. As long as Aaron does his job well, we have a high chance of winning in tomorrow's matchup.