28 The First of Many

Oak Hill remained calm as they are about to execute their play. Lamont just got out of a screen from the right to receive a pass from Doron but I switched immediately to him and am now defending him.

I'm only barely 6'2 so our height difference is not that much great, Lamont is trying to make me commit his fakes so that he can make a play.

But I didn't give in, I stood my ground and pressed him harder. I saw an opportunity as he was trying to fake left, I swiped my hand to the ball and it got loose out of Lamont's hand.

I reacted first and chased the ball so when I got possession, I didn't hesitate in driving the ball to the lane. I could see that my defender was a few steps behind and is not even trying to contest the fastbreak so I jumped high and dunked the ball.

5-2

We got a lot of our points from fastbreaks and it's not stopping now, our defensive capabilities are just in a different league than any team in this tournament.

So we got back to our defense and this time, Oak Hill decided to let Keith make an answer.

Keith is posting on Ikenna so easily and by the time Jerrold is going to help, Keith is already in a good position to make a shot over Ikenna and Jerrold was too late to stop him.

5-4

Keith scored for their team and it looks like he'll be doing that a lot more. But Ikenna is not gonna make it easy on him, Ikenna is making sure that Keith works harder with every shot he makes.

We got ball possession and now Tyrus is looking to make a play from the left. Our main plan was to make isolation plays on Lamont because he's the smallest guy out there and even if we don't/can't take a shot from him, we could still make plays around him.

Because aside from being the smallest, he's the least skilled defender on their side, so we are gonna take advantage of that.

Isaac set up a screen for Tyrus in the middle and Lamont is just too late to catch up to Tyrus who is now about to make a mid-range jump shot.

Tyrus missed but Jerrold was there to battle for the rebound and tapped the ball into the basket.

7-4

Now it looks like we're finding our rhythm, and we want to stick with it that way.

Oak Hill again made their same previous play and Keith once again scored over Ikenna.

7-6

But I'm glad that Ikenna is not feeling down from giving up back-to-back baskets to Keith because he knew already what was coming for him, his job now is to maintain the same defensive pressure throughout the whole game because sooner or later, he will stop Keith from making those easy shots.

Now it was our turn, Isaac signaled the play to us as he is dribbling the ball on top of the post.

The first to execute the play was me making a screen play for Ikenna. My screen allowed Ikenna to get a back door cut to the basket and it was followed accordingly.

Isaac passed the ball behind me where Ikenna was running to and he skillfully caught the ball and made an easy layup. Keith who was his defender was caught up by my screen and even if he doesn't, we don't think he'll be fast enough to react to Ikenna making that layup.

9-6

It went like this until the end of the half.

We made a few stops here and there but Keith still has a lot of energy to spare because he's just making back-to-back baskets from the same plays so many times already.

He did miss a few shots but we did too so the score at the half was not that far apart.

42-37

We're still ahead by 5 points and that's mainly because of me. Whenever Oak Hill is about to get into a rhythm and make a run, I would always score either a 3-pointer or a mid-range jumper to pour cold water on their heads.

There was a time in the 2nd quarter that they made 6-straight points while we didn't make one but I just shot a 27 feet 3-pointer and their mood quickly sunk. It drained a lot of their energy when they saw me stop their run with just one shot.

Other people may not realize it but getting in a rhythm is hard to do because you'd have to be completely in sync with every one of your team and make stops defensively. Even if you miss some shots, as long as you also don't allow your opponents to make shots, your confidence will be boosted and you gain that hope that you can still win this game.

There's still a lot of time left on the game so they might think that they can still get back up, but the rhythm-stopping shots that I did woke them up from their momentary delusion of coming back quickly in this game.

They now know that in order to win against us, they'll have to work harder than they ever did.

In that first half, I made 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 3PM. It's not the best when you relatively compare it to my past performances but it's because I was trying to give my teammates some confidence in making the plays a lot more than before.

But now, I guess playtime's over. I'm about to break their confidence in this 3rd quarter and make them realize that their efforts are just not enough.

At the start of the 3rd quarter, Isaac is benched so I'm responsible for making plays. Even when I was just at half-court, a defender is already on me but it doesn't matter, I made a quick drive to the right but that was a fake, I dribbled behind the back and composed myself to make a jump shot.

My defender was late in trying to block my shot or even just to make me notice him hoping he'll trouble my shot, but it didn't. The ball beautifully followed a high arc in the air that fell into the basket at the end.

45-37

Oak Hill's mood got worsened from that shot I just made. It gives them the feeling of being unstoppable and now they're looking like they've given up.

Oak Hill still made a play and shot the ball from their center's rebound.

45-39

But when I got the ball, I didn't wait for my opponents to get back to their defensive formation. I speedily ran through the court and passed a lot of players including my own teammates.

In the end, it was only me against Keith in the paint. Keith was surprisingly fast this time but it doesn't matter, I made a huge step to the right and Keith anticipated I attack from there but then I made another huge stride to the left and Keith was too late to react as I was completely open to shoot the ball.

47-39

That move was the famously known "Euro Step". It was a move that Manu Ginobli from the San Antonio Spurs, who is an amazing and great player by the way despite playing the 6th man in his whole career, popularize and made it his own. A lot could argue that he didn't create the move and that's true, but we have to give him credit for making it work and become popular in the modern NBA.

The euro step is a footwork type of move when you attack the basket and you bait the opponent to go the other way as they anticipate from your first step.

It's a revolutionary move that enabled a lot of smaller guys to make plays inside the basket that lacks the jumping capabilities and athleticism to back up their finishing touches.

We head back to the game, and we are now in a commanding mood and it stayed that way.

As the game progresses, it only widened our gap. I sat at the 4th quarter because there wasn't a need for me to play anymore. Even Ikenna scored off of Keith and stopped him a few times too. Oak Hill was exhausted and looked defeated so we just played it slow and let the timer run out.

As the final buzzer sounded, the tournament has finally concluded. We are now the National Champions.

I immediately run off to the bleachers and hugged my family in celebration.

"Congrats Quin! You finally did it. You finally achieved something after all the workouts and training that you did every single day." Andrea was super happy for me and it's only a given, she was there when I was sweating my ass off training in our backyard.

"Congratulations son, you proved to us that this path of yours is really worth going for. We're proud of you." My dad smiled at me while my mom hugged me and congratulated me also.

'This is just the first of many guys.' I thought with a smile on my face.