Chapter 39: Basketball Match (Part 2)

Heading into the locker room the atmosphere was incredibly depressing. Ryan might be having the game of his life but his teammates were having a complete disaster.

The coach entered the locker room and started explaining the next strategy for the game. Making Ryan feel like James Harden.

Coach – "No matter what passes the ball to Ryan, I am sure he will capitalize."

Ryan – "Actually I don't think that will work. They are going to start double-team me at this rate. Coach read me the stats who has the next highest shooting percentage after me."

Coach – "Let's see it's Ron with 60 percent shooting at 3 of 5 field goals."

Ryan – "What about rebounds?"

Coach – "Damion has the most boards with six in total."

Ryan: "Okay, Ron, I will do a link-up with you. Every time I get the ball you have to be ready. I will throw a dime and you have to capitalize. Don't worry and shoot no matter what. "

"Damion and I will continue to feed you. Even if you miss don't worry I will be there to catch it back."

"Also starting now I will only shoot threes and that also deep threes when I am open so Damion you have to be ready whenever I shoot."

"Am I clear? "

Damion and Ron replied, "Yes."

Ryan – "All right, let's go and win this game."

Soon, the game restarted.

Ryan participated for the first time and managed to win the ball at tip-off.

Ryan then dribbled the wall toward the three-point line and as expected he immediately started getting double-teamed. Ryan immediately started backing away from the three-point line and once in the clear shot the ball.

The ball, unfortunately, didn't enter the basket but bounced off the rim, breaking Ryan's 100 percent three-point record. Damion who was ready immediately managed to grab onto the ball. He immediately did a fake pass to Ryan which caused all the defenders to be shaken off.

Damion then as planned passed the ball to Ron who scored a mid-range shot.

Bring the score to 31-35

Andy from the opposing team started dribbling from his end to the half-court. To avoid Ryan, he strategically passed the ball away before he encountered him.

Ryan's team then tactically fouled Kevin from the Locke team.

Kevin stood on the free throw line and ended up getting one shot in while missing the other.

Kyle took the ball and started dribbling, but Kevin soon confronted him and forced him to make a hasty pass. Ryan chased after the ball but couldn't make it.

After the ball went out of bounds, the throw-in resulted in a counterattack and Locke managed to score another mid-range shot.

The score came to 31-38

Seeing the difference reach seven points, Ryan felt tremendous pressure. Ryan decided he couldn't trust his teammates and decided to dribble the ball to the other side himself.

When Ryan reached the three-point line he encountered double-teaming again. This time though Ryan decided he had enough.

Ryan backed up and then did a crossover, getting past one of the defenders. Then he did a fake pass which caught the other one off guard.

Being left open Ryan did a step-back three. The ball started flying toward the basket and started spinning on the rim. Before finally entering the basket.

Ryan continued grinding and following the plan.

By the end of the third quarter, Ryan had 24 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds. His three-point percentage has been reduced from 100 to 60 percent. As he made 6 out of 10 three-pointers in total.

The score for the match at the end of three quarters was 48-46

They were up by two points but Ryan knew this was about to change as he came out for a two-minute rest in the fourth quarter. As anticipated in just two minutes, Locke gave them a four-point deficit.

At this point, Ryan felt like he was playing NBA my career every time he sat down the other team would suddenly go up.

Coach – "Ryan have you rested? We have only three minutes left for the game to end."

Ryan – "All right coach put me back in."

Ryan came back drained. He was not able to fully support the attack but managed to patch up the leaky defense."

Time moved fast and soon only 30 seconds remained with the score tied at 54—54 but the Locke team held the possession.

Ryan knew if this game dragged into overtime, it would be a sure defeat. He didn't want the victory that he worked hard for to turn into an L

Ryan decided to rush and steal the ball to hit a buzzer beater.

Harris saw Ryan coming over and immediately passed the ball to Andy. The ball then got intercepted by Damion who passed it to Ryan.

Ryan started running as the countdown began

10,9,8,7

Ryan had just passed the half-court line by seven, so he needed to shoot the ball to avoid a shot clock violation.

John – "Ryan from the logo. It's circling on the rim, it's in. The Palisades have beaten Locke's junior basketball team. What a fabulous ending to a match that will go down in history."

"This is the first time in division 3 that a player has scored more than half of his team's points. I am sure everyone knows who I am talking about the mythical Ryan, who scored a record 32 points single-handedly."

"Ryan has also broken the league three-point percentage record by making the most three-pointers by a single player in a game by scoring 8 out of his 12 three-pointers."

"He also set a record for shooting hundred percent of his threes until half time."

Author's Note - I know the basketball chapters seem highly unrealistic, but on the other hand, I wanted excitement rather than realism. Plus it's a junior division match in the 3rd division have some mercy.