Mr. Basketball Ch. 16

I made a few more trips here and there to recruit before I returned home to focus on the girls and the season at hand.

*

"Alright girls," I started as we sat in the locker room before the start of the game. "This is it, the last game of the season. All the hard work, all the long hours of practice, all the ups and downs of the season are finally over. One game, one single game left to decide your fate. Are you state champions or did you come this close?"

"You know the game plan, you know what I expect, you know what your teammates expect, all that's left to do is execute. Don't let the game get into your head. Play your game and play it the way you have all year long. Don't bring anything back in here and say I should have. Leave it all on the floor, play your hearts out and you will walk out of here holding that state trophy."

"Win or lose, I'm very proud of the way all of you have played this season. It's been nothing but a pleasure and a privilege to have been able to coach all of you this season. This is the last game I'm ever going to be coaching at the high school level. This whole experience has been one that I will cherish for years and years to come. You girls have taught me just as much as I have taught you. Thank you for making my job fun and easy."

"Having said that, I don't want there to be any extra pressure on you. Don't play for me, play for each other. I can't do this for you girls, you have to do it yourselves. Take a look around the room and look at the faces of your teammates. Each one of you is being counted on by somebody else to play to the best of your ability. Don't let each other down, encourage, talk and fight for each other."

"The game plan is simple. Take your time, run the plays and look for a good shot. Don't force anything and don't push the pace. If the break is there then go with it. If not, slow things down and work the offense. You've played this team before so they have the tapes just like we do. They know what we are running and what to expect just like we do. It's going to come do to execution and discipline."

"Let's bring it on in here."

"One, two, three, pride!"

The coaches left the locker room so Taylor could say a few words to them. It was something she had done every single game this year so it was nothing new. I headed to the floor with Teagan and Rob following me. I reached my spot on the bench and looked over the other team as they started warmups. Their coach nodded and waved at me softly before he focused on his team. It was just like we had planned earlier in the season, us versus the Preparatory Academy in the final game of the season. Hopefully the result would be the same.

My girls stormed the floor and started warmups as I sat on the bench and rested for the moment.

"Are you nervous?" Teagan asked.

"Always," I sighed. "But there's nothing I can do anymore. It's all up to them."

She looked at them before turning back to me. "You've taught them and prepared them well. They should be just fine."

"They will be just fine," I smiled.

They looked more than fine by the end of the first quarter. They had played a very crisp and slow paced game that built a ten point lead. Taylor was finding her game easily and scoring at will. She had twelve already and was playing very well on defense. Lane was very steady and running the offense like a four year vet like Taylor. Eva was shutting down their best ball handler and forcing them to look elsewhere. Tessa was grabbing every missed shot and making the painted area her area and not letting them score when they got down there.

The second quarter ended with us having a fifteen point lead. We broke out of the game plan a little during the second and ran with them. The game got out of hand for a couple of minutes and they chipped away at our lead. I had to take a couple of timeouts and reaffirm the game plan and get them to slow down. After that we built the lead again.

We still had a fifteen point lead at the end of the third. They had shut Taylor down and tried to frustrate her by fouling her hard when she had the open looks. She managed six points during the quarter but Lane and Tessa had picked up the slack and kept the lead the same.

Taylor took over in the fourth. She played with an intensity I hadn't seen out of her in all the years I had coached her. She was up to twenty points alone when I pulled all the starters with two plus minutes left in the game. We had a thirty six point lead and a running clock. I waited until the last thirty seconds before I put the starters back in the game and let them run the clock out.

We ended up winning by twenty six points and took home the state title once again. It was a bitter sweet way to end my high school coaching career. I was going to miss all this but life had called me in a different direction now. I was going to coach college basketball and see where that took me.

*

I sat in the rocking chair late one evening holding my two babies as I rocked them and thought about my life. I had been through some big highs and even lower lows in my short life to this point. Holding my two little miracles sure did put things into perspective for me. They were my world now and I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it all over again.

Evan yawned a soft yawn that brought a smile to my face again. He kicked a little making Raelynn flinch then yawn too. I smiled at them both as Teagan leaned against the door frame and smiled at me holding them.

"You ready to come to bed, baby?" she asked.

"Soon baby," I smiled back at her.

"You have a big day tomorrow, don't stay up too late," she reminded me.

I smiled again and nodded. Tomorrow was the first day I would organize the fifteen college kids and get them ready for the coming season.

*****

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