Rebound: A 2nd Chance

It was Wednesday Night. Tonight was more than just a night in the middle of the week. Tonight would be the night that a new Riverside County Champion was crowned.

Because of their regular season record the championship game would be taking place at Jefferson tonight.

Inside the locker room Ms. Yuller was holding another bundle of sage that she had set on fire. She waved it around gently as the smoke began to spread through the room.

She then passed the bundle of sage to Kyle. He took the bundle and closed his eyes "Tonight we will win make a memory that will stay with us for a lifetime."

Kyle then passed the bundle to Udonis who also closed his eyes "Tonight we're going to make our parent and our friends proud."

Udonis then passed the bundle to Trell who did the same "Tonight we gon play our hearts out and get some respect."

The bundle of sage made its way around as everyone said what was in their hearts. Eventually it was Jason's turn.

He took the bundle of sage and closed his eyes "Tonight we are going to make history and bring Jefferson Middle School its very first County title."

After he was done he passed the sage back to Ms. Yuller who had a warm smile on her face "Now that we have spoken the wishes we have deep within our hearts it is time for us to manifest them into reality. Go play your young hearts out!"

Udonis stuck his arm out "Jefferson on three." Everyone piled their arms on top of each other as they gathered around. 

Everyone shouted in unison "ONE!TWO! THREE! JEFFERSON!" They then threw their hands up before making their way out of the locker room.

Principal Morris went the extra mile in ensuring that tonight would be a special night for everyone at the school.

The lights were off as the gym was dark. Then all of a sudden a spotlight shined on Jefferson's bench.

A voice boomed out of the speakers in the gym "Introducing number 3 your starting Shooting Guard. He's a sniper from long range. Give it up for Mathew Cohen!"

Mathew stood up as the spotlight shined on him. The crowd clapped and cheered as he walked over to the court.

The voice then boomed out again "Now introducing number 1 your starting Small Forward. He's the muscle of the team. Give it up for Trell McDaniels!"

A spotlight shined on Trell as he stood up. The audience once again started clapping and cheering. Trell high fived everyone that was still on the bench before making his way over to the court.

"Now introducing number 12. He's your starting Center. The one with the most bounce for the ounce. Give it up for Kyle Robinson!"

Kyle stood up and enjoyed the cheers of the audience. He walked over to Jason and did their signature handshake which caused the crowd to go even crazier. After they were done he walked over to Matt and Trell.

"Now introducing number 40. He's the starting Power Forward as well as the team captain. A big body in the paint with the heart to match it. Give it up for Udonis Bembry!"

Udonis stood up and waved to the crowd before throwing up a kiss to the sky. He then made his way to the court.

"Last but certainly not least. I don't think he needs an introduction but I'll give him one anyway. He's your starting Point Guard.

He wears the number 17 but I think you all know him better as Jaya. Give it up for the hometown hero Jason Yang!"

The entire gym was rocking as the audience cheered wildly for Jason. He stood up and smiled at the crowd as he waved to his parents.

Jason's mom and dad had tears in their eyes as they watched all these people shower their son with love and adoration.

Jason made his way to the court where the rest of the guys were standing. He high fived all of them before standing in place.

The crowd gave the boys one last round of applause before the actual start of the game.

- - -

The game began as both teams got into position for the tip off. Tonight they were playing against a familiar team.

Nashton Academy fought their way to the finals as they would now battle against Jefferson for the county title.

Kyle stared down 3D as they waited for the referee to toss up the ball. Kyl's eyes were burning with excitement.

The referee tossed the ball into the air as Kyle easily leapt up and tapped it over to Udonis. He then passed the ball over to Jason.

Jason scanned the floor and saw that although the opposing team managed to put a defender on Kyle he was running to the basket with a smaller defender on him.

Jason ran the ball up the court and yelled out "Go up strong Kyle!" He then tossed the ball up high where only Kyle could reach it.

Kyle heard Jason and instinctively jumped up with everything that he had. The defender saw that Kyle was going up to catch a pass and pushed him while he was in the air.

Kyle felt the contact at his hips as his body began to tilt off balance. But he was still able to reach the ball with his right hand before gently pushing it toward the basket.

As Kyle awkwardly landed on the court he heard the referee blow his whistle "Foul on number 2! Free throws for Jefferson!"

Jason ran up to Kyle and slapped him on the shoulder "Good finish bro!" Kyle smiled at Jason and then made his way to the free throw line.

After getting into position the referee passed the ball over to Kyle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe.

After opening his eyes he focused on the basket, bounced the ball, and shot the free throw. The ball landed on the right side of the rim and bounced a few times before falling back down to the ground.

Kyle sighed in disappointment but Jason patted him on the back as the two of them made their way back on defense.

Nashton Academy had their Point Guard bring the ball down the court. As he crossed half court he passed the ball to one of their wing players before Jason could even start guarding him.

The wing player tried to pass the ball down to 3D in the post but Trell was moving his hands and making hard for him to get the pass off.

After a few seconds he was finally able to find an opening as he bounce passed the ball to 3D down in the post.

Kyle was already sweating from fighting 3D for post position. Now he had to endure as 3D started to back him down.

Kyle tried to get into rhythm as he timed 3D's backdowns to his own pushes. He pushed back with his shoulder and forearm but he could feel himself getting pushed deeper into the paint.

'I won't let you have it easy you big fuck!' Kyle got down even lower as he tried to anchor himself down to the floor.

Kyle felt a change and knew that 3D would go for a spin move. Just as he predicted 3D turned over left shoulder as he began going baseline toward the basket.

Kyle shuffled his feet as he tried his best to stay with 3D. Just as they reached the bottom of the basket 3D went up for the reverse layup.

Kyle saw this and jumped into the air as he began stretching his arm out as far it could go in order to contest the shot.

Unfortunately for him 3D was able to get the shot off safely as the ball landed on the rim. It rolled around a bit before sinking through the net.

Kyle clapped in his hands in frustration "Fuck!" He then took the ball and inbounded it to Jason.

Jason caught the ball and looked at Kyle "Relax bro. Just keep it up. You'll get him next time."

He then brought the ball up the court and signaled for a play. Udonis came out to the perimeter as Jason passed him the ball.

As soon as he passed the ball to Udonis, Jason ran toward him for the hand off. Jason squeezed by Udonis before driving toward the paint.

Udonis rolled toward the rim but then stopped as he saw that both defenders were focused on Jason.

Jason had the attention of both his defender and Udonis' defender as they both chased after him.

After seeing that he had pulled both of them far enough away Jason bounced the ball between his legs as he passed the ball to Udonis who was behind him and slightly to the left.

Udonis saw that there was no one close to him so he took the wide open 12 foot (3.65m) mid range jump shot.

The crowd cheered as the ball hit nothing but net. Udonis pointed to Jason with a smile. Jason walked toward Udonis and high fived him.

As the two of them made their way back on defense Jason smiled at Udonis "Let's go run these guys out of our gym and grab that trophy."