Rebound: A 2nd Chance

The entire arena went silent as they watched the ball leave Jason's hands. There wasn't event the slightest bit of doubt in Jason's eyes as he shot the ball.

The ball flew in a straight high arc toward the basket. The way it moved through the air looked relaxed and unbothered.

As it began to descend everyone watching became more tense. The lower the ball went the higher the tension became.

Finally the ball sank through as it hit nothing but net. The entire arena jumped to their feet as they began to cheer wildly.

Jason held his right hand up from the follow through of the shot. After seeing his shot swish through the net he couldn't help but smile brightly.

He turned to the audience and celebrated. He pretended as though he had a bowl in his left hand.

He held up three fingers on his right hand and pretended as though they were a pair of chopsticks as he slurped up some imaginary noodles.

- - -

Back at the scorers table Randel was clapping his hands as he laughed "That's what I'm talkin bout!

You tell em young fella! Ain't nobody gon keep you from eatin!" Randel turned to Cameron with a smug smile on his face.

"What did I tell you Cam? The kid is a cold blooded killer." Cameron put his hands up as he shook his head.

"You got me Randel. You were a hundred percent right. Jason came up clutch once again and pulled his team to the finish line."

Tony looked over at the two of them with a confused expression on his face "Don't you think you might be calling the game too soon?

There's still fifty seconds left on the clock. If Mt. Shashta can execute on offense and get a big stop on Jefferson they still have a chance."

Cameron shook his head in response to what Tony had said "If they could do that it would be a miracle Tony.

Take a look at Mt. Shashta. All of their players have the same look on their faces. Their body language is practically speaking for itself."

Randel nodded his head in agreement as he added "Their might be some time left on the clock but their ain't no fight left in the players.

They look like they already accepted the L. This game is over." Just like what Randel and Cameron had said the results of the game were clear before the clock ran out of time.

The head coach for Mt. Shashta called a timeout to draw up a inbound play and to give his players a pep talk.

After the timeout was over the players ran the play that the coach had told them during the break but it was obvious that they were just going through the motions.

The fire that had been burning in their eyes since the start of the game was no longer their. After a bad screen failed to create any separation their Shooting Guard shot the ball with Nick right in his face to contest the shot.

The ball hit the front of the rim and Udonis got the easy rebound. The player from the opposing team didn't even try to fight him for it.

Jefferson dribbled out the rest of the clock as Mt. Shashta didn't even bother trying to foul them for free throws.

The clock buzzed indicating that the game was finally over. Jason had a huge smile on his face as he high fived all of the guys.

Udonis grabbed Jason and put him into a headlock. He had a bright smile on his face as he ruffled Jason's hair.

"Damn Jaya! You did it again. That 360 layup was sick but you really pulled up for a fast break 3 when the game was still close!

You damn near gave us all a heart attack!" Trell walked up and playfully punched Jason on the arm while he was still trapped in Udonis' headlock. 

"For real bruh! You tryin to kill us? I thought my heart stopped beatin for a second. You lucky that shit went in or we'd be clownin your ass."

Jason pushed Udonis' arms away as he finally broke free. He smiled at the two of them "That wasn't luck Trell. That shit was all skill bro.

Luck ain't have nothing to do with it haha. Alright guys enough joking around. We need to line up and shake hands."

Both of the teams lined up and began to shake hands with one another. Jason smiled as he shook hands with the players from Mt. Shashta.

"That was a good game man." "You guys really pushed us hard." "That was a good game." "You guys really played hard tonight."

The players from Mt. Shashta had nothing but positive things to say about Jason. He had been the biggest factor in his team winning tonight and he had single-handedly secured the lead at the most crucial point in the game.

After shaking hands Jason and the rest of the team made their way back to the locker room as they cleaned up and got changed into the spare clothes that they had packed.

Jason made his way to the parking lot along with the team but stopped when he heard a familiar voice call out to him "Yo J-Money."

Jason turned around and saw that it was Amare. He turned back to the team "It's a friend of mine. You guys go ahead. Tell my parents that I'll be right there."

Ms. Yuller took the boys and walked toward the spot where they had parked the van. Jason turned back around and walked toward Amare.

"Good to see you still looking fresh Amare. Rockin those ripped blue jeans with the wife beaters." Jason stuck his hand out.

Amare dapped him up and pulled him into a hug before patting him on the back. He smiled as he looked at Jason.

"Good to see that your eyes still workin. You know that I only know how to be fresh. Everything else ain't a thing for me."

Jason asked "So what's up? You just come to watch the game or did Marcus have something that he wanted to tell me?"

Amare pointed to Jason "Haha you got a hell of a six sense you know that? Yeah there was something that Marcus wanted to tell you.

But he got some attention on him right now so he can't make any phone calls or text without it looking bad.

He sent me to tell you that you need to be more careful. Remember that shit with the eggs being thrown at you?"

Jason looked at Amare with a surprised expression on his face "How did you know?" He hadn't told anyone about the incident.

The only people that should have known about that incident were his parents, his teammates, and his teammates' parents.

Amare chuckled "Lucky for you Marcus got one of the boys lookin out for anything that could be bad pr.

Turns out those dudes that chucked the eggs at you were some teenage dumb asses from The Hills that wanted to get some clout from punkin you.

After making some calls and making sure that we wouldn't be steppin on nobodies toes Marcus gave me the go ahead to give those boys a little visit.

I just stopped by to have a friendly chat. You know how friendly lil ol me can be. I even showed em my toy and offered to share haha."

After saying that Amare lifted up his shirt a bit to show the handle of his pistol that was tucked into his pants.

"After our little talk they decided to take the video down. They were even nice enough to give me their phone for a second and I found a whole lotta shit on there."

Jason looked at Amare worriedly "Ay I appreciate you and Marcus looking out for me Amare but make sure to look out after yourselves too."

Amare patted him on the shoulder "You a couple years too early to be worryin about us young fella. But the thought is much appreciated.

Don't worry. Like I said, other than the video of you gettin egged those dudes had some other stuff on they phone that they prolly don't want seein the light of day.

They ain't gon call the police unless they want to spend some serious time themselves. And those Beverly Hills types usually want to avoid getting locked up haha."

Jason responded "Alright man. I'll take your word for it." Amare added "And just a word of advice. Try to pay more attention to your surroundings.

After the state tournament started me and Marcus eased up a bit and that was our mistake. Ima be hanging around after all your games now to make sure that you and the team can celebrate in peace."

Jason lightly punched him on the shoulder before smiling "Thanks Amare. You're a hundred percent right. It's been a while since I've had anything happen so I kinda started to relax.

I'll make sure to keep my guard up from now on."