Mr. Clutch
It was Saturday, a 79 degrees sunny, summer day; a perfect day to have a basketball tournament. Because we defeated our first two opponents, if we won the third game we would move on to the finals. For this game, we were up against the Tipton Tigers, who had also won their first two games by more than 20 points. Even though we were going up against a great team, we were just as great. The start of the game went by and we found ourselves in a close game at 36 to 42, them. To push us forward, our coach gave us a pep talk. While he encouraged the players, I was thinking, “When I go in, there are a couple of things I can do to give a win for the Sabers: I said to myself, good defense and to move on offense. That will make it a close
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With nine minutes left, both teams were playing strong. Our shooters hit a few shots, but the Tigers were on fire. Now the score was 56 to 58 with only five minutes left in the game. Everyone was on the edge of their seats: players, coaches, and fans for both teams. Our coach was yelling, “Pick up the ball...play good defense...and don’t foul!” The other team was starting to get tired, so they called a timeout to get a quick rest. Our coach told us, “We are gonna win. We can do this! Don’t give up.” There were just two minutes left and the score was 58 to 60, Saber ball. Our point guard brought the ball down the court, drove through the key, and dished it out for a two-pointer to tie the game 60 to 60 with 1:24 seconds left. In response, the other team also drove down the court, passed it around for 45 second stall, and then drove in for a shot, but unfortunately got fouled. As the players lined up, I noticed the shooter was at the line sweating as much as a polar bear in the desert. He shot the first one and it rolled around the rim to go in. When he shot the second one, it bounced up and also went in. All of us, including our fans sat quietly and discouraged while the Tipton fans went crazy with
It is the first round of the Basketball State playoffs, and with eight seconds left, the talented Northwest team is down by three. The star point guard speed dribbles up the court, the tension on and off the court is immense, the pressure is even greater. Everyone during and prior to this game, had witnessed a season full of promise, and the consensus conclusion for most recognized this team as the best team to have ever come out Northwest High School. This was our best and likely only chance for success. So as the point guard puts the ball up, time nearly stops, it has a chance, but in like in life, the game of basketball is unforgiving, he misses. As most made their pre-conceived predictions of the future, or lack thereof, a young sophomore and his Junior Varsity teammates, we were inspired by our elders walking off the court, and the doubters going home. Bonded together, and we believed we were destine for something historical, and mythological outside our small circle. Thus two years later the 2016 Northwest Varsity Basketball team, the discourse community, where I developed relationships with the people I still call my brothers. A community which has shaped my work ethic, and has given me the knowledge of the amount of effort and work it takes to be successful. All of which was in efforts for a goal not even pronounced among our teammates, to us the future was still a mystery, only realized to us a one
The game was about to start, walking onto the court, warming up and getting ready for tip-off, I had a huge amount of confidence before hand. The game had begun, although, as the game went on, I wasn’t doing as well as I would have liked. It seemed like I couldn’t hit a shot, neither could the entire team.Throughout the game, we were always down, we never lead at any
We got changed in the locker room, listening to music that would get our adrenaline pumping. The game started with a tip-off with us getting the ball and scoring on the first play, but so did the other team. The game was very close. We would score, they would score. No one ever got ahead by more than four points. At the end of the second quarter with ten seconds left, it was their ball and we were down by two. They did a nice play and a girl got a wide open three pointer. Then the buzzer went off and we all looked at our fuming coach and knew what was about to come at half time. You know that scene in the movie, “42” about Jackie Robinson, where the other teams coach is yelling at him saying rude things? And then there’s the heartbreakingly beautiful scene where Jackie goes into the dugout and breaks his bat and screams and cries. That’s what our halftime was like. The coach yelling and us wanting to scream and cry, but still we had determination to win this game. We came back out ready to play and immediately tied it back it up. The game kept going back and forth, until the fourth quarter with a minute left and us up by four. The other teams coach called a timeout and our coach gave us a speech about if we wanted to win, we needed teamwork. Teamwork just like Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers. We came back out and held the game at four points until the buzzer went
We had gone 3-20 the season before and had not beaten our rival Troy Christian in basketball in seven years before this game. Earlier that season we had lost to Troy Christian by eight points after leading by eight at halftime. Our team was disappointed, but also hungry for revenge. It seemed like eternity waiting for our rematch. The week before the game we began practicing a defensive scheme to stop Troy Christian's six-foot-eight center, James Anderson. He had led the conference in scoring and rebounding all season. He scored eighteen points and grabbed eighteen rebounds in our first meeting and we were determined not to allow that to happen again. Finally, the day came. The day that would change our program. We were ready to put an end
As the time in the third quarter was wasting away, the energy on the court continued to deteriorate. This couldn’t happen, I thought to myself. Coach Foley will be so disappointed. Jogs transformed into sloppy sprints, the passes were weakening, and shots that didn’t have a single thought on them, went up. I looked over at my best friend, Sydney, just to see the frustrated, yet timid, look on her
Soon as I got off the bus, I rushed into my house, threw my book bag and jacket off onto the floor and ran to my room to get dressed for my game. When I finished getting dressed, my teammates and I went over to my friend Josiah’s house and hung out for a little before the game. We went out to eat, played, joked and even played a little pick-up game on his hoop in front of his house. As we left to go to the game, inside the van I started to get more excited and more nervous. I plug in my headphones to block out the noise and to get hyped up for the game that we would be playing in just one more hour. When we arrive at Boo Williams Sport Complex, where we were going to be playing at, I saw a variety of teams playing and there were so many different basketball courts.Watching how good these teams were made me think about how good the teams we were going to be playing. After I got to thinking about it, I was extremely nervous to the point where I thought I was going to throw up. The gym smelled like a bunch of basketballs and sweat, it smelled very bad. As we walk to our court to warm up I finally get to see the team that we were playing, at first sight they didn’t look too good. After warming up, my coach calls the starting lineup and calls my name for it. At tip-off I got more and more confident the more I touched the ball. Only about three minutes in I shoot my first three pointer and it goes in. As the game comes to the end my coach names me the MVP and I finished the game with nine points and no turnovers, we beat the opposing team 37 to 21. Our jovial game ended as a big
My stomach twisted at the thought of losing when we pulled into the McDougal High School’s parking lot. I ran into the building where our coach taught us the new positions until it was time to play. The ref blew the whistle and threw the ball into the air. I jumped up with my feet dangling off the ground and slapped the ball out of its orbit and ran down the court. I could feel my heart beating, I lurched to a screaming halt at the three point line and pushed the ball towards the basket. I shut my eyes hoping it would make it. I heard the ball drop to the ground and the crowd that was erupting with cheers, I opened my eyes and saw my teammates smiling. “That’s a girl!” my coach hollered as I ran towards the sideline and sat down on the bench. We ended up winning by 2 points after two overtime periods.
It all began on November 3, 2015 during my first middle school basketball tournament. The grey brick walls of the gymnasium looking more like a prison than a school. The school’s “Lincoln Park Elementary School” sign had graffiti and missed a couple letters from the name. The court was terribly small, but we began by playing the superb team of Jam on It. We were blown out and I headed back up to my mom and dad in the parent filled stands. The game wasn’t even fun to play and we looked like third graders playing them. I looked up to my parents as sad as could be.
There was five seconds on the clock, down by two points, all we had was time for one shot. My coached called a timeout, “We need get the ball to Emma and Emma wherever you are on the court, shoot it.” Wait, me shoot the last shot…why would coach want me to shoot the last shot, the win or lose shot? “All you guys need to do is believe,” my coach added, “Now get out there and prove to all the disbelievers that this team can win, team on three.”
Basketball was my favorite sport growing up. I’ve played since I was little and I still play the game today. I played basketball at my elementary school, St. Cecilia, from Kindergarten till 8th Grade and also played AAU basketball for about 2 years before entering High School. Going into my freshmen year of High School, the first sport I played was basketball. Tryouts began in about the start of November and ended about 2 weeks after. I had made the Freshmen A team. I was excited and as the season progressed, we didn’t win many games but I still had fun playing. Nearing the end of the season, golf was another sport coming up that I also wanted to try and play. I say “try and play” because at the time, I was also going to play AAU basketball. I had set in my mind that I was going to play basketball for all of my four years of high school, but my parents pushed me to tryout for golf. When the basketball season ended, golf tryouts started. Tryouts lasted for about 2 weeks, and I made the JV team. When I found out I made the team, I was very surprised. I hadn’t put in the hard work as others before tryouts came around, but the coach saw potential in me and that I can become a great player. The coach saw so much potential in me, that every week, I kept progressing in skill and fine tuning my mechanics. Halfway through the season, about 4 or 5 weeks after I made the team, my coach gave me the chance to play with the Varsity Golf team for a couple days. I was excited and eager to
Running into the gym with my team, knowing it was my last middle school basketball game, but first championship game I felt elated and truly blessed. My knees quivered with anticipation after seeing all the bleachers filled with people. After realizing even the press and other media was in attendance I grasped the moment like a newly elected president at his inauguration. I am warming up doing basketball drills, when I began to look at the flags on the gym wall depicting the history of the basketball team. The years and dates of the last championship game, Historically a championship game had not been won since 2007 . The more I stared at the flags, the more it made me want to win this game and make history in this gym. As the crowd and cheerleaders start to chant, cheer and get loud, I started to feel more comfortable and rowdy more than I had ever felt in any other game that I’ve played. Waiting for the referee to blow the whistle for jumpall to start. I felt my fingertips tapping the side of my leg, which for some reason gives me a sign to myself that I am pumped up and ready to play!
"I have some bad news. Kate will need to have surgery on her knee" said Dr. Cooper.
We knew we should not have been losing the game. The room was so silent that we could hear the old, leaky faucet as it dripped every few seconds. Our coach seemed flustered about how mediocre we seemed out on the court. An hour felt like it had passed before he gave us a lackadaisical pep talk and sent us back out to play the second half.
I had just finished basketball practice it was one of the hardest practices of my life because we were preparing for our tournament game tomorrow. I was tuckered out I began to walk toward the door, I tripped over my shoelaces I landed on the floor hard with a loud thunk everyone laughed except me. That when I noticed the water oozing through the big metal doors. I thought to myself I know it floods Sometimes ,but in the middle of June. That's when branches of an old oak crashed through one stain glass windows. “That was priceless one of the dads”, shouted. The branches were humongous and the biggest had landed on me!I struggle to get out from underneath the branch, but it was too big and my foot was shattered I couldn't move it I was stuck
The Warriors forced a game seven, will they be able to go in this game in crunch time and win their first NBA Title? The crowd is amazing at Oracle Arena, and here come the players with energy ready to pull out the win. As the first quarter started I was on the bench waited for my time to go in, man I'm ready!Yes, I'm finally in it's the second quarter and were down by three let's pull out the lead and win this game. It's halftime and were going into the locker room, as we go into the locker room I’m thinking to myself that we are going to win this game and we have the talent, so while coach is talking to us he is telling us just to keep our heads high and believe and we can pull out this win. It’s the end of halftime and were going out for