Chapter 142: First game of the state tournament: A dramatic finish!

As the second quarter came to a close Jason and the rest of the guys made their way to their bench.

As he took a seat Jason took a look around and saw that everyone was breathing hard. He took a gulp of water from his sports bottle.

'Shit! We were short handed before but now it's even worse. None of us can get a rest and it's starting to show.

The guys are taking a hit to their game because of the fatigue. I've been working on my conditioning nonstop and even I'm starting to feel tired. I can't imagine how everyone else is feeling.'

Ms. Yuller helped pass around towels and fresh sports bottles after the guys finished the water in theirs.

She knew that she couldn't help much as a coach but she wanted to do what she could to help "That was a wonder half gentlemen. If we keep this up we will surely win."

Udonis saw that other than Jason everyone else had their heads hanging down tiredly. He stood up and spoke.

"I thought you guys were the Riverside county champions. You ain't looking like it right now. You gon hang your heads like that cause you a little tired?!"

Everyone raised their heads and turned to Udonis after hearing him raise his voice "This ain't what winners look like.

Right now I'm getting pissed seeing you guys with your heads down. Pick your heads up and play with some heart!

We told Kyle that we would keep on winnin until he got better. Did you guys forget about that?"

Everyone seemed to have caught a second wind as the fire in their eyes that had died down reignited.

They all answered in unison "NO!" Udonis smiled after seeing their reaction "That's the spirit. Let's keep on playing hard and get that dub!"

The guys all cheered with passion. Just as they were beginning to quiet down the clock buzzed indicating the end of the break.

Jason got up and looked at the guys "Let's start the third quarter off with some spirit. We'll go with me at Point, Nick at the 2 spot, Matt at Small Forward, Trell at Power Forward, and Vince at Center."

The guys all nodded their heads in agreement as Jason and the rest of the guys then made their way back to the court.

Vince inbounded the ball to Jason who then began to dribble his way up the court. As he crossed half court the opposing team's Point Guard began to guard him tightly.

Jason thought in his mind 'Still haven't learned your lesson huh?' Jason drove right with the defender on his hip.

Seeing Jason and his defender coming toward him Matt prepared himself to set a screen. But right before they made contact Jason stepped on the breaks and changed directions.

Jason's defender had not been expecting the change in direction so he ended up hitting Matt's screen while Matt's defender had been preparing to switch after the screen so he was in a bad position to close out on Jason who had decided to not use the screen.

As all of this was happening Jason stepped back to make sure that he was behind the three point line. He then got into his smooth and textbook shooting form as he let the three ball fly.

With his right hand up from the follow through he along with the rest of the crowd in the arena watched as the ball traveled through the air.

After what almost seemed like a few seconds the ball swished cleanly through the net. Jason held up three fingers on his right hand as he smiled toward the excited crowd.

Matt ran up to him as the two of them bumped hips as they jumped into the air. Matt high fived Jason before slapping him on the shoulder "Nice shot bro!"

Jason laughed as they both made their way back on defense "But that screen was pretty nice too bro. That shot was a two man effort."

On defense Jason gave the opposing team's Point Guard space but he kept him within arms reach as he guarded him.

Jason was daring him to shoot 'If you think you can pull the trigger faster than I can close out on you then go for it.'

The Point Guard seemed to be thinking of taking the shot as he stood hesitantly out on the perimeter.

But after a second he decided not to as he called out a play. Jason yelled out as he pointed out the screen being set for the player that Matt was guarding.

Matt heard Jason's voice but as he tried to hop in front of the screener to cheat the screen he felt his legs getting heavy as his movement slowed down.

That moment of delay was enough for his defensive assignment to move from the corner out to the top of the perimeter.

Vince saw that the player was wide open so he left his defensive assignment to run out from the paint to the perimeter toward him.

The player on the wing caught the ball and saw Vince running toward him. He then passed the ball to their Center that had been left alone in the paint.

Trell was close by and as he saw the pass coming to the opposing team's Center he left his defensive assignment in order to protect the paint.

The Center caught the ball but before he could get the shot up Trell had managed to run his way toward him and was now defending with his arms up.

The Center knew that if Trell was here guarding him then that meant that their Power Forward was wide open.

He passed the ball to the right where their Power Forward was standing. He caught the pass and took the wide open mid range baseline jumper.

Trell tried his best to switch back on to his original assignment as he ran at top speed. Just as the ball was about to leave his hand Trell managed to get his hand in his face.

As Trell's momentum carried him past the opposing team's Power Forward he looked back to watch the ball.

The shot ended up bouncing off of the rim but the Center had no competition as he got the offensive rebound and put the ball back up for the easy basket.

Unfortunately this marked the beginning of Jefferson's downfall. As the quarter progressed Jefferson's players only got more tired while Hill Crest was able to keep their players fresh by rotating their roster at every opportunity.

The strategy that had once helped them beat Nashton Academy was now being used against them as Hill Crest did their best to speed up the tempo of the game.

On offense everyone was clearly showing signs of fatigue as Nick and Matt were missing wide open shots while Vince and Trell's runs to the rim were clearly not as ferocious as before.

On defense even with Jason calling out the plays and directing the guys their legs were just too tired to defend at the same level that they were doing so during the first quarter.

- - -

Both teams were sitting at their respective benches as the third quarter had just finished up. 

Back at the scorers table Tony was smiling as he talked with Cameron and Randel "What a turn around by Hill Crest.

They came into the third down by 12 points but now with a score of 52-54 they have managed to gain the lead.

Jefferson was held to their lowest scoring quarter since the beginning of the season as they were held to just 10 points in the third.

What did you guys see out there from Hill Crest that really impressed you?" Cameron was the first to answer.

"I was impressed by their discipline on defense. They moved their feet and kept their hands up the whole time. I didn't see any of their players taking a possession off."

Randel laughed "That's real easy to do when you go through all twelve players on your roster. 

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I feel bad for Jason man. He had the double teams coming that entire quarter. And it's not like he wasn't making the pass to the open man.

His teammates just couldn't make Hill Crest pay for leaving them open. And even when he was getting defended one on one his defenders could go all out knowing that they would get to rest after getting subbed out.

That made the defenders even peskier. The impressive part to me was the fact that Jason was able to score 10 points by himself.

He was the only one from Jefferson that managed to score in the third quarter. Hill Crest did the smart thing and pushed the tempo to force Jefferson to run and spend more energy.

My head would be all types of hot right now if I was Jason. He tryin his best to carry and he can't get nothin outta his teammates.

If they don't start carryin they own weight in the fourth then it's a wrap. First round bounce." After listening to what Randel had to say Cameron added.

"I don't think it's fair to put so much blame on those kids Randel. They have a 7 man rotation going against a team with a full 12 man roster.

Not too mention that it's only been a few days since the county tournament finished up. These kids have been playing nonstop basketball.

They really haven't had a chance to rest so now the fatigue is getting to them. I'm honestly just surprised that Jason has managed to play the entire game so far."

- - -

As bad as the third quarter was the fourth quarter proved to be even worse as Hill Crest continued to run and gun their way through offense.

Even if they missed the shot they didn't seem to care as long as they were forcing Jefferson to keep up with them.

And the tired legs on Jefferson began to fully show themselves as the guys began to make easy mistakes such as making unnecessary fouls and losing their assignments on off ball movements.

On offense it continued to be a one man show from Jason as he willed the team to score.

Tony was excitedly looking at to the court "It's Jason with the ball. He just crossed half court and the double team is coming to him already.

He passes it to one of his teammates on the wing before the double team can arrive. He faked to the right as though he were going for the hand off but he's cutting to the basket!

The wing player tossed the overhead lob pass to Jason as he continues his attack. The Center moves up in order to contain Jason but he tosses the floater up before he can get there! And that's Jefferson for 2!"

With only 40 seconds left on the clock Jason began to dribble the ball up the court. His legs felt like they were made of lead and his sides were aching from how hard he was breathing.

Somehow Jason had managed to keep the game close as Jefferson was only down by 1 with a score of 66-67.

This had been a low scoring game but the degree of difficulty was the highest out of any game Jason had played since coming back in time.

Jason called out a play as he then passed the ball to Matt. Jason didn't really believe that they would get a good look out of the play but he ran it anyway so that he could get a moment to catch his breathe.

Jason had played every minute of the game. He didn't sit down on the bench except for the half time break and the break in between quarters.

After using up ten seconds Jason called for the ball back as he stood out on the top of the perimeter.

Jason took a look at the clock as he began his attack '28 seconds. I can do this. You got this man, you got it.'

Jason saw a defender come off of Matt as they tried to double team him. Before that could happen Jason drove left.

With his defender on his hip and another one on his way toward him Jason had to make his move and fast.

Jason put his head down and tucked his shoulders in as he tried to bump the defender off of him.

Despite the contact the defender was able to stay with him as he kept his hands up and shuffled his feet. Jason thought in his mind 'Now's the time. Activate badge Ankle Breaker!'

Jason stopped and took one hard dribble before giving his defender a slight push before stepping back for the mid range jump shot.

The angle was just right so the referee couldn't see the small push that Jason did as he stepped back.

The crowd held their breathe as they watched the ball on its way to the basket. One bounce, two bounce, three bounce, after what seemed to be an eternity the ball fell over and dropped through the net.

A portion of the crowd erupted into frenzied cheers as Jefferson was now up 68 to 67 with just 20 seconds left on the clock. It was just a one point lead but one point was all they needed.

Udonis yelled out in a final attempt to squeeze whatever energy was left in the team "Just one more possession guys! JUST ONE MORE!"

That seemed to have worked as the guys gave a spirited yell in response "JUST ONE MORE!" They guys ran like there was no tomorrow as they wrung themselves dry of whatever juice was left in their systems.

They fought through screens, stuck with their assignments as they ran around the court and they kept their hands and their feet active as they swarmed their opponents.

Through sheer effort alone they were able to eat up ten seconds from the clock. During one of the plays Jason ended up switched on the opposing team's Small Forward.

He seemed to have a three inch size advantage against Jason as he stood at 5'8 (1.72m). He tried to lose Jason with his handles but even in his tired state Jason showed off his elite defensive prowess. 

With Just five seconds on the clock the Small Forward drove in the direction where his teammate was setting a screen for him.

Jason's fatigue finally showed as he failed to fight through the screen. His legs faltered at the decisive moment causing him to get caught up in the screen.

The small Forward found himself wide open as he took the mid range jump shot from the top of the free throw line.

He was relieved to see that there weren't any defender near him as he got into his shooting motion. 

But just as the ball was about to reach his release point he felt a pressure press down on the ball.

At that moment he knew who it was but he couldn't accept it 'Is it him? But how could he? How did he recover so fast? He hit the screen head on!'

He fell to his butt as the clock buzzed indicating the end of the game. Right next to him on the floor was Jason as he laid down with a huge smile on his face.

- - -

Tony was at the scorers table commentating "Jefferson is playing defense like their lives depend on it.

Hill Crest resets their offense as their Small Forward stares down Jason at the top of the perimeter.

Oh no Jason hits the screen head on! Now's their chance to win the game! Hill Crest with the mid range jumper!

And it's blocked! Jason came from behind and blocked the shot right as it was about to fly! The game is over folks! What an incredible play from Jason!

Jefferson wins the game! Jefferson wins!"

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