Chapter 146: Grit

Once again Jason was standing on the familiar grounds of the Pauley Pavilion. Their was a tangible excitement floating in the air as Jason took in the sight.

His hair was tied up into a man bun as he wore the headband that Kyle's mom had made. It had become a tradition of sorts to wear it to all of their games ever since they received them.

Jason redid the laces on his shoes as he sat on the bench. He stood up and checked the bottom of his sneakers with his hands.

He was checking to make sure that their traction was still good 'Damn! This is a new pair and the bottoms are already wearing out.

Guess I can't be too surprised. I always put a good amount of mileage on all of my shoes.' Jason then began to stretch.

After a few minutes of stretching he made his way to portion of the court where the other guys from Jefferson were warming up.

Everyone extended their fist out as they saw Jason walking over. Jason bumped their fists back with his own.

No one said a word but they all understood each other. On their faces were serious expressions.

It wasn't that they were worried or scared. But everyone knew that tonight would be tough because of the lack of rest.

But they also knew that it would only get tougher as the tournament went on. Their number one goal was to survive in the tournament long enough for Kyle to come back healthy.

Everyone's focus was razor sharp as they got their shots up. Udonis was practicing his post moves while Vince was practicing his post defense against him, Matt and Nick were taking some threes from the corners, and Trell was doing a little bit of everything as he tried to get his body ready for the game.

Jason started dribbling and taking shots as he imagined a defender in front of him. He imagined that he was going against himself.

'Move, counter move, fake, slide to the left.' Inside of Jason's head the only thing that was happening was a simulation of a late game situation.

'Three seconds left on the clock. 3, 2, 1.' Jason dribbled inside out with his right before stepping back for a three. The ball hit nothing but net as it then fell to the ground.

After a few minutes the clock buzzed indicating the start of the game. Both teams lined up as they shook hands.

The teams then got into position as the referee raised the ball for the tip off. Udonis was focused on the ball as he stood in front of the opposing team's Center.

Even though he tried his best to time the jump Udonis ended up losing the tip off. The opposing team's Center looked to be about the same height as Kyle and he looked fairly athletic.

- - -

At the scorer's table there were some familiar faces as Tony was once again sitting with Cameron and Randel.

Tony smiled at the camera "Hello ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for tuning in to the first game of the second round for the state tournament.

I'm back with Cameron and Randel who will be here to give me their perspective as players on today's game.

Thanks for coming again guys. How are you two doing?" Cameron was the first to answer "I'm doing great Tony thanks for asking.

As soon as I heard that it would be Jefferson playing today I just had to say yes to coming in today."

Randel added "Too be honest I only came here to watch Jason. There are no expectations for Riverside this year and Mt. Shashta is just another school from a small county just like Hill Crest.

Ima keep it straight Mt. Shashta just got lucky in the drawings. If they didn't get the free spot in the second round then they would have been bounced out in the first game.

And they got lucky again. Jefferson might be the only team that they actually have a chance of beating.

Even though they don't have the talent to compete with most teams their competition tonight has a fatal weakness."

Cameron nodded his head in agreement "That's true. Jefferson had to expend a lot of energy in their last game.

And one day of rest isn't enough for their players to get fully charged. Jefferson is going to be going into today's game with a half tank.

Not to mention that Jason had to play the entire game. So if he's off just by a little bit then it could be a disaster for Jefferson."

- - -

The first quarter was completely in Jefferson's favor as they scored efficiently and at their own pace.

They mixed things up by running their offense through Udonis in the post and then switching out to Jason in the perimeter.

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The fact that their offense kept changing forced Mt. Shashta to stay on their toes. They couldn't really get used to the flow of Jefferson's offense.

While on defense Jefferson was able to slow down the opposing team. They tried to get a favorable match up by forcing Jefferson's Bigs into switching on to their perimeter players.

But to their surprise both Udonis and Trell were more than able to hold their own against their perimeter players.

Trell had originally been a Small Forward so the fact that he was good at defending on the perimeter should have come as no surprise.

Udonis on the other hand was a big shock to both the opposing team and to the audience. His wide and husky frame gave the impression of someone that was strong in the post but slow and uncoordinated on the perimeter.

However that couldn't be further from the truth. That description might have been accurate if they were talking about the Udonis from the beginning of the season.

But after months of playing and training alongside Jason Udonis had actually cut down on his weight as he sculpted his body into a condition that was more suited to playing modern basketball.

Even though his naturally wide frame made it impossible to look slim he was in a lot better shape compared to how he was at the beginning of the season.

He had better balance, body control, lateral speed, and he was far more coordinated now. Combined with all the advice and pointers that he had gotten from Jason on playing defense on the perimeter he was now a far more versatile player in terms of his defense.

Although he was worlds apart from Kyle's ability to lock down threats on the perimeter and protect the paint, Udonis was now able to defend on multiple levels.

Not only that. There were more factors that allowed Jefferson to run this kind of defense. The first thing that made things easier for Udonis to switch out on to the perimeter players on the opposing team was the fact that they honestly weren't that much of a threat from outside. 

Their handles were slightly above average and their shooting was decent but it wasn't enough to overwhelm Udonis.

He gave the perimeter players a bit of space in order to prevent them from driving past him easily.

But because of his height advantage and his long arms Udonis was still able to contest the shots fairly well on the occasions where they tried to fire off a jumper.

The flow of the game stayed the same in the second quarter. But in the beginning of the third quarter was when things started to take a turn for the worse.

Their tired legs started to show as they began allowing more and more drives to the basket. Udonis' feet began to slow down as he was getting beat off the dribble more and more often.

Even Trell was beginning to show signs of fatigue as he had to run to catch up with his defensive assignments after getting beat initially.

The lead that Jefferson had built in the first half got cut in half as the score was 55 to 48 as the third quarter came to a close.

- - -

Tony had a slight smile on his face as he turned to Cameron and Randel "Well looks like you two were right.

Jefferson came out of the gates strong but as the game went on their performance began to dip further and further down.

What do you need to see out of Mt. Shashta if they want to win the game Cameron?" Cameron paused for a second as he thought about the question.

"I think that if Mt. Shashta wants to win then they need to come out strong to start the fourth quarter.

They need to take advantage of Jefferson's fatigue and crush their spirit as soon as possible. If they let Jefferson hang around for too long then they risk giving Jason more and more opportunities to take over the game."

Randel lazily looked up as he added "You right about that Cam. Jason strikes me as the kind of player that just has the ability to take over a game if you give him the smallest opportunity.

Letting Jefferson hang around is like keeping a sword hangin over yo neck. The threat is real and the threat is there.

They need to sink their ship quick if they want to come out with the dub tonight. But unlike you guys I don't think Mt. Shashta has a chance."

Tony and Cameron looked at Randel in confusion. Certainly right now Jefferson had a small lead.

But just one look a their bench and it was clear to see that they were completely exhausted. Even Jason looked like he was on his last leg.

Randel chuckled before pointing to Jason "Take a look at the dudes eyes. He look like a wolf starin down his pray.

No matter how tired a wolf is a sheep ain't got no chance of turnin the tables around. Just cause the wolf tired don't mean that his fangs dissapeared.

A tired wolf is still capable of lungin for yo throat haha."

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