Chapter 12: Game Day Pt. 3

The gang arrived at school the next day. For the girls, they are all focused on school(of course) and today's game against Lovett High School home of the Lions. The team they're facing seems like a piece of cake for them, but they never said it would because they're all up for the challenge. For the boys, it's going smooth for them so far. They have practice today after school for tomorrow's game as it's gonna be a walk-thru today and they are also ready for the challenge.

After School

-Boys' Practice Session-

The boys are practicing in the Junior Varsity Gymnasium since they couldn't practice in their Varsity Gym because of the game the girls have, of course. Their practice won't last long because it's going to be a walk-thru for them because of their game tomorrow.

The boys did their usual drills; big guys on one end doing post moves and guards doing their shooting drills and on-ball defense and denial. Next, they went over their plays and execute them well.

Coach Chuck blued his whistle, "Alright guys, bring it in."

The boys gathered around center court of where Coach Chuck is at as he's starts to talk to his players. "Alright guys. Great walk-thru we had today. Everyone came to practice focused, did what they supposed to do, and execute the plays well. And by the looks of y'all faces, all are ready to play tomorrow. Am I right?" The boys confessed their opinions.

"Now after we break," said Coach Chuck, "I want all seniors stay where they at. And if y'all wanna watch the girls play, you're all welcome to go since y'all get in for free. Bring it in." Coach Chuck and the boys put their hands up as Coach Chuck said, "1, 2, 3, ..."

"WARRIORS." Said the boys. The boys, except the seniors, went to their locker room, packed and grabbed their stuff, and watch the girls play.

For the seniors, it's going to be the same speech of what Coach Vanilla addressed to her senior-players.

Coach Chuck starts the speech, "Now Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Antoine, Nack, Espio, and Sean. You guys will be playing, of what could be, y'all last game of y'all high school basketball careers. When you loose, you 7 seniors, maybe the laughing stock around the school. And I know y'all don't want that to happen. Tomorrow when game time starts, play your game, do what ever it takes, and we may win this game. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." The boys said.

Coach Chuck nodded his head, "Good. I'll see y'all later."

The 7 seniors went to their locker room, packed and grabbed their stuff, and went to the Varsity Gymnasium to watch the girls play.

-At the Game-

The girls are in their locker room putting their gears and/or uniforms on for their first game of the Region AA state tournament. After they were done, the girls took a seat of where Coach Vanilla is at as she starts addressing to her players.

"Okay girls. This is where it all begins, the start of the state tournament. This is the day we all have worked on; getting to the state championship. Before we can get there, we need to knock off every team of who we're facing in our region-state tournament bracket, to win the ultimate prize. By the looks of y'all faces, I see y'all are nervous. That's either okay for some of ya; I said that because you all have to show me by playing your game. Bring it in."

The girls got up, started clapping, and put their hands up.

Sally, their team leader, sounded off, "Lady Warriors on three. Will win on six. 1, 2, 3, ..."

"LADY WARRIORS." The rest of the girls said.

"4, 5, 6, ..." Said Sally.

"WILL WIN."

The girls walked out of their locker room, to the hallway, and arrived at their court. When they entered the gym, they see the gym is packed as the song We Ready by Archie Eversole came on.

Lovett Lady Lions starting 5 is Point Guard number 3 Hope Kintobar, Shooting Guard number 10 Crystal-La Echidna, Small Forward number 8 Julayla Chipmunk, Power Forward number 9 Marine Raccoon, and Center number 15 Matilda Armadillo (Mighty's sister). Their head coach is Hathor Cat.

When both teams were finishing doing their warm-ups and starting line-ups, the two teams went center court for the tip-off. The ref tossed the ball up, Bunnie tips it to Sally as the Lady Warriors won the tip, and the game starts.

Sally brings it up-court as she see the Lovett Lions are in a 2-3 zone. The girls run the Triangle Offense as Sally calls a play, "AYE. MOTION TRIANGLE. MOTION TRIANGLE." The players got into their spots with Julie-Su on the top-left corner, Sally stays in the middle, Blaze on the top-right corner, and Bunnie and Lien-Da on the free-throw line. Julie-Su comes up as Sally passed the ball to her. Sally cuts through the middle, then to left-corner three-point line, and stops. Bunnie slides down to the left block as Lien-Da stays at the middle of the free-throw line. While Julie-Su still has the ball, Blaze sets a screen on Lovett's number 3 Hope Kintobar as Lien-Da pops out. Julie-Su pass the ball to her sister, spots up for a three, . . . and makes it.

(Knothole 3, Lovett 0)

Hope brings the ball up-court as Blaze is gonna guard her for defensive problems with Knothole High playing man-to-man defense. Hope calls Marine for a pick and as the pick was set, Lien-Da came to get in-front of her and so did Blaze as they set up the double team. Hope tries to get out of it but Blaze pickpockets her from behind, sprints down court, took off from her left foot from close range in the paint, and did a two-hand-slam dunk.

(Knothole 5, Lovett 0)

Time Down Possession...

(Knothole 35, Lovett 11; 5:43 remaining in the 2nd quarter)

Blaze got the steal as she saw Lovett's Julayla Chipmunk running back down the court along with Julie-Su. Blaze kept going and going and went to the mid-range area, lobs it to Julie-Su. Julie-Su took off from her left foot from close range, caught it with her right hand and dunks it.

(Knothole 37, Lovett 11)

After the alley-oop slam by Julie-Su, the Lady Warriors went into their Diamond-Shaped-Full-Court trap; with Julie-Su guarding the inbounder, Blaze on the left, Nicole(who checked in for Sally) on the right, Sonia(who checked in for Lien-Da) in the middle, and Bunnie down back.

Lovett's Number 12 Martha Echidna(who checked in), inbound the ball to Hope. After she caught it, Blaze and Julie-Su came to trap her at the corner (the dangerous spot to get trapped at). Hope tries to throw the ball to Martha, but Julie-Su stole the ball, went to the paint, and did a lay-up.

(Knothole 39, Lovett 11)

Time Down Possession...

(Knothole 48, Lovett 27; 7:43 remaining in the 3rd quarter)

Sally has the ball as Bunnie sets a screen for Nicole. Sally pass the ball to Nicole on the top-left corner of the three-point line. She catches it, sets her feet, later saw Bunnie's defender coming, and pulls up for three. While she released her jump shot and Bunnie's defender tries to block it, Nicole's right ankle landed on the opponent's left foot and sprained her ankle. She made the three-point shot, but fell on the hardwood floor holding her right ankle.

(Knothole 51, Lovett 27)

The referee blew the whistle to stop the play as the ref sees Nicole is on the floor holding her right ankle. The players and coaching staff on Knothole High's bench knew what happened anyway. Coach Vanilla and Coach Aleena bend their knees so they can see Nicole eye-to-eye.

Coach Aleena asked Nicole, "What's wrong Nicole?"

"My ankle Coach. That girl 'Bruce Bowen-ed'* me." Coach Aleena helped Nicole off the floor, to the bench.

While Coach Aleena is helping Nicole walk to the bench, Coach Vanilla called Amy to take her place.

Sim To the End of the Game...

The game is over as the Knothole High's Lady Warriors won their first state tournament game against Lovett High's Lady Lions the score 87 to 65, winning by 22. Their leading scorer was Julie-Su; she had 29 points, along with 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 5 steals. Sally had 18 points, along with 9 assists and 5 steals. Bunnie had 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 blocks. Lien-Da had 10 points and 14 rebounds. Blaze had 11 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds; but her key factor of the game was her defense as she had 4 steals and 3 blocks.

The role players played well as Amy was the leading scorer off the bench with 15 points, along with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal. Mina had 12 points and 2 steals.

After the Game,

-In the Girls Locker Room-

The girls all congratulated themselves of their first win in the state tournament. For Nicole, she suffers a Grade 2 Severed Ankle Aprain and is out for about 3-4 weeks.

Coach Vanilla is now calling her player, "Alright girls bring it in." The girls all have gathered around Coach Vanilla as she addresses to her players. "Alright girls, great job for today's win. But don't get too ahead of yourselves because we all got a long way to go. Hands up ladies."

The girls all clapped, put their hands up as Sally has something to say, as a team leader, "Make sure everyone go home safely and stay out of trouble alright. 1, 2, 3, ..."

"WARRIORS." Said the girls.

The girls packed all their stuff and headed out to see either their parents, friends, or boyfriend. Wave walked to where Jet and Storm are at. Amy walked to where her uncle Robert Hedgehog and her boyfriend Sonic are at. Sonia and Coach Aleena walked to where Manic is at as they see Sonic is with his girlfriend Amy. Lien-Da and Julie-Su walked to where Knuckles and Sean are at. Mina walked to where her mother and Tails, her boyfriend, are at. Blaze walked to where her parents, along with Silver, are at. Bunnie walked to where her uncle and aunt, along with her husband Antoine, are at. Cream walked with her mother/head coach Coach Vanilla. And Tikal, Nicole, and Sally, walked to where their parents are at.

Everyone were having their friendly conversations about the game they had and their personal businesses. After that they all walked out of the school building, went to their cars, and drove to their destinations.

The Next Day,

-Game Day For the Boys-

The next day came as the boys are hosting Jefferson High School home of the Dragons. Their starting five is: at Point Guard number 3 Jack Rabbit**, Shooting Guard number 22 Jolt the Roadrunner**, Small Forward number 15 Shift Wolf**, Power Forward number 32 Thrash the Tasmanian Devil**, and at Center number 34 Avery the Bear**. Their head coach is Abraham Tower***.

The boys are in their locker room putting their gears and/or uniforms on for their first game of the Region AA state tournament. Except Silver because of the knee injury.

After they were done, the boys took a seat of where Coach Chuck is at as he starts addressing to his players. "Okay guys. This is where it all begins, the start of the state tournament. This is the day we all have worked on; getting to the state championship. Before we can get there, we need to knock off every team of who we're facing in our region-state tournament bracket, to win the ultimate prize. By the looks of y'all faces, I see y'all are nervous. That's okay. I said that because you all have to show me by playing your game. Bring it in."

The boys got up, started clapping, and put their hands up as Sonic, the team leader, sounded off, "Warriors on three. Will win on six. 1, 2, 3, ..."

"WARRIORS." The rest of the boys said.

"4, 5, 6, ..." Said Sonic.
"WILL WIN."

The boys walked out of their locker room, to the hallway, and arrived at their court as Silver will be at the bench because of the knee injury he have.

(A/N: read Chapter 8 to know what happened to Silver's right knee; if you don't remember or you skipped the chapter)

Just like the girls from the other day, when they entered the gym, they see the gym is packed as the song We Ready by Archie Eversole came on.

When both teams were finishing doing their warm-ups and starting line-ups, the two teams went center court for the tip-off. The ref tossed the ball up, Storm tips it to Sonic as the Warriors won the tip, and the game starts.

Sonic brings it up-court as he see the Jefferson Dragons are in a 2-3 zone. The boys run the Princeton Offense as Sonic calls a play, "AYE. PRINCETON MOTION. PRINCETON MOTION." The players got into their spots with Shadow on the top-left corner, Sonic stays in the middle, Jet on the top-right corner, Knuckles at the left-corner of the three-point line, and Storm at the right-corner of the three-point line. Sonic pass the ball to Jet. Sonic cuts through the middle, puts his hand up to see will he get the pass, but he didn't. Jet threw the ball to Shadow when came to the middle along with Knuckles as he stops at the the top-left corner and Sonic is now at the left-corner three-point line. With Shadow still having the ball, Jet slides down to the right-corner three-point line as Storm slides down to the right block, calls for the ball, doesn't get it so he goes to the free-throw line. Knuckles cuts to the left-block as Storm sets a screen on Jefferson's Jack Rabbit for Sonic to come. Sonic ran to the middle of the three-point line, Shadow pass the ball to him, Sonic catches it, sets his feet, pulls up for a three, and makes it.

(Knothole 3, Jefferson 0)

Jack brings the ball up-court as Jet is gonna guard him for defensive problems with Knothole High playing man-to-man defense. He calls Avery for a pick and as the pick was set, Knuckles came to get in-front of him but Jack swerve out of his way and drove. But little does he know, Jet pickpockets him getting his first steal in the game. He looked up-court and sees Sonic. Jet threw the ball to him as Sonic dribbles to the paint, took off from his right foot, and finishes with the two-hand-backscratching slam dunk. As Sonic has all of Knothole High's 5 points.

(Knothole 5, Jefferson 0)

Time Down Possession...

(Knothole 35, Jefferson 20; 5:43 remaining in the 2nd quarter)

Jefferson High has the ball as Jack, their Point Guard, called an Isolation as he's now being guarded by Sonic after the switch from Shadow. He took his time as now starts to go by doing an in-'n-out-crossover that kinda shook Sonic, pulls up for a shot, and makes it.

Jack scowled at Sonic and told him, "D' up, motherfucka."

(Knothole 35, Jefferson 22)

Sonic heard what he said. "Oh hell naw. It's own now." Sean, who checked in, inbound the ball to Sonic as he told Sean, "Aye Sean, I'm finna Iso. Tell them to go to the other side of the court."

"Alright. I figured that's gonna happened." Sean was 4 feet away from Sonic when the Isolation of Jack versus Sonic took place. He looked in his eyes and knew it's gonna be one hell of a match-up.

Sonic and Sean crossed half-court as Sean told the players to spread out while Sonic is gonna have a one-on-one match-up against Jack Rabbit.

Sonic checked to see is Jack is not 3 feet in-front of him, good thing for him because in high school, they have a 5 second rule of handling the ball between 3 feet from the defender. Sonic walks up to him, does a size-up-crossover to the left, crosses between his legs to the right, and quickly crosses back to his left completing the killer-crossover, and made Jack slip and fall into a split position causing an ankle breaker. After Sonic's ankle breaker, he went to the basket, saw the defender coming to take a charge but came late as Sonic gathers himself, rises up off of two feet, cocks both of his hands back, the whistle blew, and Sonic dunks on him.

(Knothole 37, Lovett 22)

Sonic looked at Jack, sees him on the floor holding his groin, and told him, "D' that you sorry-ass-motherfucker." Even though Sonic's personality is Laid Back, he's calm and serious as hell in basketball with that killer instinct.

The whole gym erupted and laughed of the play Sonic created: the killer-crossover, the ankle breaker, and the STRONG finish. The players from Knothole's bench jumped out of their seat and held each other off of the play Sonic created.

For Jack, however, he is on the floor holding his groin because he slipped and ended up doing a split. He later got subbed out because of his injury.

Sonic went to the free-throw line and completed the three-point-play.

(Knothole 38, Lovett 22)

Sim To the End of the Game...

The game is over as the Knothole High's Warriors won their first state tournament game against Jefferson High's Dragons the score 85 to 65; winning by 20. Their leading scorer was Sonic; he had 22 points, along with 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 5 steals. Shadow had 18 points, along with 9 assists and 5 steals. Storm had 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 blocks. Knuckles had 10 points and 14 rebounds. And Jet had 8 points and 2 steals.

The role players played well as Sean was the leading scorer off the bench with 15 points, along with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal. Tails had 12 points and 4 assists.

After the Game

-In the Boys Locker Room-

The boys all congratulated themselves of their first win in the state tournament. For Sonic, he created the best ankle breaker he had ever did in his basketball-life.

Coach Chuck told his players, "Alright guys bring it in." The boys all have gathered around Coach Chuck as he addresses to his players.

"Alright guys, great job for today's win. But don't get too ahead of yourselves because we all got a long way to go. And Sonic," he smiled to his nephew, points to him, and said, "great play you did." The guys all cheered with joy of the play Sonic did.

"Alright guys" said Coach Chuck, "lets get out of here. Hands up fellas." The boys all clapped, put their hands up as Sonic, their team leader, has something to say. "Great game everyone. Make sure everyone go home safely and stay out of trouble alright. 1, 2, 3, ..."

"WARRIORS." Said the boys.

The boys packed all their stuff and headed out to see either their parents, friends, or girlfriend.

Everyone were having their friendly conversations about the game they had and their personal businesses. After that, they all walked out of the school building, went to their cars, and drove to their destinations.

End of Chapter 12

(*) Go to YouTube and look up Vince Carter injuring his ankle on Bruce Bowen's foot after a contested-shot.

(**) From the Sand-Blasters.

(***) Abraham Tower, if you all know, is the Chief Commander of Guardian Units of the Nation(G.U.N./GUN).