Chapter 198: The Field House

Wednesday, January 18th, Afternoon

A particular type of monotony had settled into her life. The same thing happened every day in the same order. Since she had things shut down, one of her few releases was here on the parquet floor of the field house.

Brett Pierce-Burke stood in her spot in the team circle. She looked to her left, and her friend Baylee Miller stood there in her place. To Brett's right, as always, stood her other best friend, Avril Popova. Across from her stood Coach Scott, with Coach Sinclair on his right, and Coach Pierce-Burke to his left.

"How are we all feeling today?" Coach Scott asked.

"Good," Brett said, and it became lost in the intermixed chorus of the team answering him. Coach Scott looked them over and nodded his head. His left hand reached out, and Coach Pierce-Scott handed him a clipboard. He looked it over.

"Well, we have an extra game Saturday, it's the re-schedule of that postponed game," Coach Scott said, which was followed by a chorus of groans.

"Good way to be excited," Coach Scott said, "So, today we're going to scrimmage. The first team versus the second team," he paused, "And please don't be so excited, let's go." He handed the clipboard back to Coach Pierce-Scott and clapped his hands, "Come on, let's go!"

The team headed towards their spots on the court. Brett found her place and looked across to her opposite number, her backup Flannery O'Brien. The strawberry blonde looked Brett over. They nodded and turned to look at the two centers, Avril and her backup Evalyn Lopez.

Coach Scott tossed the ball up. Avril and Evalyn leaped up after the ball. They slapped at the ball, and it went flying to a set of players. Jade Loyal and Cameron Garcia fought among themselves for the ball.

Cameron snagged the ball and threw it over to Gracelyn Cooper, the backup point guard. Everyone ran down the court end, where the first team was defending.

Brett tried to box out Flannery. Like a lizard, she tried to keep an eye on Flannery and the other on the ball. Gracelyn brought the ball up and yelled, "Delta!"

Nodding, Brett knew it was the triangle; they always run the triangle. That meant the ball will, or should, follow the path of least of resistance. All Brett had to do was keep the ball out of Flannery's hand and the paint.

Gracelyn couldn't find an outlet for the pass; she chose to drive for the basket. Brett knew that Gracelyn had no right hand. Brett also knew that Gracelyn would expect Flannery to block her out. Into the paint, Gracelyn pushed and moved out of the way of Avril and Evalyn. Gracelyn kept heading towards the basket.

Brett started a count in her head. When she reached the number she determined she needed to move at, she moved. Twisting around Flannery, Brett got free enough to reach out and pop the ball loose from Gracelyn's control. Jade drove for the loose ball and snagged it.

In a moment, the ball went out towards Baylee. The starting shooting guard received the ball, cradled it, and turned away from Corynn. Faye Ambrose, the starting point guard, broke loose of the mess and headed down the court in time to get the pass from Baylee.

Brett didn't even catch her breath; gears shifted into offensive mode. Her movement was all downhill now; Brett turned and was quickly down the court. The second string was no slouch and was also down the court, preventing the fast break.

It was a simple bounce pass, right into the hands of a charging Brett. With a quick hip swing, she dodged Corynn and went directly to the hoop. It was a simple layup, but it was just enough to put points on the board.

The gears were shifting again as she kept going towards the other end of the court. On the sideline, Coach Scott nodded and watched his redheaded power forward.

"What do you think?" Coach Pierce-Scott asked.

"Never had a problem with her ability, or her play, we're still trying to get her not relay on her talent," Coach Scott said.

"That's hard to do," Coach Pierce-Scott said.

"Not everyone is like that, Coach," Coach Pierce-Scott said.

"Just if she worked as hard as Angela, she'd be unstoppable," Coach Scott said.

"Whoa, bringing out the big guns," Coach Pierce-Scott said.

"No, that would be Candi," Coach Scott said.

"The White Mumba?" Coach Pierce-Scott asked, "Well, believe me, I'm trying to do the same thing with her school work."

Coach Sinclair walked over, "Plotting to take over the world?" she asked.

"No, trying to unlock more of Brett's potential," Coach Pierce-Scott said.

"Are you thinking of pulling an archangel?" Coach Sinclair said.

"An Archangel?" Coach Pierce-Scott asked.

"Not sure," Coach Scott said.

"Bringing in a player to work against her," Coach Sinclair said.

"Brett would eat that up," Coach Pierce-Scott said, "She's learned from the most dominate elite players from here."

Coach Scott nodded as he watched Brett reject a shot. "There has to be someone," Coach Scott mused.

"There's someone," Coach Sinclair said.

Coach Scott nodded, "And she's still in good shape," he said.

"No," Coach Pierce-Scott said, "Brett learned from her in the beginning."

"There's one thing that trumps talent," Coach Scott said and watched Brett rebound the ball and passes it out to Baylee for a three-point shot.

"Preparation and dedication to preparation," Coach Pierce-Scott said, "I've read The Mumba Mentality."

"There are only three people I know that fits that category," Coach Sinclair said.

"Yeah, one is coaching, the one Brett knows too well, and well she knows and the other she learned from," Coach Pierce-Scott said.

"We know Brett, and we know these people," Coach Scott said.

"So?" Coach Pierce-Scott asked, and Brett sank a deep three-pointer.

"She's not above gamesmanship, do you really think she taught Brett everything she knows, or she stopped learning?" Coach Scott asked.

"So, what are you thinking?" Coach Sinclair asked.

"Gracelyn and Faye could use some help learning the point or getting better. We could bring someone in to work with them for a practice or two," Coach Scott said.

"You're not thinking?" Coach Pierce-Scott asked.

"He is," Coach Sinclair said with a smile.

"She worked with some of the best, and taught an NBA player to run the point," Coach Scott said.

"Do you think she'll do it?" Coach Pierce-Scott asked.

"We could always ask," Coach Scott said.

"Why not? If we could improve two or more players at it, so much better," Coach Sinclair said.

"Okay, I'll ask her," Coach Scott said, and turned back to the game.

"How bad is it?" Coach Sinclair asked.

"How bad is the score?" Coach Pierce–Scott asked.

"How bad is it?" Coach Sinclair asked.

"Not as bad as you think," Coach Scott said.

"Brett's running the court," Coach Sinclair said.

"The second string is only down by two," Coach Scott said.

"Are we ready for the game?" Coach Pierce-Scott asked.

Coach Scott nodded and blew his whistle, which meant practice was over.