Chapter 254 Fifty-two

Thursday, January 26th, Afternoon

Its early afternoon, which meant lunch and watching the latest episode on the school website. Situated behind her desk, with the earbuds in her ears, she got comfortable, took a few bites out of her lunch, and started the video. The usual buffering took place, which gave Ashlyn more time to eat before the show began.

The buffering ended, and the episode started to play with the title card saying a Tree Hill High School AV Production in association with the Tree Hill High School Athletic Department. The standard opening filled the computer's monitor's screen; Ashlyn partially checked out, so she could eat her lunch. Finally, she returned to the episode when the refrain, now so familiar to her ears.

(Song Lyrics in Italics)

I

Will

Be

I Will Be Heard

The opening credits ended and faded to the Tree Hill High School Studio. Sitting behind the desk, ever predicable, is Trey Terthero.

"Hello, I'm Trey Terthero, and this is Be Heard: A Championship Defined. Today as we're winding down our series, we finish up with the last of the Wonder Freshmen today. Of the four athletes, she was the first one to break in the lineup regularly and the tallest. Often seen coming off the bench during the season, she started two games at power forward when Devyn Brice missed games because of an illness. Let's hear this story today on fifty-two," Trey said.

Devyn was the first on the screen, as always in her living room. "Jas," she said.

Next on the screen was Anna sitting in the field house. "Jas," she said.

Monica appeared on the monitor; next, she was at the River Court. "The Jas," she said.

Kay's turn was next, as always, sitting in her Chicago apartment. "Jas," she said.

The woman in European Sports Livery was next on the screen. "Got to have the Jas," she said.

Coach Sinclair, in the Coach's Office, looked at the camera. "Jas had all the physical gifts you could see. She was tall, strong, and quick; she would be a hell of an asset if she had any basketball skills," Coach Sinclair said, "She did, and we went to work with the raw material we had."

Coach Scott was next on the screen, sitting in the bleachers of the field house. "Jas was very close to game ready when she walked into the gym. Jas was an upgrade from Ashton as Devyn's backup. Don't get me wrong, Ashton is one of my favorite players, but Jas was a better player. Eventually, I started having her learn the center position as well, which she did well at as well," he said.

The screen changed to the black-haired woman standing at the River Court. She looked across the river at the downtown buildings. Finally, she turned to the camera and smiled.

"I came in, and suddenly I was in the rotation at power forward, and soon also joined the rotation at the center as well. My biggest playing time came against Olympic when I played the fast center. It was a fun freshman season. I'm Jaslyn Trafford; I'm a physical education teacher at Tree Hill High School. Back in my freshman year, I was a backup power forward and center, and I was number fifty-two," she said.

The screen changed to game footage of the regular-season matchup against Olympic. Jaslyn was running down the court with Kay, Angela, Cara, and Faith, the so-called Cerberus Lineup. Jaslyn and Angela were the tallest players in Tree Hill's lineup. Under the hoop, Jaslyn collected a rebound and sank the ball.

Jaslyn appeared on the screen again. "That Olympic Game was different; it was fun working with Angela as we worked on that lineup in practice. She taught me a lot and pointed out things I was doing right and wrong. Having Cara as a forecourt mate was fun as well, different than who I use to play with," she said.

Cara appeared on the screen in her coach's office. "Jaslyn was advanced for her years and could play close to equals with several of us. She also had a great sense of humor," she said.

Jaslyn returned to the screen. "I'm still friends with many of the girls I played with. Kay is one of them, but we played four years together, they weren't always easy, but we endured," she said.

The screen changed to show clips of the championship game. Jaslyn was playing hard at defense, getting rebounds, and she even scored a basket. The camera followed her as she ran down the court.

"Jaslyn was an interesting person to play with and practice against, she was big and fast, but you could get one over on her," Devyn said.

Coach Scott was on the screen next. "Jaslyn had some of her better years later in high school. She played well with Candace when she joined us the next season. Jaslyn's best year was her junior year when she started, and she helped us win our second state championship," he said.

Coach Sinclair was next on the screen. "Of course, her freshman year wasn't her best, but like all those freshmen, they had one hell of a successful career. They spent all four years as varsity players, all four years in the playoffs earned two state championships and came close the other two years. Jaslyn was a significant part of all of it," she said.

Anna returned to the screen. "Jaslyn was a comfort to have on the court. She's a big target for the outlet pass, and she could score. Our senior year, we had a lot of firepower, but some of us were weak on defense," Anna said, "They were fun times, though."

Monica appeared on-screen; next, she looked off for a second with the wind blowing in her hair. "We were a great forecourt, and our senior year, we basically ran a three-guard offense. It was me, Jaslyn, Kay, Anna, and Willa Taylor," Monica said.

The screen changed to show more of the old game footage. It was a montage of Jaslyn's Tree Hill Career. Several of the clips showed Jaslyn receiving the pass and scoring a basket.

Jaslyn appeared on screen next. "What is my favorite memory of my time at Tree Hill? It's probably playing with great teammates that became friends. My weakness was I was stuck behind a great pair of centers. I didn't get as much time early in my career. Overall, I can't complain about my time on the basketball team. Basketball paid for my college, which led me to teaching phys-ed, and I met my partner through my career," Jaslyn said.

The screen changed to show the Tree Hill bench during the championship game. As Kay sank the final basket, the bench jumped up, and among the bench players, Jaslyn could be seen. The screen faded to show a picture of standing by two state championship trophies with Jaslyn holding up two fingers in a vee. That picture faded away to Jaslyn standing at the River Court.

Jaslyn looked into the camera and confidently spoke, "Be heard," she said.

The screen froze for a moment; then, the screen jumped to the Tree Hill High School Studio. Trey was behind the desk as well. "Jaslyn Trafford was learning on the job and contributing to what she could. With her, we close out the Wonder Freshmen. Tomorrow we cover the tallest member of the team and the last of the starters. So, please join us tomorrow for four," Trey said.

Ashlyn watched as the closing credits rolled. The series was almost over, and the game was five days away. Ashlyn smiled, closed the browser, and removed her earbuds.