Chapter 259: Four
Friday, January 27th, Afternoon
Today is a good day, a leisurely morning, and she entered her office for lunch. Settling behind her desk, she pulled out her lunch and settled in. On her laptop, she brought up the school website.
Ashlyn sighed and put in her earbuds. After taking a sip of her soup, she wiped her mouth and smiled. Once that moment passed, she pressed the play button.
Turning away from her laptop, she started in on her soup in earnest. The soup was good and still warm; it came from a local place. It wasn't as good of a soup as she remembered from her youth. You can't go back, in time, to a feeling, maybe, a thought, possibly, but not a time since it is gone. The small café that made the excellent soup closed when Ashlyn graduated high school.
Ashlyn smirked and looked at the laptop; the episode was starting. She paid no attention to the opening credits. Now she found herself looking at the high school studio and Trey Terthero sitting behind the desk looking at the camera.
"Hello, I'm Trey Terthero, and this is Be Heard: A Championship Defined. Today as we have the penultimate player in the series. We come upon what has been called the secret weapon of Coach Scott. As the tallest player in the conference that season she only lost one jump ball, which was the last one of the season. A tough player on defense, and a reliable scorer, this athlete formed part of one of the best forecourts in the state; let us hear about her today on four," Trey said.
The screen changed to Devyn sitting in her living room, "Mack," she said.
The next person on the screen, Angela, appeared in her hotel room. "Big Mack," she said.
Cara in the Laney Basketball Coach's Office was on the screen. "Big Mack," she said.
Kay appeared on the screen in her Chicago apartment. "Big Mack," she said.
Ashlyn found herself looking yet again into a computer mirror. "Mack," Computer Ashlyn said.
The screen changed to the woman in European Sports Livery appeared on the screen. She sat on the bleachers and looked up at the championship banner. Slowly, she lowered her chin and turned to the camera. "Three jobs, that's all I had, win the opening jump ball, clog up the middle for rebounding and defense, and score occasionally. All season I controlled the game by winning the jump ball, except for that last game. A smaller player beat me, and it changed the whole game," she said and shook her head. "In case you were wondering, I'm Mackenzie Bissette; once I was known as Mackenzie Ward; I was the starting center and number four."
The camera pulled out to show another tall woman sitting next to Mackenzie. Her hair was slightly darker, but one could tell they were sisters. "Mack, my sister Mack, we grew up playing basketball together; she was playing power forward then. When she had her biggest successes, I was playing in college, so I missed her best years," she said.
Mackenzie smiled, "Greer was a great big sister and tough on me. She taught me the mental toughness I needed to play under the hoop," she said.
Greer nodded, "I wish I had the teams Mack had. My best player was Paula McMichael, but Mack did have great teams and took advantage of it," she said.
The screen changed to show Coach Scott sitting on the bleachers. "This is a small town, and as such, I've had to rely on families of athletes. Hence my sister and daughter are on the team; that's why I've coached both Greer and Mackenzie Ward.
"I said it before when Mackenzie walked into my gym, that I had the makings of my dominant forecourt, as Evangeline and Devyn also stepped into the gym at the same time. I started building a solid center of the lineup of the court that day.
"What I didn't expect was I got a force and leader in the locker room," he said.
The screen changed to Angela in her hotel room. "Every leader has people they could delegate to, and while my second was Ashlyn, my third was Mack. Mack kept everything and everyone inline," she said.
Computer Ashlyn returned to the screen. "On the court, Angela and I led the team. But when someone needed protecting, when someone needed to toe the line, Mack handled it. Big Mack was the enforcer. Angela led by example; I led by emotion. Mack led by sheer force of will and presence," Computer Ashlyn said.
Coach Sinclair appeared on screen in the Coach's Office. "Mack was a player you built a team around under most circumstances, but we already had Angela and Ashlyn, so she became a role player. The season after Mack's senior year, she had her best year. It helped we ended up with a new point guard part of the way through the season who just clicked with Mack," Coach Sinclair said.
Devyn was on the screen. "Our championship year, we were an outside shooting team. The next season we lost our two best shooters, and it showed as we struggled. Mack started out playing the same role until this new girl, our age, but a year behind us, stepped into the huddle. She looked Mack in the eyes and said, we're going to play, feed the big girl until they stop it," Devyn said.
Mackenzie returned to the screen. "You ask about my senior year; it was Candi's idea and how she saw things on the court. But that was a different year, and the season after," she said.
"You and your sister have unique names; how did that come about?" the person behind the camera asked.
"My Mom was a former model from Quebec. She decided to name her daughters to reflect that. Greer named her oldest Victorie which is just the French version of Victoria, and my name came from the Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King," Mackenzie said.
"It's said you were creative in giving nicknames," the person behind the camera said.
"In what way?" Mackenzie asked.
"Calling Angela Scott Vandoo, for example, where does that come from?" the person behind the camera asked.
"Her jersey number is twenty-two, in French Vingt-Deux, which some Anglophone must have misheard it as vandoo," Mackenzie said.
"What do you think your weaknesses are?" the person behind the camera asked.
"I didn't enforce my will sooner," Mackenzie said.
"What do you think your legacy is?" the person behind the camera asked.
"I was starting center on four of the best Tree Hill Girls' Basketball teams," Mackenzie said.
The screen changed to Avril Popova sitting on the bleachers. "My Aunt Mack is my role model; as I grew up, I watched her play. When she was home, I would spend time, hours, really, playing with her on the River Court and in my mom's driveway," Avril said.
Coach Scott appeared on the screen. "Mackenzie was my tallest player, and one that did everything asked of her. That is her legacy; she did whatever she had to do," he said.
Mackenzie appeared on screen again. She looked to her sister still sitting next to her, then they both turned to the camera. "Be heard," they said.
Avril appeared on screen next. "Be heard," she said.
The screen changed to images of Mackenzie snagging rebound and blocking shots. When the montage ended, the screen showed Mackenzie holding the championship trophy over her head, the night they won it. The screen faded and soon dissolved to the Tree Hill High School Studio.
"Mackenzie Ward was a force in the paint and at the center. Until recently, there has been no one else that could equal her. Every year since the question has been asked, do we have another Mackenzie. Tomorrow, we will finish up the players with fittingly a late addition to the team. So tune in tomorrow, on sixty-nine," Trey said.
Ashlyn nodded and closed her web browsers. She removed her earbuds and turned back to her delicious soup.
