Chapter 326: Disconnect
Tuesday, January 31st, Evening
After the ceremony ended, Angela made her way across the court to the bleachers. She slowly made her way up the bleachers, occasionally stopping to greet a person or two. Finally, Angela arrived at one bench and moved down to sit down between Karen and Jess.
"So, what do you think?" Angela asked.
"It seemed nice," Karen said.
Angela shrugged and handed Jess the flowers Angela was given. "Here you go, Kiddo," Angela said.
Jess took the flowers and looked at them. "Why did you give me your flowers?" she asked.
"I'd figure you'd like them," Angela said.
"Thanks, I guess," Jess said.
"So, when are you and Ashton doing your thing?" Karen asked.
"We'll head down after the anthem," Angela said.
"Angela Baby, I know you have mixed feelings about this, but why are you doing this? It seems to be above and beyond," Karen said.
"Out of respect, just like you taught me, and I'm trying to teach Jess," Angela said.
"Not at the cost of your happiness, though," Karen said.
"It's not that I'm unhappy or don't want to do it, I just have mixed feelings about the whole thing," Angela said.
"Okay," Karen said.
"Am I missing anything?" Jess asked.
"No, Jess," Angela said.
"Please stand for the singing of the national anthem," came over the PA.
They stood up, Angela looked over to a large American Flag, with a smaller North Carolina flag nearby. Angela put her hand on her heart. With a quick glance, Angela looked over to Jess. Angela watched as Jess first reached for her necklace and gently gripped Church's Class Ring and slid her hand onto her heart. Angela looked down to Center Court and the young girl from the high school glee club sang the national anthem. Angela smiled, and listened to her rendition of the anthem. Once the song ended, Angela looked at the crowd. Finally, Angela looked to Jess.
"I'm going to do my thing with Ravenhoops dot com," Angela said.
"Okay, Mom," Jess said.
"I'll be back when I'm done, we can compare notes," Angela said.
Jess smiled, "Sure," she said.
Angela got up and started to head down. At the bottom of the bleachers Angela met up with Ashton. The two old friends and ex-teammates looked at each other and smiled.
"Are you ready for this?" Ashton asked.
Angela nodded, "Yeah, let's watch the tip-off first," she said.
"Sure," Ashton said, and looked towards Center Court. Angela stood next to her and watched also. Someone in the stands saw them and took their picture on their smartphone.
They watched as the referee tossed the ball into the air. Avril and the South Brunswick Center jumped up after the ball. Avril used her small advantage in height to get her finger tips on the ball. The ball was diverted in a direction opposite where Angela and Ashton stood.
Angela watched Tree Hill number thirteen secure the ball. The player, who Angela couldn't remember the name of, passed the ball to Tree Hill number forty-eight. She marched the team up the court to start the offense.
Angela and Ashton walked over to the table where Trey Terthero sat. Someone helping Trey gave both Angela and Ashton headset.
"Tree Hill is on the board with a put back by Brett Pierce-Burke," Trey said, "As a special treat, I'm joined by Angela Scott and Doctor Ashton Perry, two of the three A's from the first championship team. Welcome to Ravenhoops dot com, Ladies."
"Thank you, Trey," Ashton said.
"Thanks, Trey," Angela said.
"South Brunswick is blocked by Avril Popova, Jade Loyal comes away with the ball," Trey said, "So, what are your impressions with the current team?"
Ashton nodded, "It seems Coach Scott has put a power house team together," she said.
"I agree with Ashton, they seem to be really balanced, and have a chip on their shoulder," Angela said.
"Three pointer by Baylee Miller," Trey said, "So, Angela does this team bring back any memories from when you played here?"
"A few," Angela said.
"Such as?" Trey asked.
"Sitting on the sidelines and watching number thirteen on the court," Angela said.
"From seeing your nephew Keith Scott on the court?" Trey asked, "A steal by Baylee Miller, she passes it to Faye Ambrose."
After Trey finished his play by play, she answered him. "Partially, but it also reminds me of the videos of my niece when she played here a year after I graduated," she said.
Trey looked at Angela. "That would be Candace Strauss, you're related to her?" he asked.
Angela nodded, "Yes, she's my brother's oldest daughter, from a previous relationship, she used her mom's last name at the time," she said.
"If I have my year's right you were at UCONN then," Trey said.
"There was a bit of a trade in amateur basketball videos back then," Ashton said.
"Oh really," Trey said.
"Yeah, Ravenhoops dot com back then was mostly audio only back then. Someone would film the games, edit it and send it out," Angela said.
"So, you watched a lot of Ravens game in college," Trey said.
"When we could," Angela said.
"Yeah, we were in college, so, it was in-between everything else," Ashton said.
"So, what's your take on Candace Strauss?" Trey asked.
"One of the best point guards I've ever seen or played against," Angela said.
"Against?" Trey asked.
"Two years in college when she played for Duke. Candi was a hell of a player and she could've gone all the way. I've seen her recently and she probably could've stepped onto a WNBA court," Angela said.
Trey nodded, "So, Ashton what do you see in this team?" he asked.
"They play well, and seem to have a rhythm and play well together," Ashton said.
"Number twenty-one Flannery O'Brien is checking in for Jade Loyal," Trey said, "How do they compare to your team?"
Ashton shrugged, "We are very different teams. Also, we can't go head to head, we're older and missing a few steps over the years," she said.
"Do you have any comments on how this team play?" Trey asked.
"They play well, and seem to connect well," Ashton said.
Trey nodded, "Ladies, thanks for joining us," he said.
"You're welcome, Trey," Ashton said.
Angela nodded, "It's always a pleasure to work with Ravenhoops dot com," she said.
The two women removed their headsets. Angela and Ashton pushed away from the table. Slowly, they headed towards the bleachers.
"What did you think about it?" Ashton asked.
"Not the weirdest interview I've ever done," Angela said.
"I bet," Ashton said, "But my question is why are you so disconnected?"
"What do you mean?" Angela asked.
"You're not engaged like normal," Ashton said.
"Eh!" Angela said.
Ashton nodded, "Let's talk, now, in The Commons," she said.
"Oh…" Angela said, before she felt the smaller woman pulled her out of the field house.
