Chapter 550: Southeast Raleigh
Evening, February 25th, Evening
There was plenty of time to think about the game, family, health, and the ride to Raleigh. He looked out the bus window and watched the landscape pass by. He spent the ride dividing time between some little game planning and the nature of the North Carolina countryside.
Once they got to the venue, they were shown to their locker room. He headed to the coach's office and unpacked. As usual, he finished up with his notes and wrote down the starting lineup, Position One Ambrose, Position Two Miller, Position Three Ja Loyal, Position Four Pierce-Burke, and Position Five Popova. Once finished, he would sit and wait until the trainer and assistant coaches came into the office. He would get updated, and then the time would go out for warmups.
After waiting a few minutes and discussing some gameplay details with his top assistant, they would follow the team to the floor. He would position himself on the sideline and watch. To be addressed by either him or one of the assistants, mental notes were taken before the opening tipoff.
When warmups were over, they went back into the locker room. The notes were passed to the assistants as they walked into the locker room. Once inside and situated, he went over a few things with the team and waited. When it was time, they ran out onto the court. All the usual pre-game stuff happened, and they took their places.
Lucas Scott stood on the sideline and watched his starting lineup take their places. They were wearing the away blue jerseys. He took a deep breath and looked over to his senior assistant coach Kiera Sinclair. She nodded and rapped her fingers on the clipboard she held. Lucas nodded at his long-term assistant coach, then turned to see his other assistant, Ashlyn Pierce-Scott, as she talked to several of the bench players.
Lucas took a deep breath and looked to the sideline. He had been on the sideline coaching since high school, except for a year here or there. Lucas nodded grimly and adjusted his tie. He looked out onto the court as the ball went up for the opening tipoff.
Avril Popova, Lucas coached her mom Greer and her aunt Mackenzie. All three were tall women and played center for him. He was taught always to build down the middle, and he liked to have a solid center and point guard; that's what mattered. He's had good centers in his time and several good point guards, including one of his daughters as his point guard.
His eyes soon fixed on the game and then dropped. Southeast Raleigh won the tipoff. That caught Tree Hill flatfooted as they rushed down the court to open the scoring. Brett got under the net and inbounded the ball to Faye Ambrose. The point guard started taking the ball down the court.
Baylee called for the ball, and Faye threw up the ball. Lucas shook his head right away. One of the Southeast Raleigh players went up and snagged the ball. That player threw the ball to a breaking player, who caught the ball and dodged by an out of position Brett for another basket.
"What the hell is going on with our team?" Lucas asked.
"I don't know," Kiera said.
"It's like we took a solid shot to the jaw," Lucas said.
"What are we going to do about it?" Kiera asked.
"Let's see if they settle down," Lucas said.
"Are you sure?" Kiera asked.
"No, but we have time to make it up," Lucas said.
Tree Hill did calm down, but they didn't have an answer for Southeast Raleigh's speedy penetration offense. It didn't help that Tree Hill had fallen behind and couldn't sink a shot. Near the end of the first quarter, Lucas noticed that the paint defense forced the ball to be kicked out to the perimeter, and Southeast Raleigh missed the shot. Lucas watched and nodded his head.
"I know how we'll get them," Lucas said.
"How?" Kiera said.
"Ashlyn!" Lucas called.
"Yes?" Ashlyn asked.
"We're going to do alpine in the second quarter; who should we send in?" Lucas asked.
Eva in Brett's slot, slide Brett for Jade," Ashlyn said.
"Okay," Lucas said.
The first quarter ended, and the teams returned to the benches. The Tree Hill players hung their heads, expecting Lucas to yell at them. Lucas looked up at the scoreboard and shook his head in embarrassment. Southeast Raleigh led by six, with the score Thirteen to seven. The players took their seats.
"Embarrassing, isn't it?" Lucas asked, "Don't answer; yes, they landed a heavy blow, but in the end, you shook it off. Now we're going to step on their throats and not let up."
"Yes, Coach," The Team said.
"This is how we're going to do this; we're going out in the alpine lineup; it will be Faye, Bay, Brett, Eva, and Av. I want them locked out of the paint," Lucas said.
"How about on offense, Coach?" Faye asked.
"We'll have the size advantage; use it," Lucas said.
"Go big or go home?" Avril looked at Brett and asked.
"Always," Brett said.
"Bring it in," Lucas said, and the girls put their hands in.
"Ready for Combat on three," Faye said, "One…two…three."
"Ready for Combat," the girls said; they checked in and went to the court.
Lucas shook his head; he intensely disliked their new rally cry. Especially with his son serving overseas where an active shooting has taken place. He hadn't stopped them yet; he knew they wanted an identity. Lucas listened to the song and got the context but didn't need the confusion.
The second quarter started, and it was like a light switch. Southeast Raleigh tried doing what they had been doing. They broke themself against the big girls in the paint. It was a tale of two games. As the defense locked down, Faye field generaled the largest line on the offensive side. As halftime approached, Tree Hill outscored Southeast Raleigh twenty-one to four, for the scoreboard read Tree Hill Twenty-eight to Southeast Raleigh seventeen.
Lucas pulled the team together in the locker room and went over the game plan. Once they finished, they went into the third quarter leading. Southeast Raleigh came out to shut down Tree Hill. The quarter turned into a defensive struggle. At the quarter break, Tree Hill added nine points to Southeast Raleigh's eight, for a score of thirty-seven Tree Hill to Southeast Raleigh twenty-five.
Lucas looked at his players. He nodded, "They're beaten; they just don't know it. Go out and finish them," he said.
Through most of the fourth quarter, Tree Hill dominated. Near the end, the bench went in with the game out of reach. Southeast Raleigh crawled back, but it was over as the final bell sounded.
Lucas looked up at the scoreboard, Tree Hill fifty-three to Southeast Raleigh thirty-six. They were in the Elite Eight.
