Chapter 565: Hillside

Tuesday, February 28th, Evening

February ends, and so comes March, like a lion. March is an important time in basketball, but they aren't in March, yet. It is still February, and he stands on the sideline watching warm-ups. At least tonight they are home, with the majority of the crowd locals. Their cheerleaders stretched on their baseline; his coaches worked with his players.

Lucas Scott stood; arms crossed watching. He was in a foul mood tonight. Brett was late because she got caught in traffic coming from Beaulieu. Baylee tried making excuses, for Brett. Ashlyn was pissed at Brett's lack of judgment to meet a celebrity. Lucas had to talk Ashlyn down, or she'd tear into Brett, and probably go after Chase, for some reason.

Now, as the girls walked to the sideline, Lucas looked at his number two. Kiera Sinclair nodded as the twelve girls took their place in the circle. Lucas made eye contact with Ashlyn; she gave a small nod.

"Tonight, no matter what this is our last home game. We are in the final four, or we go home. For the seniors, this is their last game in front of the hometown crowd, ever. Let's go out there and give the town something to remember," Lucas said, "Everyone in."

"Ready for combat on three," Faye Ambrose said, as the team put their hands in. "One…two…three."

"Ready for Combat," the girls said.

Lucas shook his head and watched the starters take off their warm-ups. The bench players took their places on the bench, Lucas took his spot and was flanked by Kiera and Ashlyn.

Lucas in his head named off each player on the floor. At point guard, number forty-eight Faye Ambrose, at shooting guard, number nineteen, Baylee Miller, at small forward, number thirteen, Jade Loyal, at power forward, number thirty, Brett Pierce-Burke, and finally at center, number sixty-one, Avril Popova, of course, a broadcaster would embellish them. These were the horses he rode most of the season, three seniors and two juniors. He was hoping they were ready for tonight.

Bang! The game started, and Avril won the opening jump. With the ball heading over to Jade. The junior small forward snagged the ball, and stared down the girl guarding her, dribble, dribble, and then an outlet pass to Faye, the junior point guard.

Faye held up three fingers, "Delta!" she called out.

The girls started to their set-up points. Faye brought the ball in and started their triangle set. AS the ball moved, so did the players. It was a game of patience, discipline, and wearing down the opponent's defense. With the right players, they were awesome, without, well it didn't work as much.

Like in many offensive possessions the ball ended up in the hands of Brett. Say many things about Brett, she could shoot. It wasn't her most beautiful shot, but it got them there, and on the scoreboard.

Hillside tried to adjust, but what happened was they tried for a wide-open game, field by the Tree Hill defense. There's an old coaching adage, the offense gets the glory, defense wins the game, but the bench wins championships.

Lucas knew you needed all three. This team wasn't his best in transition, they were a bit slow, and built more for the power game, but they could do it. He took an old-school approach to defense, if we don't have the ball, we defend against it.

At the quarter bell, the teams came off the court for a breather. Lucas looked them over and smiled. The scoreboard read Tree Hill 21 to Hillside 14. A two-to-one scoring ratio. He talked to them about some adjustments and sent them back out.

The second quarter was much slower as both sides tried for an advantage, and Hillside tried to slow it down. Now they were on the grind. There wasn't much scoring as the defense kept the teams from scoring. The two teams were surprisingly well-matched.

Lucas stood up at the bench, leaned forward slightly, and he rubbed his chin. He could feel the stubble. The gears started to turn as he started to pick apart the Hillside team. He signaled Kiera over.

"Yes, Coach?" Kiera asked.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Lucas asked.

"They're doubling up Brett," Kiera said.

"Yes, they're usually leaving Baylee soft covered, because they are rotating her person into the paint," Lucas said.

"Hmm," Kiera said.

"Ashlyn," Lucas said.

Ashlyn came up and replaced Kiera who returned to the bench. "Yes, Coach?" she asked.

"How good of an outlet passer is Jade?" Lucas asked.

"Not bad, she's not our best, nor our worst," Ashlyn said.

"Good," Lucas said and took a seat back on the bench.

Halftime came and the offense had slowed in the second quarter. Tree Hill only scored nine to Hillside's 10. The scoreboard read Tree Hill 30 to Hillside 24. They might have lost the scoring battle, but they were still winning the war.

In the locker room, both teams worked on players. They also made adjustments. The players caught a breather and re-hydrated. Some would describe halftime as the eye of the storm.

They came out for the third quarter and Hillside tried to do what they did in the second quarter. But Lucas had a wild card up his sleeve. Now aware of Hillside's defense, he would push the ball into the paint. Jade would be sitting in the mid-range. The defense would zero in on her and the other two big post players. The open guard on the parameter would call for the ball. Jade would kick the ball out to the virtually unguarded Baylee, or Faye.

One uncontested basket later Tree Hill was on the scoreboard in the third quarter. They kept this up throughout the third quarter. Sometimes it was one of the bench players taking the shot. Other times it might have been Brett or Avril out letting the ball.

The defense was still hard-fought but they kept at it. The game for the casual fan would be boring. Hillside kept trying to adjust, but Tree Hill would adjust on the spot since Hillside kept going to stop the ball in the paint. Yet for the student of the game, it was something to be studied, a clinic on how to adjust during the game.

When the quarter bell sounded and the players returned to the bench, the game had switched narratives, again. Tree Hill scored thirteen, while Hillside scored eleven. The scoreboard read Tree Hill 43, to Hillside 35. It was time for the grind.

The fourth quarter was a blur for Lucas. The players were tired mind was fatigued. Both teams kept the fight up, in the bruising battle, until the very end.

As the game ended, Lucas sighed and watched Hillside's final shot bounce harmlessly off the backboard. Tree Hill scored thirteen points in the final quarter to Hillside's 15, but some of those were after the game was effectively over. That was when his smartphone rang. He picked it up.

"Congratulations Baby Boy, I'll see you this week," his mom, Karen Hargrove said, on the other end and Lucas just smiled.