Part 3 and the last of the intramurals series. Italics with quotes means commentary.
It was Game 3 of the men's basketball finals and the crowds were chanting for both the Engineering Blue Falcons and the Accountancy Black Panthers. Both teams tied the series one game apiece and are looking to clinch the title for the glory of their respective colleges. With a score of 69-63 in favor of the Panthers, the Falcons have just over three minutes to make a comeback in the 4th quarter. Coach Carl decided to sub Jamal out and put Phineas in, after the former having an underwhelming performance. Phineas, who now has 18 points in three quarters, was also performing quite poorly. But based on his previous games where the Falcons are down in clutch time, Carl had faith in Phineas to make a comeback and win it all.
With only two and a half minutes remaining, the Falcons were on a 14-2 run thanks to Phineas' three straight 3-pointers and gritty defense, a strength that he has shown during scrimmages. Even though he's not much of a scorer, the redhead was hot on both ends of the floor and picked up the slack that Kelly and Reggie had on offense. Phineas would guard the Panthers' best scorer, choking them when they're at the 3-point line and intercepting the opponent's passing lanes. He also dished out sweet passes to his frontcourt trio, especially when they go in transition.
Two minutes remaining and the score 78-74 in the Falcons' favor, Phineas has possession. He walks the court, pointing at his teammates where to set up screens. He's now being guarded by the Panthers' big man. Kelly switches onto him as the redhead drove towards the rim. Just as he was about to make a layup, he passes the ball from behind, sending it to Reggie at the corner for a wide open three.
"Bronson for three, BANG! Reggie Bronson from downtown! His first three pointer of the game, he now has 16 and 8."
"Make that a double double for Phineas Flynn, he now has 27 and 10 dimes. That fake was incredible!"
The redhead simply winked at the 6'6" center, pointing at the Panthers' big man to go on defense. He started to direct his teammates on hounding their opponents whenever they're trying to cut through screens. He found an opponent who found his way around Kelly's screen and attempted to hit a pull up jumper, only to be deflected by the redhead.
"And that's a deflection from Flynn, that would be Panthers ball."
The Panthers have possession and just as their big man was about to make a pass, Reggie intercepts the pass, forcing a turnover.
"Flynn one-on-one against Quinn. Now with Wilson, back to Flynn, fakes, spins, tries the fadeaway, IT'S GOOD!"
"Incredible ball movement from Phineas Flynn. He may look lanky, but he can bully his way around the elbow."
The whistle blew, signaling a time out for the Panthers. "Time out Panthers! One thirty four remaining, score's at 83-74."
After the timeout, the Panthers began a furious comeback. They started reading through the Falcons' defense by having them double team Phineas, hounding him whenever he's cutting through screens. This made the redhead teen commit turnovers, as the Panthers' defense also figured out how he operates the passing lanes. Just 25 seconds remaining, with the Falcons tied at 87 apiece, Panthers' 6' sharpshooter Xander Morgan shot a clutch fadeaway over Kelly, giving them a 2 point lead.
At the next possession, Phineas drives to the paint for a clutch layup when it got deflected by Morgan out of bounds; they retain possession on the inbound with just 5 seconds remaining. Both engineering and accounting crowds were on the edge of their seats, as Carl called the Falcons' last timeout. Once the horn blew, the referee had Kelly to inbound the ball.
"5 seconds remaining, the Engineering Falcons are down by two. Will they force overtime?" *TWEET!*
Kelly inbounded the ball to Phineas, knowing that he can either shoot a three to win it all or a mid-range jumper to force overtime. Both players remembered the iconic shot that Kawhi Leonard pulled off in Game 7 against the Sixers in the ECSF and they wanted to emulate that exact same play.
"It's off to Flynn, defended by Morgan. Is this the dagger?"
Phineas made his shot behind the 3 point line with less than 3 seconds remaining, despite having a defender right up to his face. Everything felt slow motion from this moment as they watched the ball made its way to the hoop. It bounced against the rim once then went in the hoop at the buzzer. The next thing he knew, all hell broke loose.
"OOOHHHH! GAME SERIES! THE FALCONS HAVE WON!" Phineas made the three hand gesture and a wave to the Accountancy crowd. The rest of Phineas' teammates swarmed all over him as not only he led the team in scoring, but also led the Falcons to their first championship in 10 years. The engineering crowd erupted in cheers as their department won; they even started to dub Phineas as the red fox, due to his red hair and quickness he showcased on the court.
"The Engineering Blue Falcons are your TSSI men's basketball champions!"
"The man of the hour, the red fox, Phineas Flynn, with 16 4th quarter points and the game winner! He finished with 34 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block. On 8/15 from the field 5/7 from downtown. WOW!"
"He also played nearly 30 minutes today! His stats for the whole series is at 18.4ppg, 8.5apg, 5.7rpg, 1.2spg, 57% FG, 40% from three, on just 20mpg"
"Flynn is the first non-starting player in the engineering department's history to record at least 30 points in an intramurals closeout game. Final score 90-89."
As the Falcons congratulated the Panthers for a well fought series and the crowd still cheering for them, a familiar short brunette comes up to Phineas to give him an interview on his performance. Adyson Sweetwater, former Fireside girl, and now a writer for the school paper had the honor of interviewing her longtime friend.
"How does it feel that being the sixth man, you led your team to the finals in this closeout series?" Adyson started. Jona was also there, taking pictures of the Red Fox, a nickname that Phineas himself didn't really like.
"It's great! I didn't care about whether I'm a starter or a bench player. I love my guys, we did everything Carl wanted us to do, step it up 10 notches and got the win." Phineas answered to his friend when Kelly and Reggie dropped a cooler of ice water on him.
"YEAH! We won baby!" they said, running away before the redhead could chase them. Phineas shook his head in disbelief at his teammates antics before shaking it off, getting some on the petite brunette.
"Damn it, that's cold!" Adyson couldn't help but laugh, before asking him questions again.
"Have you considered joining the varsity team? I mean, I know you played for our high school basketball team and became the school's best all around players ever." she reiterated.
"Yeah I get asked that a lot, but I prefer playing scrimmages. I will admit, I love playing in these competitions with the crowd cheering, but nothing beats a good old pickup game." Phineas responded, still shaking a bit from the cold.
"Alright Phineas, thank you so much. Congrats on the win." After Phineas' interview, a certain raven-haired teen somehow made her way through the crowd and flung her arms around the redhead's waist.
"Congrats my red fox!" He turned around and saw Bella grinning at him maniacally. She was beaming with pride and joy for her boyfriend, whom although came off the bench, gave his team that extra scoring punch and defensive plays that got them the win.
"Thanks babe. I couldn't have done it without you." He beamed, before giving her a full kiss on her lips. Bella kissed back, ignoring the crowd cheering for them, and once they gasped for air, all eyes were on the couple, adamant of knowing some gossip.
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"How do you manage your relationship with him playing?"
"Do you play basketball too, miss?"
Kelly came running towards the couple and cut the crowd out in front of them. "Alright guys that's enough gossip. I believe the red fox has to attend a well deserved celebration!"
Later that afternoon, the Falcons men's basketball team enjoyed their well deserved title by celebrating with a champagne party in the varsity men's locker room, which they obtained access from the team's equipment manager. Back at the courtside cafeteria, Bella was busy chatting with her friends about the win. She's thinking of a way to celebrate the win in a more intimate way; she thought of adding Stacy in the mix as well since Kelly's part of the team.
She went to her contacts and hit the speed dial on Stacy's number. It didn't take long for her to answer. "Hello Bella?"
"Hey Stace!" Bella greeted, "Guess what? The Falcons won the finals!" She was greeted by a loud ear-piercing scream that the raven haired teen moved her phone away from her ear, and that wasn't even in speakerphone.
"Are you done fangirling?" She added.
"Sorry Izzy." Stacy teased, stifling her laughter. She knew how Bella hated that nickname, which the latter said stuck with her until senior year of high school.
"Ugh typical Natalia." Bella shot back with Stacy's middle name, earning a groan from her.
"Oy! That ain't fair!" The two girls laughed at their antics before Bella regained her composure.
"Anyways, I was thinking that we should treat our boys a little cookout?" she offered.
"I love that girl! Where should we do it?"
"Back in my place. Gretch is probably there chilling so yeah."
"Alright, I'll be there in 10. See ya!"
"Bye!" Bella ended the call. She looked once again at the locker room, before heading to the bus stop to catch a ride back home.
Bella arrived in her unit, seeing Gretch on the couch taking a nap, while the TV was still on. Hmm, she must've watched some silly soap or something. She turned the TV off and decided to prepare everything they need for the cookout while waiting for the other brunette. A few minutes later someone was knocking on their door and Bella was about to answer when her roommate shot up and opened the door.
"I'll get it!" Gretchen opened the door, revealing Stacy wearing a floral print dress and brown sandals. "Hey Stacy! What's up?"
"We're gonna have a cookout for our boys." the short-haired brunette raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Bella tell you?"
"No. I just woke up!" Gretch exclaimed. She stormed her way towards the kitchen, Stacy following her, to confront the raven-haired Latina.
"Why didn't you tell me we're gonna cook for the guys?!"
Bella placed a hand on Gretch's shoulder. "Amp down G. I was gonna tell you once you woke up since I didn't wanna disturb your beauty sleep."
"Well, you could've at least told me to get up and dress something nice."
The three girls went their way and cooked for Phineas and Kelly. Even though Gretch is the only one out of the three who doesn't have a boyfriend yet, she's always more than willing to help her girl friends out doing something for their respective beaus. I wonder when will he come to me? she thought. When all the cooking and baking were finished, Bella got the places, Stacy with the food, and Gretch got the six-pack of beer they had in their fridge. They were satisfied with their effort; all they had to do now is call the boys over.
"They're so gonna drool over this." Stacy remarked, admiring at the way they set the table. Bella and Gretch nodded in agreement.
Once the celebration was over, it was time for everyone to part ways. It's nearing 7 in the evening and Phineas and Kelly headed for the former's truck to go back home. The two roommates were knackered - they wanted to just call it quits and go straight to bed. Once they got aboard the truck and fired it up, Phineas' phone rang a notification. He looked at it and saw message from Bella.
Bella: Come to our house first. I wanna show you guys something.
The redhead was a bit skeptical with his girlfriend on this, mainly due to the fact that he's tired.
Phineas: Babe, we're freaking tired. Can it wait tomorrow morning?
Bella: No it can't. You and Kelly better come here since Stacy's also here.
Phineas: Alright we'll come, but you better got a good explanation for this.
Bella: Trust me, you don't wanna miss this *heart emoji*
Kelly peeked through the chat Phineas and Bella were having, wondering what's going on. "What could that be, man?"
"I dunno." Phineas answered, "But if it involves Stace, then I'm guessing it's some kind of surprise."
The duo arrived at Bella's unit in the third floor and stopped just in front of their doorway. They looked at each other, before Kelly knocked on the door. After hearing a muffled 'Come in!', he opened the door with Phineas right behind him. When they turned around to face the dining room, both Phineas and Kelly froze on their tracks.
"Oh...my...God."
A/N: Cliffhanger alert! So now I started to write chapters in the 2k word range. Back then, I used to have trouble breaking 1k words; looks like 2 years of experience paid off. As for the basketball commentary, I got inspiration from the 2019 ECSF Game 7 Raptors vs Sixers.