Chapter 184: Fifty-Four

Monday, January 16th, Late Morning

(Song lyrics in italics)

She took a seat in her living room and opened up her laptop. With a few quick clicks, a website came up. There, as promised, was a new video. Slipping in her earbuds, she clicked on the link and waited for it to load.

Ashlyn Pierce-Scott held her coffee mug and watched the screen. The blackness quickly changed and filled the screen with scenes of several basketball games. The highlights showed several players; all backed up with the refrain.

I

Will

Be

I Will Be Heard

A logo appeared on the screen which said Be Heard, A Championship Defined, with the subtitle Fifty-Four underneath. It faded, and the Tree Hill High School television studio came into view, with a young man was sitting behind the desk, wearing a blazer, shirt, and tie. The tie was in the colors of Tree Hill High School.

"Hello, I'm Trey Terthero, and this is Be Heard, A Championship Defined. Tonight's woman is one of The Wonder Freshmen. As the backup point guard, she would see enough action to gain experience to be mentioned for All-State Considerations. We profile her today, number Fifty-four," he said.

The screen changed to show Coach Kiera Sinclair sitting behind the desk in the basketball office. She looked at the camera.

"The Wonder Freshmen, it started as the fact we were at best returning seven players. Five of them were going to be our starters, so we had two bench players. So, we needed to re-stock," Coach Sinclair said.

The screen changed to show Coach Lucas Scott sitting in the field house. "We had a startling lineup and two backups. We were good with the bigs, but we're weak at guard so, that's what we were looking for at tryouts," Coach Scott said, "We weren't looking for four project players though."

The screen changed to show kids practicing basketball. Ashlyn saw that it was this current team since she could see Baylee running point. There was a woman in her late twenties sitting on the bleachers watching the practice. The woman was following how Baylee was running the team and would nod every so often, knowing. She was slender, with brown hair; finally, she turned to face the camera.

"There was a time I played on this court. I'm Anna Estes, and at one time, I was Anna Barclay, and I was number fifty-four," she said.

The image changed to her standing on the court. She looked over the court, then knelt and touched the Tree Hill Logo at center court. Standing up, she looked at the camera.

"I had a few good seasons in AAU, so when I entered high school, I figured I'd give it a try. I enjoyed the game, so I went to try out. AT tryouts, I figure I'd make the JV squad," Anna said, "Little did I know."

The image changed to Lucas, "I had no depth at guard, just my starters, and it was most telling at point guard where I'd be starting a sophomore. Ashton was better at shooting guard or small forward. So, when I saw Anna, I was like, she's raw, but then again, my starter was still raw, but we could work with her," he said, "Especially after I saw videos of her AAU play."

Ashlyn was looking at herself in her office. "Anna was interesting to work with; she would do things, and some would work, and some wouldn't work, but she was so young and inexperienced," she said.

Angela filled the screen. "I'm not speaking out of turn, but it wasn't Anna's physical girls that let her down on the court, it was all mental," she said, "If she couldn't charge she passed it to her first option, no matter what."

Coach Sinclair at the desk was next on the screen. "There were a lot of turnovers, by her. Anna was a freshman, and that's what she shouldn't be judged by how much we got out of Faith this season and the season before," she said, "Anna was good, she had talent, she just needed seasoning."

Lucas was at his spot in the bleachers, "We knew what we were getting with Anna. Early in the season, she got a lot of playing time. I like the idea of combo guards, so we started teaching Kay to run the point. Anna would sometimes get some time at shooting guard, as well. Kay just caught on to the point faster, then Anna. That's why Anna's playing time shrank, was simply Kay advanced faster. Anna still got significant playing time that year, and of the four Wonder Freshmen, Anna benefitted the most, scoring a lot that year. She played almost every fourth quarter that year," Lucas said.

The Doctor in her office was on the screen next. "My job most of that season was to ride shotgun with the freshmen on the court, and keep them in line," she said, "Anna, was good, or at least good enough if you could get her to slow her mind down. Having her in the backcourt with Kay initially was fun; they got each other, and they made a good pairing."

Anna returned to the screen; she was still in the field house. "Immaturity that was my issue," she said, "Playing with Kay, who was in the same boat as me, and we bonded over that."

The screen cut to the clips the championship season. It showed highlights of Anna running the offense. Ashlyn nodded and counted the players and read the number on their jerseys; smiling, and watched the play develop. Ashlyn nodded; Anna did have talent.

The screen changed to Coach Scott, "Anna turned out to be the biggest project of the group," Lucas said.

Coach Sinclair appeared on the screen, "Anna worked hard, and it did come, but it took until her senior year for it to click," she said.

Kay Scott was on the screen; she could see her living room. "Anna is probably the least decorated member of that team. We played together for four years; she only started her senior year," she said.

Coach Lucas Scott was back on the screen. "The what have beens, we could spend the rest of our live debating this or that. Simple fact, her sophomore year, when she got the chance to start, her bad habits came back. What gets left out is she worked on it, and her senior year, she stepped full time into the starting role. Anna almost led that team to a state championship. Also, and probably more telling is these Wonder Freshmen won two state championships and came damn close to having won two more," Lucas said.

The screen changed to show Anna looking over the banners in the gym. The camera panned up to the banners and focused on them. They were two years apart, and a jump cut came to Anna and showed her left hand, which had two championship rings.

Anna was sitting on the bleachers again. "Indeed, I didn't end up the big name of that group, but I was part of that group, and we became good friends," she said.

It changed again to Lucas this time, looking at the two banners. "Anna's sophomore, she did get that chance to start, as I mentioned earlier when Faith got injured. Her bad habits came back, as I said, and she got benched. We had sitting behind her a transfer student, which one of the best point guards in the country. Candace Strauss came in and righted the ship. Of all the players on the team that benefitted the most was Anna. Candace took Anna under her wing and worked with her. After Candace graduated, Anna got the chance to start and proved she could do it," Lucas said.

Coach Sinclair appeared on the screen. "Anna is proof that you get out as much effort as you put in. That's why she's in this discussion," she said.

The screen changed again to Anna sitting on the bleachers. "I didn't go to a division one school. I went on to play at a division three school, for some more basketball and got my degree. I met my husband, got married, and got a job I love. I'm now a mom to a great son. Also, I have two state championship rings, and more importantly, out of the experience, I have several great friends," Anna said.

The screen showed clips of the team after a victory and then Anna with three other girls hugging, the girls' worn jersey numbers, three, sixteen, and fifty-two. The final shot showed Anna standing in-between the two-state trophies when she was in high school. The image dissolved to show a close up of Anna.

"Be heard," Anna said, and then the screen went black.

The next image came into focus at the Tree Hill High School TV studio. Trey Terthero was behind the desk.

"Though not the most well-known of the championship team members, Anna Barclay was someone who played her part and served a role. Not so with the subject of our next episode. Tune in tomorrow for our next episode of Be Heard: A Championship Defined, for episode Seventeen. I'm Trey Terthero and have a good day," he said.

The video ended, Ashlyn sipped her coffee. She removed her earbuds, nodded, and closed her laptop.