Chapter 643: Broadcasting
Saturday, March 11th, Afternoon
The advertisement ended, and he clicked his mic on. He looked to his right, then left, and sighed.
"I'd like to thank Nathan Scott for coming on during halftime. Nathan offered some interesting insights on the first half of the game. Ever since he moved back to Tree Hill from Los Angeles, he has supported the basketball programs greatly. His sons have played for the team, and his granddaughter is playing in this game," Trey said.
He watched the crowd shuffle about in the stands. The halftime entrainment was ending. They were wiping down the court; people were starting to come back to the tables. The equipment people were out getting the benches set up.
"They are getting ready for the second half. At this time, Tree Hill leads Northwest Guilford, twenty-one to sixteen. It is far closer than anyone expected. Some were predicting Northwest Guilford would be leading. Both teams have been powerhouses in their respective conferences. But surprisingly, this is the first time either team has met each other," Trey said.
Trey watched as the teams started to emerge from the locker rooms. Trey watched as each girl moved like a finely tuned machine. Something reminded him of a story he was told, be careful of over-specialization, as it will weaken the breed. Of course, it was a discussion about horse breeding, but one could imagine it would apply to anyone who spent their life pursuing greatness in any athletic endeavor.
"The teams are coming out of the locker rooms for warmups. There is down one less player on the Tree Hill side, as the team trainer is attending to junior forward Jade Loyal for a broken hand. As always, Tree Hill is being led out by their senior co-captains, Baylee Miller and Brett Pierce-Burke, both sides are looking rested, but you can see that the grinding of the first half has left some marks," Trey said.
The teams worked out their warmups and returned to their benches. The two sides talked with their respective coaches. Once they were finished, they settled into their respective places. The bench players found their spot on the bench, and the players that were starting the third quarter took to the court. The coaches took their places on the bench.
"The teams are coming out onto the court to start the third quarter. Flannery O'Brien is replacing the injured Jade Loyal. Other than that, it's the usual suspects of Ambrose, Miller, Pierce-Burke, and Popova. They are taking up position on the court," Trey said.
Northwest Guilford started to take up a position on the court as well. The two teams lined up, exchanging challenging glances. Popova walked over to the sideline to cover the Northwest Guilford center, who would inbound the ball.
"Northwest Guilford inbounds the ball. We are underway in the third quarter. They are slowly advancing the ball down the court in the same ball-control offense they played in the first half. They are moving the ball around and seem to avoid the player Pierce-Burke is guarding. Are they trying to run down the shot clock or spread the defense out? I'm not entirely sure," Trey said, stopped, and grabbed his water bottle. He took a big pull from his water bottle and then put it down. After a quick adjustment to his headset, he unmuted the microphone.
"Ball coming across the key, five seconds on the shot clock. Pierce-Burke steps in front of Tennent and steals the ball. Pierce-Burke is driving down the court, and the rest of the Tree Hill players are turning to support Pierce-Burke. Tennent seems to be the only Northwest Guilford player that has responded to the fast break," Trey said.
He watched as Pierce-Burke leaped into the air. Tennent was up right after her. Pierce-Burke finger rolled the ball towards the hoop. Tennent reached over, grabbed Pierce-Burke, and pulled her to the court. Both landed hard on the wood floor of the basketball court.
"Pierce-Burke with a layup with a finger roll. Tennent is up and pulls Pierce-Burke down. The ball is still in play, and it's good. Pierce-Burke for two, this brings her point total to ten. That was a very Jordan versus the Bad Boy Pistons move. I find it hard to believe that Pierce-Burke got it to go in," Trey said.
Trey noticed that Miller was standing over Pierce-Burke; Miller was signaling towards the Tree Hill bench. A referee blew the whistle to stop the play. Trey looked around the court, trying to see what was happening.
"Pierce-Burke is down on the court. Miller is signaling to the bench. The referees have called time out and a foul on Tennent. The trainer and coaches are coming out to check on Pierce-Burke. The players from both teams are getting between Miller and Tennant. They are also making sure to keep Popova away from Tennent. For those who don't know, Miller and Popova are Pierce-Burke's two closest friends on and off the court," Trey said.
Coach Scott took charge of his team and sent them to the bench. Coach Sinclair held Coach Pierce-Scott back, and the Northwest Guilford coaches are pushing their players to their bench. Coach Scott walked over to where the trainer was checking on Pierce-Burke.
Finally, they got Pierce-Burke to sit up. The trainer held a towel to the back of Pierce-Burke's head. After a few checks of her arms, the trainer took Pierce-Burke's hand and had her hold the towel against her head.
"The trainer is working on Pierce-Burke. She took a hard fall at the hands of Me-Shell Tennent of Northwest Guilford. They have Pierce-Burke sitting up now and are looking her over," Trey said.
The trainer got Pierce-Burke onto her feet and started to walk her toward the locker room. The crowd filled the room with cheers as Pierce-Burke moved to the locker room under her own power.
"The trainer has Pierce-Burke up and moving to the crowd's cheers. She was moving under her own power, and she gestured to the crowd. They'll be taking her back to the locker room and have a look at her," Trey said.
Coach Scott talked with the team at the bench. One of the players walked over to the scoring table; it was Cameron Garcia. After checking in at the scoring table, she returned to the bench and the team huddle.
"Freshman Forward Cameron Garcia is checking for Pierce-Burke. There will be a slight line-up change as O'Brien will shift to play power forward, with Garcia laying small forward. With the injuries to Pierce-Burke and Jade Loyal, the depth in the post is down to Evalyn Lopez and Jewell Loyal," Trey said and reached for a bottle of water for a deep pull.
Coach Scott finished talking to the team as they finished cleaning up the court. The teams started to come out to the court to restart the game. Trey watched as Coach Scott talked with Coach Pierce-Scott. Coach Pierce-Scott nodded and then walked from the bench toward the locker room.
"They have finished cleaning up the court, and gameplay is about to begin. We will bring you the latest on Pierce-Burke as soon as we get any information. Coach Pierce-Scott has left the bench to return to the locker room," Trey said as play resumed.