Chapter 645: In The Stands
Saturday, March 11th, Afternoon
The drama of the quarter's opening took the crowd out of the game. She observed mainly the Tree Hill crowd from her seat in the stands. The good thing was that Brett moved off the court under her own power. From the vantage point in the stands, it looked like an isolated injury to the back of the head.
"Do you think Brett will be alright?" Karen asked.
"She's tough; I'm sure she'll be fine," Andy said.
"It looks like it's isolated to her head," Angela said.
"That could be bad," Karen said.
"Yes, it can be," Angela said and shook her head. Brett is Angela's goddaughter; even to this day, Brett calls her Auntie Tall. The nickname came about because Brett initially couldn't say Angela but referred to Angela as tall, and it just became Auntie Tall.
"So, what do you think?" Karen asked.
"We'll have to wait and see," Angela said.
Karen nodded as Angela watched them clean the court. The teams were huddled up at their benches. So, how are they going to do this? Angela figured if she were coaching, she would go with both centers. Hold them on defense and see if Brett would return. Grind them on your defense, and maybe you'll break them.
Angela watched as a young woman checked in. One of the backup forwards. That's one way you could do it, Angela reflected. It's Lucas's team, so he knows his players better than she does. Maybe he had something up his sleeve. That was one thing Lucas was always good for, pulling things that worked out of thin air.
Once the court was finished being cleaned, play started back up. Two free throws, one for the foul, and Tennent caused a technical foul by arguing. The new girl, according to the program, number fifteen, freshman forward Cameron Garcia, took both shots and sank them. The score is now twenty-five to sixteen; Tree Hill is up by nine.
Angela noted that tree Hill seemed flat as the game started in earnest. There was no energetic play in the Tree Hill players. The injury to Brett must have taken the wind out of their sails. Northwest Guilford took advantage of this and opened up their offense.
"Sonofabitch," Angela said.
"Angela, language," Karen said.
"Sorry, but I think that players purposely tried to hurt Brett," Angela said.
"I'd say so with that tackle," Karen said.
"But it takes the piece off the board and knocks the morale down," Angela said.
"That sounds up there with Big Foot," Andy said.
"You have to admit it makes sense," Angela said.
"How?" Karen asked.
"Remove your opponent's best player from the game," Angela said.
"I think you're reading too much into what happened," Andy said.
"Why?" Angela asked.
"Because this isn't pro ball, and I don't think it would be a coach's strategy to injure an opponent's player on purpose," Andy said.
"Explain them opening up their offense?" Angela asked.
"Never let an opportunity slip by," Andy said.
Angela nodded and turned to watch the game. Lucas was now standing, and he had taken his sports coat off. He started pacing the sideline and kept yelling out to his players. Next, he put his hands on his head and pushed back his hair.
In the past, he would lose his temper. Angela knew this well, as she had been on the receiving end many times. Angela could see that he was trying to get his team back into the game. Angela could see he was frustrated like he was watching it slip away. The gears had to be turning, but every adjustment didn't seem to work.
Mercifully, the quarter from hell finally came to an end. The nine-point lead Tree Hill had when play resumed was gone. The score was tied, again, twenty-five all. The moment was clearly on the side of Northwest Guilford now.
Angela felt for the girls as she had been there when the victory started to slip away. It wasn't fun, especially when everything you tried to beat them didn't work. Angela remembered her junior year as she sat on the bench, having fouled out, as a freshman took the final shot, missed, and they lost.
"What are you thinking about, Angela?" Karen asked.
"My junior year of high school, when we lost the last basketball game," Angela said.
"Was that the game you fouled out, and Faith took the final shot?" Karen asked.
"Yes," Angela said.
"Why would you think about that game?" Karen asked.
"Look at how Lucas is acting," Angela said.
Karen looked at Lucas, "He's frustrated; I've seen him like that many times, so?" she asked.
"That's how he was acting in that game, the one I fouled out, he kept trying, and things slipped away," Angela said.
"Oh, that's not good," Karen said.
"No, it isn't," Angela said.
"So, what can be done to settle him down?" Karen said.
"I don't know; Kiera is usually good at doing that," Angela said.
"Speaking of which, where is Ashlyn?" Karen asked.
"I think Lucas sent her into the locker room with Brett," Angela said.
"That's not a good sign," Karen said.
"Usually isn't," Angela said.
Suddenly a cheer went up on the Tree Hill side of the stands. Angela looked towards the bench. Ashlyn had come out of the locker room, and Ashton accompanied her. Angela noted that the cheer wasn't for Ashlyn or Ashton. Just beyond her two friends Angela could see, in her warmup jersey, standing, was Brett.
Ashton, Ashlyn, Kiera, and Lucas talked. Lucas nodded a few times, then turned to the team as they waited, anticipating what he would say. Finally, he turned back to Brett and nodded his head. Brett nodded back and removed her warmup jersey. Angela's other thoughts were lost as the crowd erupted in a loud, rafter-shaking cheer.