Squeezed Dry

The next day, we took a flight to Houston, Texas. The semi-final and the final of the championship will be held in NRG Stadium, a big and famous venue there.

Arriving there, we went into the designated hotel and took our belongings to our room. Once again, I got Carlos as a roommate. After taking our lunch, we continued to practice for the following game.

Monday, April 1st, 2024. The day of our match has come. We came into the big NRG stadium and went straight into the locker room. The coach ran through the strategy one more time before giving us a piece of good news.

“Everyone, Mr. Jacob Lark just gave me a heads up. Apparently, Sean already recovered from his injury, and he will be joining us again tomorrow.”

Hearing that, all the team members roared, expressing their happiness. Well, all except Ryan. He looked as if he didn’t care if his teammate was going to recover. However, I decided to ignore him as the coach continued his pep-talk.

As the game was about to begin, we started making our appearances toward the court, only to be blinded by a bright light.

Looking upward, I can see ourselves walking on the huge LCD screen in the digital scoreboard. The big electronic is hanging in the middle of the stadium, with four sides facing every wind direction.

Not to mention, the crowd was filled with enthusiasm as the cup entered the Final Four. My eardrums were full of their drowning cheers. Everyone was excited for the game to start, and I’m not an exception.

Just like the previous matches, all the starters took their position as they prepared for the game to start. The referee looked at his wristwatch before blowing his whistle and threw the ball up for the tip-off.

Our team got the first possession, and our team stormed into the enemy’s rim. In the hustle, Brandon and Tony made one-two passes and scored two points. The fine plays of those two continued, which made our team steadily gain the lead upon our opponent.

They are on a roll today as well, huh? Looks like we got this on the bag.

Once again, I was mistaken.

As soon our starter got subbed out, our bench players got pushed back by their players. The other team is rapidly chipping our fifteen-point leads in their every run.

The buzzer rang, marking the end of the half. The scoreboard indicated 32-32 points as the opposing team caught us up in a tie.

As soon as we went inside the locker room, Brandon stood and walked in front of the coach.

“Coach, may I say a few words?”

“Sure, you are the captain. You may go ahead.” The coach nodded.

Brandon turned around and cleared his throat.

“Ahem! As you know, Sean will graduate from our university at the end of the month. The next game is the last game he will play with us in this team.”

“For such a man on his last straw, he only has one last opportunity to impress the scouts, and that’s to play well in the final. But he can’t play if we lose today, so for his sake, we can’t afford to lose.”

“For years, Sean acted as our anchor, and we all owe him one. This time, it’s our turn to return the favor. And that’s why, we gotta fight like hell for the remainder of the match. Let’s give Sean a parting gift he will never forget! Let’s win!”

Every player except Tony and Ryan roared. Ryan looked apathetic while Tony looked dead serious. Suddenly, I remembered that Sean and Brandon helped Tony before, and his current expression indicated that he is going to repay Sean no matter what.

Looking at Tony’s expression, I couldn’t help but to agree with him. I, too, have settled my debt with our giant.

Soon, the halftime break came to an end, and we went back to resume the match. Our starters went and played aggressively, which returned the lead to ourselves. Ten minutes into the second half, the scoreboard displayed 54 to 41.

However, their action made them exhausted quickly, forcing the bench players to sub in early. Despite our bench efforts, we steadily lost the lead over time. Carlos and Jamal looked exhausted as they got done in by their matchups. By each passing minute, our opponent is narrowing the gap.

58-47.

62-54.

67-62.

Fourteen minutes into the second half, I got subbed in. We have only three-point leads upon our opponent with the score at 69 to 66.

Entering the match, I decided to give it my everything I got, only to see an insurmountable wall that I could never scale.

Every time I tried to shoot a three, someone would be fast enough to block my shots. They never let me get close to the rim, and they won’t buy my feints either. They also guarded the passing line tightly, and I can neither pass or set screens for my teammate.

Nothing is working!

Well, I played aggressively in defense and managed to deny their shots, but that’s it. I couldn’t do anything else. Slowly, fatigue is building up in me.

Three minutes remaining on the game clock. We are only keeping a mere one-point lead with the score of 71 to 70. The ball is in their possession, and we can’t afford to concede points here. If we do, then they will take the lead.

Their Small Forward was pushing through our ranks. I forced myself to keep up and mark him properly. Unfortunately, acting aggressively on defense drained my stamina and slowed me down.

At the time I attempted to block his layup, one of my feet was still in the air as I drew contact with him. In a split second, the referee blows his whistle.

“Defensive foul!”

Soon, my heart was filled with dread. Because of that foul, they will earn themselves two free throws, which is basically two-point freebies for them.

Not to mention, I’m already out of steam. Carlos and Jamal looked tired as well. Carlos’s exhaustion was clear to our eyes, indicating that he couldn’t last any longer.

This is my fault! I should have stepped in quicker.

The Small Forward made a basket out of that opportunity, which made the score tied up. Coach called a substitution and subbed Carlos and Jake out. Replacing them, Brandon and Tony went inside the court.

I would be overjoyed to see them back in the court, if it wasn't for the fact that they looked completely tired. It seems that they have yet to fully recover from their exhaustion. As he went inside the court, Brandon tapped my shoulder and whispered.

“Keith, good job for holding the line for this long. It’s time to turn things around. We can’t face Sean if we don’t fight until the end.”

The captain faintly smiled to me, before looking on the other teammates and soothe them up. The sour mood that we just had is long gone.

While I knew both of them couldn’t perform as much as they did before, somehow, I feel at peace with them on the court. Their presence ignited our died-out ember ablaze.

The opposing small forward nailed another basket, and now they are leading with one point lead. The match resumed as Brandon took the lead on the offense.

Not as fast as before, their movement became a little sluggish. They no longer could use their trump cards anymore: Tony kept missing his threes and Brandon unable to perform his playmaking passes well. We desperately tried to take the lead, but our opponent easily took it back every single time.

The game clocks quickly dwindle down, and now the game has approached its end. There was only nine seconds remaining in the game clock with the ball in our possession. However, we hit our limits long ago. If it wasn’t of my tremendous effort to persevere to the end, I would have asked to be subbed out. We are running out of steam.

My vision started to get blurry. Any kind of sound started to fade as I started to lose my hearing too. My muscles ache, and my eyes are already half-closed as I slowly lose consciousness.

I have tried my best.

Sean, everyone, forgive me.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice from a distance.

“Keith!!! Don’t give up!!!”

Hearing her scream got me back on my grid.

That’s right. There’s still time. I can’t give up now. I should give my everything on this last run.

I shook my head to clear my sight, and shouted to Brandon.

“Brandon, pass!”

Brandon tossed the ball in my direction, and I received the ball for our last run. Mustering all my remaining strength, I dashed forward like a bullet train. My body is screaming in pain, and my chest hurts like hell, but I didn’t care. All I care about is to score the last bucket to take the lead.

As my energy leaked out of my body like a car leaking its fuel, I decided to end this quickly in one go: A contact dunk against my matchup.

My teammate looked at me charging forward and quickly made screens and iso-plays to create a path, as if they knew that I’m going for a dunk, leaving only my matchup in my way. One step after I passed the free throw line, I leaped forward.

Trying to block my dunk, my matchup used his body to prevent me from scoring, but I can’t give up. Our bodies collide as I threw the ball down the ring.

*BANG!*

That was the sound of the rim as the ball went in. Shortly, it was followed by the referee's whistle as I was recouping after the collision.

“Defensive foul! The basket counts!”

Everyone in the team roared as we took the lead back. Now, the score is 74 to 73 with a free throw on our possession. Exhausted, I limply walked into the free throw line.

I was trying to catch up my breath as the referee blew his whistle and passed the ball to me. To be honest, we already in the lead, I don’t have to nail this shot. With how tired I was, it would been better if I just carelessly throw this ball away and call it a day.

But then, I remembered about Sean. After all, how could I face him if I just half-assed this last shot? Thinking about that, I decided to muster all the energy I have left. Taking few deep breaths, I crouched, before flicking my right hand with the ball toward the basket.

*Swish*

The shot went in, which turned the scoreboard 75-73 with three seconds remaining. I put my arms down as the ball goes down.

Whew, it’s over! We won!

However, I was in for a shock. The opponent’s shooting guard dashed forward while their center threw the ball to mid court.

Oh shit! There’s still three seconds remaining. It’s not over yet!

Receiving the ball from behind, that player made a half-court shot to our rim as the buzzer rang.

*Teeeeet!*

The ball bounced off the rim, before bouncing a few times in the floor as they failed to make a miraculous buzzer beater to change the outcome. As I guessed, miracles don’t happen often, or it wouldn’t be called miracles.

Everyone in my team cheered and roared as we won, while the enemy team looked frustrated as their victory got snatched away at the last minute.

It’s finally over…

As I wanted to celebrate with them, suddenly I got hit by the recoils of my actions. I had lost all my strength and started to fall backward. My consciousness is fading away…