“BOOM”! There it happened, my name was called and I see my coach pointing at the scorer’s table. I took off my warm-up shirt and ran down to the table. The buzzer went off and I walked onto the court. I looked into the crowd and ran down to the other end calling out “Lew”, my teammate and I slapped hands and she went to the bench.
The ball had gone out of bounds so the opposing team was taking out the ball; my teammate was yelling “Middle Jaz, Middle”. I stood in the middle of the court with my arms extended out as far as they could possibly go. The ball was inbounded; I turned around to see whose hands the ball had landed in. Before I knew it the ball was in the hands of a girl right in front of me, I stepped up to her and put my hands up tall. She ended up passing the ball to the girl behind me; I turned around and my opponents were already running back down the court. I ran alongside them to go set myself up on our end of the court.
My teammates brought the ball up the court and everything went into action. We ran our play and ended up with a lay-up. Two more points got put on the scoreboard. I position myself on defense and get ready for what’s to come. The ball went into action and I made sure I stayed with the person I was guarding. I made sure she didn’t get the ball in her hands; while in the passing lane the ball was put right into my hands. I threw it to my point guard but the pass was too hard and the ball ended up going out of bounds; Mukwonago ball.
They took the ball out and passed it to the girl I was defending. She turned around tried to shoot but I blocked it. The ball came back to me and I handed it off. Headed back down the court I was ready for more. Setting myself up again I was ready to get the ball. My teammate was going full force to the basket, the wind moving her hair; ball in hand. She flew right past me like a bird in the free sky. I knew she was going for a lay-up, but instead she passed the ball right to me, not really noticing what happened I just shot the ball up. Missing the whole basket just made my heart sink a little, but I sucked it up and ran like a raging bull back down to the other end of the court.
Time running out, the buzzer went off and the third quarter was over. I went over to the bench and took a seat. Gatorade in hand and my shirt wiping the sweat off my face my coach began to talk. “One more quarter, one more” taking in his words my other coach calls me over to him. He was explaining the play we need to run and what I needed to do during this play. The buzzer rang once more and it was time to get back out on the floor. Defense to offense, back and forth and I still didn’t score. Getting back on offense I was ready and prepared for anything.
My team comes down the court ready to execute the play. My team mate goes up for a floater and misses. It bounces off the back of the rim as a person would when on a trampoline. I grabbed the ball with all my strength and shot it right back up. All net, no sound just the ball going into the net and falling on the ground. The only thing I could hear was my heart beat. Once I came back to reality my body was already back on defense but my mind was still with the shot. The crowd and my teammates were out of their seats and on their feet.
The opposing team trying so hard to catch up even with eight minutes left on the clock time was running thin for them. Putting up any type of shot the opponents were staring to give up. Grabbing the rebound I kicked it off to my guard. Getting back on offense it was time to make my mark. Running the play the ball ended up in my hands once again, but this time it wasn’t an easy basket. I got fouled but missed the bucket. So to redeem myself I was determined to make these two free-throws. Standing on the line exhausted I was waiting for the ref to bounce me the ball. I got the ball and was ready to put it up. The ball left my hand and it looked good, but it hit the front of the rim. Bouncing back to me I felt the disappointment start to set in but my teammates were all cheering me on. Feeding off their confidence and excitement I got the ball back and reset myself. The ball once again left my hand, it looked good but I wasn’t going to be fooled again. Standing at the free-throw line it seems like it took a life time. The ball moving slowly in the air it eventually went into the basket only touching the net. Feeling so proud of myself I still had to stay focused and finish the game.
After about another minute or two of playing time I finished strong and proudly ran back to the bench. Slapping hands with my coaches and teammates I had to hold back the tears until the final buzzer reads 0:00. Sitting on the bench cheering on my teammates the time just kept ticking and the score kept going up. The last minute took at least five. But eventually the clock read 0:00. My team ran off the bench and jumped on one another. We all yelled and fell at the same time. Feeling thousands of emotions at once but all I could do was cry. I had been looking forward to this moment all season, and it was finally here. My teammates and I were the official 2012-2013 WIAA girl’s state champions. This was our moment, this was our time.