Have you ever needed someone to help you up? Make you feel like you can do anything? They help you in the tough times and make the good times even better. That’s what friends are for. What would you possibly be able to do without them?

The crowd silenced. You could hear a pin drop in the gym. I was lying down on my back, clenching my ankle with a vice grip. My coach ran out on to the court with an ice pack and put it on my ankle immediately. I felt a strong burning sensation in my ankle. I had felt this feeling several times before and I knew my ankle was at least sprained. I was lifted off the court by two of my fellow teammates and they carried me to the bench.

Then, I sat there in pain as I watched my team slowly give up the five point lead we had. It was halftime and we would have to make a comeback because we were down ten points. We ran into the locker room for halftime.

“That was a strong first half out there boys” coach said. “We had control for a while, but we let it slip away. Let’s go out there and show them who’s going to win this game. 1, 2, 3!”

“Falcons!” screamed the team as the whole locker room erupted with energy. The team sprinted out of the locker room. The coach walked up to me and looked me in the eyes, but it felt like he was staring at my soul.

“Justin,” coach said nervously. “ Are you going to be able to play?”

Looking coach in the eyes I answered, “I’ll try.”

I slowly jogged out of the locker room. I could hear the squeak of shoes on the floor and I was getting more and more excited to get back out there. I was hobbling because of the pain in my leg. I had just taped up my ankle (very poorly I might add) and now it was game time. The team saw me coming and started clapping for me. Then when the fans saw what was happening too. They also started cheering for me I put my hand up as to say thank you and went into the huddle. Everyone looked scared. There was nervous chatter inside the huddle about how we would come back in the second half, and then the chatter was broken with a question.

“What are we going to do in the second half, Captain?” Tom said very worriedly.

I replied “Here is what we are going to do.” After that I don’t remember exactly what I said but I knew the message that got across. Don’t quit, keep hustling, and the point that really hit home was that for all the eigth graders this would be their last game of their career. The buzzer sounded and everyone in the gym started cheering. It was time to start the second half.

The other team started with possession and being the leader of my team I would have to make something happen. There point guard was dribbling up the court and I knew what I would do. I was playing tight defense on him and then when he crossed over I just stuck my hand out and tapped the ball out. I picked up the ball, dribbled to the rim, and finished with a lay up. The crowd roared and my teammates howled with excitement.

After that nothing really went well for us. We made a run in the very end, but it was only to lose by six points. At the end we all sat n the locker room upset but then our coach said something that really changed our attitude “You all played great out there! You never quit! You kept hustling! You have made me proud and all of your parents proud!”

We all walked out of the locker room with our heads held high. I was grasping on to the second place trophy and it felt good. We all sat on the bus and enjoyed the ride home talking about plays from the season.

We all walked into the gym as our coach put the second place trophy in the trophy case. We all smiled and looked at each other. We all put our hands in the center of the group and yelled “Falcons!” I will never forget what that moment felt like. Our team had won a trophy and the accomplishment was great, but the fact that I could do it with my friends made it all the better!