The yellow school bus felt like it was moving much slower than the sedan Jack's mom drove him to school in every morning. It was faster than the public bus that took Ox and Jack home, but the ride was bumpier and the team had to share the bus with the students who were awarded with tickets to go to Davis's first road game of the season. The players got to sit in the front of the bus and Jack sat as close to the driver as he could.
The school bus driver was not as interesting as the bus driver who drove Jack and his mom to Denver, in fact he only answered Jack's questions with either a "yup" or a "nope". Ox on the other hand had this uncanny ability to fall asleep in anything that moved and he was sleeping on the school bus headed to Davis's second game of the season.
Ox had told Jack that they were playing one of the worst teams in the basketball league, but Jack didn't trust that any of the teams were bad. He mostly thought that Davis was just a really good team. Mr. Roderick had developed some plays specifically designed for Jack during the week of practice, but he still mostly focused on defense and running. Jack knew that Mr. Roderick was smart with his coaching style. Keevan, Josiah, and Ox were some of the best offensive players Jack had ever played against and even the twins held their own with shooting the ball, but if the team couldn't stop another strong offensive team then they'd be toast.
Deep down Jack had hoped that he would be worked into the game more this week than he was last week, but was cautious about hoping for something that he wasn't quite ready for.
Ox was still asleep and was now leaning on Jack's shoulder. Jack braced himself against the bus window to keep from falling over and looked at the mountains out the window. The game was north of Denver and Jack had his best view of the mountains on this bus ride than any other time since he moved to Denver. He was enjoying himself, but was hoping they would get to gym where they were playing soon.
"Excuse me sir...how much further to the gym?"
"Yup."
"Can you tell me how many more minutes?"
"Nope."
Jack felt like he might as well be talking to a wall. Finally he thought of a question that might help.
"Will we be at the gym in the next ten minutes?"
"Nope."
"In the next fifteen?"
"Nope."
"Do we have at least twenty minutes before we get there?"
"Nope."
"Will we be there after twenty minutes?"
"Nope."
"Will we be there in less than five minutes?"
"Yup."
"Ha.....ahhhhh"
Jack was so relieved and frustrated at the same time. He looked over at the twins who were sitting across from him. They were both pointing and laughing at Ox in a good way. The bus started to slow down and Jack looked out the front windshield and could see a big recreation center ahead. He looked over at the twins.
"Is that where we're gonna play?"
"Why don't you ask the driver?"
The twins started laughing again. Jack laughed back realizing that he could have just asked one of his teammates. The bus came to a stop and Mr. Roderick stood up in the middle of the bus with the assistant coach.
"We will walk in in an orderly manner...if any student or player gets out of line they will spend time with me in my office on Monday...Got it?"
The bus was filled with a cacophony of "Okay's", "Yes Sir's", and "Got it's". Mr. Roderick walked off the bus and Jack woke up Ox and the other players followed. As Jack was walking into the rec center he turned to see the long line of students following the team. He had no idea that a middle school basketball team would have such a big following, but if they were one of the best middle school teams in the state then he understood why it was such a big deal.
By the time the team and long line of students entered the gym at the rec center Jack could tell a drastic difference in the quality of the gym at Davis and the quality of the gym they were now in. The gym had bleachers on each side, an electric scoreboard unlike the manual one at Davis, and a newly varnished and painted court. Jack also noticed a real player's bench, stainless steel basketball racks, and spring away rims on the glass back boards. The entire ambience of the gym reeked of wealth.
Mr. Roderick had the players start to warm up while the students formed a Davis section in the middle of one side of the bleachers. Warm ups went by quickly. Cisco was once again assigned to watch the other team warm up in their maroon uniforms with gold trim. The gym did not fill up completely, but the crowd was fairly large. Jack knew his mom would be late because of a late meeting she had at work. Greg was scheduled to coach his team on the same night and Jack was thankful that it was just his mom coming to this game, even if she was coming late.
When warm ups were over Mr. Roderick called the team into a huddle.
"Listen up boys...We've got a former Davis player on the Tornadoes team...Dante who played for us last year is now on the Tornadoes. He is an eighth grader now and looks like he has gotten bigger since last year. He was a starter for us last year gentlemen. He will know your strengths and weaknesses...I'm sure he's looking to have a big game tonight. Let's make sure we hold him in check tonight gentlemen. We're going with a regular starting five...Let's do this!"
Mr. Roderick had the team ready to go and the referee called both teams to mid court for tip off. Ox easily out jumped Dante and controlled the opening tip. Keevan brought the ball slowly up the court. He passed the ball to David who passed it immediately to Ox who was in the paint. Ox hit a fade away shot over Dante with ease and the Tornadoes quickly inbounded the ball. Their point guard walked the ball up the court and set the offense. After several passes and and short dribbles the Tornadoes found Dante wide open under the hoop for an easy score. Jack thought that even the twins were confused by the way the Tornadoes were passing the ball.
The same back and forth style continued for the next minutes of the game. The game was tied at eighteen when Davis had made a big stop against the Tornadoes. Keevan was racing the ball up the floor and passed the ball forward to a streaking Derrick. As Derrick leapt for a layup he was chased down by Dante who also went airborne and knocked Derrick to the floor with an extremely hard foul. Jack watched as Derrick writhed in pain on the floor holding his wrist. Josiah got in Dante's face and was immediately called for a technical foul. Mr. Roderick had ran out to check on Derrick and Derrick's father had also ran down from the bleachers to check on his son.
After several minutes Derrick got to his feet holding his right hand and wrist close to his body. A trainer from the rec center escorted Derrick and his father out of the gym and Mr. Roderick jogged back to the bench.
"Let's go Jack...your in."
It Jack a few seconds to realize that he had to go in and fill in for Derrick. When it dawned on him what he had to do, he jumped off the bench and ran onto the court. Jack wasn't sure what to really do, but Mr. Roderick was yelling at one of the referee's that Jack would be shooting the foul shots for Derrick. Jack stepped to the line and easily made both shots. The referee then kept all the players on the same side of the court where they were and escorted one of the Tornado players to his basket to shoot two technical foul shots. The player made both shots and then the Tornadoes were given possession of the ball to inbound it.
Jack guarded the same player Derrick had been covering. He was a couple inches taller than Jack, much thinner and had very long arms. Jack stayed in front of him as best he could, but the player got the ball and drove past Jack for an easy score. Jack took a deep breath knowing that he would need to step up his game.
As Keevan walked the ball up the court Mr. Roderick called in one of the plays for Jack to shoot a three pointer. Keevan called the play. Jack went to the corner of the baseline and his defender followed. Ox came over and set a pick for Jack and Keevan passed Jack the ball. Jack took a fairly open shot and nailed the three pointer. Jack could hear Keevan holler somet
hing and watched Ox race down to the other end of the court. Mr. Roderick now called in the switch to zone defense. Jack took his position on the left side of the court. The Tornadoes passed the ball into Dante who took a shot that was blocked by Ox and picked up by Keevan. Keevan raced up the court and Jack followed him. Keevan looked like he was going to drive the ball to the basket with two defenders on him, but quickly turned and passed the ball to a wide open Jack who nailed another three point shot. Davis had a four point lead and the Tornados called a timeout. Mr. Roderick huddled the team.
"Okay gentlemen...they know what Jack can do from behind the arc so we need to mix it up with a little inside outside game. Ox...don't be afraid the take control of the paint. You've got a good three inches on Dante...use it to your advantage...force him to foul you. Keevan. Be sure to control the ball and look for Josiah when Jack and Ox are covered or double teamed. Be ready Josiah...crash the board for rebounds...and David...your brother is fine...keep your head in the game...now let's take it to them gentlemen!"
Mr. Roderick's coaching was all the boys needed for the rest of the game. Keevan controlled the ball and found an open player on nearly every Davis possession. Josiah ended up scoring twenty two points the game high; Jack hit another four three point shots and missed two. Ox controlled the paint and neutralized Dante completely. By the end of the game Jack was surprised that what started off as a close game ended up being a blowout victory. Davis won sixty eight to forty five. The bus ride home was fun as all the other students sang songs Jack had never heard before, but everyone was energized.
When the bus got back to Davis, Jack's mom was waiting for him and Ox. Even though Jack had not seen her during the game, she made it to the game just after half time and was all smiles for Jack's and Ox's big victory.