The next day. Jason and Kyle were sitting at their usual spot in the cafeteria. As they were eating Samantha put her tray down on the table and sat down next to Kyle.


    She waved and smiled at the both of them "So I heard you guys got Ms. Yuller as your new coach. How was that?"


    Kyle took a gulp from his milk box to wash down the food that was in his mouth before answering.


    "She was pretty cool. She knows that she''s just their to be a coach on paper so she hasn''t tried to make any changes."


    Jason nodded his head "Yeah I''m actually kinda d that Ms. Yuller ended up being our interim coach.


    If Principal Morris had actually seeded in finding a actual coach to rece Coach Swendel I''m not sure how things would have worked out.


    They would probably make their own changes to the training and they would probably want to implement their own ybook and defensive schemes."


    Samantha nodded her head as she listened "You guys are lucky. We just finished our performance of Twilight and there aren''t any more ys for a couple months."


    Jason looked at Samantha "I forgot that you were in the drama club. Since you''ve spent more time with her outside of ss is Ms. Yuller normally... like that?"


    Samantha smiled "Like what? Crazy? Haha she is pretty unique. I think she''s the only teacher that would let her students throw water balloons at her so that they could get more in character as they yed french revolutionist."


    Jason and Kyle looked at her with confused expressions. Kyle asked "Water balloons? French revolutionist?"


    Samanthaughed as she shook her head "It''s a long story. And it made a lot more sense in my head before we actually did it."


    The three of them talked andughed as they ate their lunches. After twenty minutes the bell rang indicating that it was time to head to their next ss.


    Samantha waved goodbye to Jason and Kyle "You guys have a game tonight right? I''lle by to cheer you guys on. Good luck."


    - - -


    Friday evening. It was time for Jefferson to y their first game with their new coach. Ms. Yuller was wearing jeans and a shirt instead of her usual ck dress.


    Inside the locker room the guys were seated around Ms. Yuller. She smiled as she looked at all of the boys in the team.


    "Alright boys tonight is our first game with me as your coach. I know that I can''t really help much when the game actually starts but there is something I can do for you."


    She pulled out a bundle of nts from her bag. She then lit the tip of the bundle on fire. She then began to wave the bundle around spreading the smoke.


    "Before each performance I like to burn some sage as I have the cast speak out their desires. Other than helping to remind each person what they had worked hard for it also helps to speak your desires into existence. Or at the very least it can''t hurt.


    Why don''t we start with Jason?" She passed the bundle of burning sage to Jason. He had a confused expression on his face but after some urging from Ms. Yuller he decided to give it a try.


    He closed his eyes as instructed by Ms. Yuller before speaking "I want to y well and make my parents proud.


    I want to give everyone in Riverside something that they can be proud of. I want to be the best version of me."


    After finishing Jason passed the sage to the person closest to him. Matt took the bundle from Jason.


    "I want to show off in front of my little sisters who are watching in the crowd tonight. I want them to be proud of their brother."


    Matt the passed the sage to Trell "I wanna make my life better with basketball. I wanna get out the hood. I don''t want people to look down on me anymore."


    Trell then passed the sage to Kyle "I want to have fun tonight. I want to create memories with my friends that I can smile about when I''m old and wrinkly."


    Kyle passed the sage to Udonis "I want to y well and get the attention of some scouts. I want to keep ying basketball for as long as I can. I want to keep going and see how far I can go. And I want to make Coach Swendel proud."


    Everyone took turns closing their eyes as they all spoke about what they wanted to aplish tonight and what theirrger goals were,


    As thest person finished Ms. Yuller took back the bundle of sage and blew it out before smiling at the team.


    "Alright boys. You go out there and do your best. Or as they say in the world of theater, break a leg."


    - - -


    The boys from Jefferson lined up as they shook hands with theirpetition. Tonight they were ying against Millbrooks Middle school.


    In terms of regr season records they were only two spots behind Jefferson. They were currently ranked third in the county.


    After shaking hands Jason and the rest of the guys got into position for the tip off. Kyle once again managed to easily gain the first possession for Jefferson.


    After tipping the ball over to Udonis Kyle went into a full out sprint toward the basket. Millbrooks wanted to get a defender on him but he had given them no time to.


    Udonis passed the ball over to Jason who then threw aser of a pass to the sprinting Kyle. The passnded perfectly in Kyle''s hands as he went up for the right handed dunk.


    Afternding back down on the ground Kyle motioned for the crowd to get hyped before making his way back down on defense.


    Jason high fived Kyle as the two of them got into position to y defense. As soon as his defensive assignment crossed halfcourt Jason began to press him with his tight defense.


    He made it hard for his defender to move around the court while also trying his best to deny any passingnes by keeping his hands active.


    Jason ended up getting caught in a screen but he recovered almost instantly. His defensive assignment thought that he had gotten free with the pick and decided to pull up for the mid range shot.


    Unfortunately for him Jason''s calling card even in his past life was defense. Jason came from the side and blocked the jumper.


    Udonis was able to gain control of the ball as it was rolling on the floor. He immediately threw it up court to Jason.


    With the ball in his hand Jason began pushing the fast break. There was only one defender close by Jason and it was the person who he had just blocked.


    With a defender on his left sticking on to his hip Jason continued sprinting down the floor. Jason could feel his defender getting physical as he tried to bump him off bnce.


    Jason did his best to counter act the physicality with his own bumps. Just as they were getting close to the basket Jason hopped stepped to the left in order to slip his defender.


    The hop step was enough to create a tiny bit of separation as Jason then finished the y off with a left handedyup.


    Jason pointed to Udonis to acknowledge the assist and to thank him for the unselfish y. It had been less than thirty seconds and Jefferson was already up 4-0.


    - - -


    In the crowd Billy could be seen with his camera as he was once again doing some scouting work for his school.


    ''Damn! That recovery after getting hit with the screen was amazing. And he even knew the best angle to block the shot so that the ball would go in the direction of his Power Forward.


    Most kids would have a hard time just contesting the shot after losing their defender on the screen. But this kid had the state of mind to direct the ball in the best location possible.''


    Billy pulled out his phone and began typing out some notes. Just as he was about to focus on the game again an unwanted visitor popped up.


    Troy pped Billy on the shoulder before sitting down next to him "Look who it is. I thought you would have gone back to Long Beach Billy."


    Billy ignored Troy as he kept his focus on the game. He watched as Jason orchestrated their defense by calling out screens and backdoor cuts.


    Finally after forcing their opponent to reset their offence multiple times they were able to force a bad shot.


    Troy grinned as he looked at Billy "Ohe on Billy. I thought we went over this already. There''s no point in giving me the cold shoulder.


    Besides, I have some new info in regards to Jason. I thought you would be interested in hearing about the schools that are scouting him out."