Chapter 38

“LANA, WOULD YOU take the uniforms into the locker room and make sure everyone has theirs?” Dennis asked. Lana looked at him curiously.

“Aren’t you going in to watch them dress?” she asked.

“I don’t want to distract them. I had all the dressing in front of me that I could take getting them taped,” he laughed. “I’m going up to meet the officials and distribute the score sheets. I’m going to get the bench prepared with their towels, and water bottles, too.”

“Okay. Do we just come to the court when they’re dressed?”

“No. Either Coach or I will come to get them. If they ask, tell them not to worry, I’ll be out there to warm up. But I need to go now and meet the hosts as well as the officials. They’re providing balls for both teams.”

Lana carried the batch of uniforms into the locker room as Dennis headed for the gym.

South Calhoun was a smaller school than Bartley—a class 2A school—but they had a great new gymnasium with plenty of bleachers for both home and away teams. Host schools for the regional finals were chosen from different classes than the one playing at it to ensure it was a neutral area for both teams. As it happened, both teams were close to an hour away from the school. Both were conducted to the locker rooms and Dennis met the Warriors’ team manager on the way to the court.

“Hey, kid. You the team manager?” the girl said. She was about the same size as Dennis and he didn’t figure she was any older.

“I have that honor. And you, miss?”

“Geez, you are really polite. I’m Anne Donnelly, Warriors’ team manager.”

“Nice to meet you, Anne. I’m Dennis Enders.”

“Isn’t it a little weird to have a boy as a girls’ team manager? I mean, I’m constantly in and out of the locker room, running errands, collecting jewelry, and even sometimes doing taping, though I’m not very good at it and they prefer Coach to do the taping.”

“Well, I do pretty much the same thing. They just think of me as one of the girls.”

“Rad! Well, you and your girls are gonna get scalped.”

“No sense talking smack to me. Neither you nor I will be on the court. I’ll leave it to my team to see who gets scalped.”

“Since you’re just one of the girls, I like to make a bet on the outcome.”

“Um ... What kind of bet?”

“Our team wins, you owe me a kiss. A good one. Your team wins, I owe you a kiss.”

“Doesn’t that mean that no matter what the outcome, we have to kiss?”

“In twenty-four games, there’s only been one other manager who caught onto that. So, I guess it’s like a can’t lose situation. I just like kissing, and a geek’s as good as a girl,” Anne said.

“I sort of need to check that wager out with my girlfriend,” Dennis suggested as they approached the scorers’ bench with the required paperwork. They met the officials and were given the go-ahead to bring their team in for practice. They picked up the practice balls from the host school coach and then headed back to the locker rooms. Dennis knocked on the door and pushed it open. “The court’s ready,” he said.

“Okay, ladies. Let’s take this game to them,” Ardith said as she got the girls fired up. “Follow your manager and show them what a sharp team looks like.” They approached the gym doors and Dennis glanced back. “We’re on the far end,” he said. “Let’s show them what we’ve got.” He turned and jogged in the lead as the girls followed in two even columns, since Lana took the last position beside Amy. Being at the far end meant they passed their entire cheering section to get to their warmups. As soon as they appeared, the cheerleaders began whipping the crowd who had arrived early up into a pregame frenzy. Dennis turned to take his position to lead warmups and was happy to see the whole team lined up perfectly across the court and didn’t seem distracted by the cheers. Lana jogged up beside him and they began the warmups as Ardith stopped to shake hands with the Warriors’ coaches.

When they’d completed the warmup and stretch routine, they fell into two lines to start shooting. He motioned to Natalie and she paused next to him.

“The opposing team manager wanted to bet a kiss on the outcome of the game,” he said. “Either way, I’d kiss her or she’d kiss me. Should I blow her off?”

“Heck no! Get her to blow you. We’ll make sure you win!”

“Nat, you know I won’t do that. Will the girlfriends agree? I mean to the kiss?”

“Is she cute?”

“Yeah, kind of. A little full of herself.”

“Stay put while I double-check.” By the time the team had moved through the next circuit of shooting, Natalie had agreement from everyone and gave Dennis a thumbs up gesture. Dennis walked over to the bench and picked up his clipboard. Ardith watched him, wondering what was going on as he approached the centerline and the opposing team manager came out to meet him.

“Okay,” Dennis said. “I’m in, with the stipulation that payment must be made on the court in front of our teams.”

“I like your kink. Which one’s your girlfriend?”

“All of them.” Dennis held out his hand and she shook it, her mouth still open as she looked at the opponents.

The game was tighter than any they had played this season. When the buzzer sounded at the end of the half, the score was tied, 37-37. Both teams were running fast breaks and had great shooting. It looked like it would be a high-scoring game. Dennis followed the girls to the locker room and he and Lana distributed towels and water bottles. Lana started at one end of the line on the bench and worked her way toward Dennis, coming from the other end, rubbing shoulders and whispering words of encouragement to each player. They met in the middle at Natalie and both leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. Then they moved on, past the startled team captain.

“Championship games aren’t easy,” Ardith encouraged the girls. But you’ve been training for this all season. This is it. The regional championship. And the Warriors want it as much as you do. You want it, right?”

“Right!” the girls shouted. “Good. I’m going to tell you a secret that I’ve been holding back. This is your thirteenth game in our little season. It’s the twenty-third game for Washington Central. Most people are out there thinking the Warriors have a big advantage over you because they have twice as much experience. Here’s what they don’t understand. The Warriors have gotten all their experience playing against a different team once or twice a week. You’ve spent that time drilling and perfecting your skills. You know ball control is the secret and know exactly where your teammate is going to be when you pass the ball. You know every move your teammates will make and how to take advantage of them. They can probably tell you what a team they played a month ago did, but I’ll bet they don’t know how to take advantage of their own team. Every time they’ve had to practice for the other guys, never for their own team. You have an edge, but they aren’t going to go easy. Use everything you know about your teammates to counter anything their team throws at you. Go pee and get ready to go in five minutes.” Ardith left her team and they started to move toward the bathrooms.

“And remember, I still have to pay even if you lose. It will be no fun if my heart is broken,” Dennis said.

“Let’s make them pay!” Brenda shouted.

“Yeah!”

The second half was almost an exact repeat of the first half. Ardith made frequent substitutions, but the game was so clean that the clock seldom stopped for the exchanges to be made. At the end of regulation play, the schools were tied at 70.

They got a one-minute break during which Dennis and Lana scrambled to make sure each girl got a drink and had toweled off as much sweat as possible.

At one minute into the four-minute overtime, the Warriors sank a layup and led by two. Thirty seconds later, Daniella went up for one of her dunks and was fouled. She got two foul shots and calmly sank both of them. It was the first opportunity for an exchange of players. The Warriors weren’t done and even though there were three changes of possession, with less than a minute to go, they hit a short jumper for a two-point lead once again. They had to hustle down court as Brenda in-bounded the ball under the Warriors’ basket. Roberta took the ball under intense pressure from two Warriors, managed to flip the ball behind her back to return it to Brenda, coming to her aid. The Warriors quickly shifted to cover Brenda but she was able to bounce pass it over to Natalie, who launched a three-pointer to put the Angelines in the lead with just five seconds remaining. The guard launched the ball over the heads of the defenders trying to slow the Warriors down, but there wasn’t time. The Warriors’ point guard overhanded a shot from the centerline as the buzzer sounded. There was a gasp as the ball fell short of the rim. The Angelines won the Regional Championship by a score of 75-74.

The Bartley fans were going hoarse with their cheering while the Washington Central fans half-heartedly applauded the winners and wept for the heartbreaking loss by the Warriors. The Washington Central Coaches and Coach Graves stood facing the scorers’ bench as the regional director came out on the floor to present the trophy. Ardith called Brenda and Natalie forward as the team captains to receive the trophy. They held it high as the rest of the team reached out to touch it. Many of the Washington Central team were in tears. Dennis faced the Warriors and Anne came forward with her team behind her.