Chapter 31

“I’M NOT MAKING any changes tonight,” Ardith said when she entered the girls’ locker room. Monday was a home game against the Vikings. “In fact, I’m leaving everything in Dennis’s hands. You’ve been working with him for two weeks and showed Friday night that it did you well. I’m still hobbling around and, though I’ll be out there on the bench with you, I’m not feeling energetic enough to jump up and down.”

Ardith’s left arm was in a cast and there was still a sizable bandage on the left side of her face. She was walking with a limp and taking shallow breaths because of her cracked ribs. She wasn’t certain it was that wise to have started back to work today, but she wanted her team to know she was okay. She’d taken a couple more pain relievers just before she came into the locker room.

“I’ve heard a little upset on the team for having defeated your opponents so badly Friday night. 64-18 is a pretty lopsided game. I talked to Dennis about his strategy and I have to agree with him completely. But you might not understand it yet. So, Dennis? Why don’t you explain to the girls what you told me?” Ardith said.

“Yes, Coach. I know from our experience this year and last year that the Angelines don’t like to humiliate our opponents. But we also found out last year that our opponents don’t want to be condescended to. They want to know they lost to a superior team that didn’t take them for granted. So, we play our best, no matter what. Some of you asked over the weekend why I didn’t just give the younger players more opportunity to play. They showed Friday night that they could play at the level of some of our opponents. So, here’s why. Tonight is our ninth game of the season. The Vikings and five of the other teams we’ve played so far are 1A teams. The schools have as few as half the number of students we have. We’ve played only two 2A teams and one 3A team. In our next nine games after tonight, we’ll be playing just four 1A teams. We’ll be playing four 2A teams and in just one week, we’ll walk onto the court to play a 4A team with over twice as many students in their school as we have. And you know what comes after that? The regional and state tournaments where we will meet more 2A teams than in the entire rest of the season. If we aren’t playing to our maximum performance, as soon as we set foot on the court in the tournament, we will be overcome because we’re used to only giving just enough to beat a 1A team. Since we started the Angelines last year, Coach has given us one motto. What is this game?”

“The championship game!” Some of the girls hadn’t gotten used to the response yet, so only about half shouted.

“Again?”

“The championship game!” they all yelled.

“What are we going to do?”

“Beat ‘em!”

“How are we going to do it?”

“Run run run!”

“Who are we?”

“Angelines!”

Dennis, dressed in his burgundy jacket and powder blue T-shirt, accompanied Ardith to the scorers’ bench to go through much the same introduction he’d had with Pat on Friday. The refs welcomed him and he handed the roster to the scorers.

The teams were introduced with Natalie, Roberta, Daniella, Amy, and Diane starting. Ardith had been surprised to see Dennis move Roberta to point guard and Natalie to forward. Daniella would take the tipoff, but she’d move to the opposite side forward and Diane would take over at center. The National Anthem was played by the Bartley band and the teams prepared for the tipoff.

With the control of the tipoff, the tone of the game was set. The Angelines had their first basket before the Vikings had gotten downcourt. The Vikings scored only twice for four points in the first quarter, compared to the Angelines’ twenty-two points. Dennis rotated players constantly in the first half, but the Angelines were still running away from the Vikings and led at the half 46-10. The entire second half was played with the thirty-five-point continuous clock in play. Dennis always kept two of the veteran Angelines on the court with three of the newbies, rotating as frequently as possible through the second half. Offensively, the Angelines slowed down, scoring only twenty-three points in the second half. Defensively though, they effectively shut down the Vikings, who scored only six points. At the buzzer, it was a 69-16 victory for the Angelines. They hugged their opponents and walked with them to the locker room, giving them encouragement along the way. They were suddenly like big sisters to the other team and had a good time laughing and joking with them. Even with the frequent rotations, the Armor girls held the lead in all categories.

After they’d showered, they went into the gym for the second half of the boys’ game. The Wolverines managed to squeak out another win, 57-54. It was a narrow victory. The popular opinion among the fans was that the Angelines could have won the game handily.

“He’s faking,” the nurse said firmly. John Driscoll, the psychiatrist evaluating Les Steinman, looked at her sadly. He believed the nurse, but there was little he could do.

“Marianne, his sixteenth birthday is in thirty days. I either have to certify him as safe to return to society or remand him to the adult courts for sentencing to the penitentiary. We can’t retain him in a juvenile facility any longer. And frankly, I don’t have any evidence from my sessions with him that he’s a danger to himself or anyone else,” John said. “He went off his meds and went a little crazy. He’s back on a carefully balanced regimen of medications and counseling and has responded marvelously. There is no reason to keep him any longer.”

“He still hides his medication and doesn’t take it. Oh, he’s clever. Figured out how to put it in his mouth and hide it until I’m out of sight. But then he spits it out. You spend an hour a week with him. I see him six or seven hours a day. He’s faking,” Marianne said adamantly.

“Thank you for your opinion, Marianne. I’ll include it in his file. Unfortunately, I need to make the decision based on that hour a week. You can go now.”

Ardith gave Dennis several notes on what she observed, complimenting him on having moved Roberta from forward to point guard. She was able to meet with him for an hour on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and suggested a change in the starting lineup with more frequent substitutions from the bench. Tori was developing rapidly. Debbie wasn’t at quite that level, but could fill the center position on offense pretty well. She had him drill all three Armors on their three-point range. That was something that both Daniella and Roberta outshone Natalie at. But Natalie was far more aggressive under the boards. She had more fouls to show for it, too.

Dennis worked the girls hard on Tuesday and Wednesday, letting up slightly on Thursday so they would be ready for Friday’s game. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, of course, he was at DMACC. No one made it to Brenda’s game Wednesday night and she said she was thankful. They’d lost to the number five ranked Trojans 110-85.

Friday night, Dennis started Tori at breaking guard and Rosie at center with the three Armors anchoring the court. The game was tighter during the first quarter than anything since their third game this season. They’d run away from the Knights in the first game of the season, winning 67-11. This time, they ended the first quarter up by only three. Roberta was feeling off and asked Dennis to replace her in the second quarter. Judith went in at the point with Amy at breaking guard. Diane came in for Rosie, but Natalie and Daniella came to life in the second period. By the end of the half, it was 32-18. It seemed unlikely that the thirty-five-point continuous clock would go into effect during this game, so substitutions in the second half would be more frequent.

“You’re hot,” he whispered to Natalie.

“I’m so glad you think so,” she giggled as they walked back to the gym.

“That, too, but I meant your shooting. Go ahead and take the shot. If you don’t think you can get it off, shovel it out to Daniella. She’s having a great game, too.”

“Okay, Coach. You’ve got it.”

The Angelines continued to control the game. Dennis made sure Bobbie, Liz, and Jaydyn got playing time in the last quarter and eventually added Janice and Shelby to the mix. The newest and youngest players held their own and the game ended at 65-37 for the Angelines’ ninth victory of the season.

The Team B cheerleaders hit the locker room with the Angelines and teased Dennis as he got their tape off. Rae sat in front of him topless and in only a thin pair of pink panties that were definitely damp with her sweat—or something. She made no secret about it when she pulled them off and tossed them into the uniform laundry bag, then sauntered into the showers.

Natalie gave him a naked kiss to take his mind off Rae’s display and then headed toward the showers herself. Dennis went to the coaches’ locker room. He collected the score sheets to be entered into the computer—a job that Olivia had happily taken on—and glanced at them while he headed down to pick up the laundry. He was stunned by what he saw.