Chapter 32

SINCE HE DIDN’T need to return to BHS Wednesday, Dennis stayed in Boone and went to watch Brenda’s practice. He watched his girlfriend, of course, but was keen on observing her coach as he worked the team. This coach also spent time on fundamentals, but was much more into traditional offensive and defensive plays.

“Hey, Dennis!” Brenda called after the practice. He came out of the bleachers to greet his girlfriend with a kiss.

“Passing those out freely?” the tall forward, Donna, asked, playfully trying to nudge Brenda out of the way.

“Oh, no. There’s a whole approval process you have to go through, first,” Dennis deadpanned. “And you have to meet my mother and bring a box of condoms for admission.”

“Whoa! I was only teasing. Believe me, you wouldn’t need a condom around me. Not interested,” Donna laughed. “Now, Shorty, what’s this you say about your coach here being able to help me get my dunk?”

“Dennis, Donna is so close to slamming the ball but can’t make it over the rim. I told her you’d helped both Daniella and Roberta get the last couple of inches. Maybe you can help her. Please, honey?” Brenda pled.

“Sure,” Dennis said. “If your coach is okay with it. Let’s see what you’ve got,” he said to Donna. “Bren, set her up.” Donna started charging the basket and Brenda passed the ball to her just two steps away. Donna jumped hard and almost made it. Her fingers were definitely above the rim, but the ball hit the rim and bounced away. Dennis switched to the other side to observe her again. He wasn’t watching or concerned with whether she made the shot or not. He was watching her feet and legs.

After the third try, he called them over to the bleachers and had Donna sit. He got down and pulled her right foot to his knee.

“Is that break giving you pain this year?” he asked. The first time they met, Donna was wearing a cast on her right foot. It was the first game of Bartley’s first season. They’d chatted briefly and Dennis found out the break was causing Donna to sit out the season.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I can’t believe you remember I broke it.”

“You were in a cast the first time I met you.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“I grew some since then. You wanted me to give you Daniella’s number,” Dennis laughed. “I did, by the way.”

“Yeah, I know. We’ve talked a few times. I started getting jealous of her when she made that slam dunk in the State finals. She got involved with ... Oh, geez! That’s you?”

“It’s me. You’re still favoring that foot.”

“I am? You’re kidding. It feels fine,” Donna said.

“Then favoring it is a learned behavior and you need to unlearn it. And how much did you warm up before practice?” Dennis asked.

“Just the usual.”

“There’s no reason your legs and ankles should be this tight after a practice like you had today.” Dennis continued massaging Donna’s right foot and ankle, then called for her left. “Start warmups sooner and spend at least twenty minutes just getting your muscles warmed up. Then stretch out before you get on the floor. That’s more important than shooting drills, as far as I’m concerned. Let me see your hands.” Donna held out her hands and Dennis confirmed what he thought he saw when she tried to dunk the ball. “You can’t palm the ball, can you?”

“No. My hands are too small. Don’t tell me you can make my fingers grow,” Donna laughed.

“No, but Brenda, Daniella, and Roberta all have the same problem. You need a different technique if you have small hands. Like me.”

“I suppose you can dunk, too,” Donna said, lacing up her shoes. Dennis was quiet. “No. You can’t mean that ... You’re like what, five-ten?”

“Height plays a role, but it’s not the most important thing,” Dennis said. “Jumping and ball control are both more important.” He stood back as Donna finished her shoes.

“Wow! My legs feel awesome,” she said.

Dennis took the ball from Brenda and dribbled out to half court. He dribbled toward the basket, pumping the ball onto the backboard when he reached the foul line. In two more steps, he picked up the rebound and slammed it home.

He motioned to Donna to take her place and run for the board. He launched a high curve and she picked it up with her left hand and popped it through the hoop.

“Brenda, if you can feed her the ball so she doesn’t have to carry it with her on her way up, she’s got it nailed.”

Brenda took her position and launched the ball exactly the way Dennis had. Donna picked it up in the air and slammed it home.

“Okay! Okay!” Donna panted. “I need to stop by the drugstore and pick up some condoms. How soon can I meet your mother?”

They all had a good laugh and the girls headed down to the locker room for showers as Dennis changed shoes to get ready to go home.

“That was impressive,” Brenda’s coach said as he approached. Dennis snapped up to stand.

“Sir! I hope it was okay to help Donna, sir!”

“Relax, son. So, you’re the trainer Brenda has talked about. High school? Planning to come here next year?” the coach asked.

“Um ... Not exactly, sir. I mean, I still have another year of high school left.”

“You’re how old?”

“Sixteen, sir. Almost seventeen.”

“Playing varsity?”

“No, sir. I manage the girls’ basketball team. I guess I can say now that I’m the Student Assistant Coach. I work with the players on sports conditioning and skills,” Dennis said.

“Why not play?”

“Coach, I believe girls’ basketball is the best sport ever invented. Why would I give up working with them to play on a boys’ team?” Dennis asked.

The coach started laughing and nodding his head.

“Have to say, I agree. Well, anytime you can show up here, let me know you’re coming and I’ll have the ladies ready for a workout. You just did a world of good for Donna. She’ll transfer to State next year. No question. Drive carefully getting home. It’s pretty nasty out there.”

Thursday classes at Bartley were chaotic. The term had just started and they’d missed one day with a late start on another. At least roads were mostly clear and the Angelines got to practice in the afternoon. There were a lot of whispered conversations going on as they shifted from conditioning to team practice. As they finished layup skills, the team halted and faced Dennis. Ardith had been standing to shout instructions and was taken off guard when Liz spoke up.

“Coach, we’ve all found out you’ve been holding out on us. We want to see you dunk a basketball.”

Dennis sighed and hung his head.

“Is that true, Dennis?” Ardith asked. “I thought you were coaching Daniella and Roberta with techniques you saw on videos. Can you really do it?”

“Yeah. I guess so. I knew showing off at DMACC yesterday was a bad idea.”

“Okay. Now I want to see, too. Take it away, Coach,” Ardith said, tossing him a basketball. Dennis took it to half court and dribbled toward the basket, giving it an alley-oop from the foul line and then jumping. He picked up the rebound off the backboard and slammed it through the rim. The girls were all silent.

“Could you do this all last year?” Natalie asked in amazement.

“No. I couldn’t do it until I grew. Running this fall helped, too. And I’ve been giving you all exercises to get you to jump higher. I do all the exercises, too,” Dennis said. “Natalie, you’re getting close. I think you’ll be able to dunk by the end of the season. Tori, next year is your year. Daphne and Rosie, it’s not beyond your ability. Keep working those legs and ankles.”

“Okay,” Ardith said. “Dunking is a good skill to have, but it’s not the focus of the game. If you’re going to beat the Saints tomorrow, we need the whole game put together. Red team is Liz, Daniella, Amy, Diane, and Janice. Report to Dennis. Blue to me: Natalie, Roberta, Leanne, Daphne, and Jaydyn. Let’s see some action.”

It was a tough practice, but the girls all looked to Dennis with renewed respect.

The Angelines were too keyed up Friday night when they met the Saints. The Saints had dealt them their only loss in the third game of the season and for a while, it looked like this would be a repeat of that first matchup, only worse. The Angelines trailed 15-19 at the end of the first quarter and by eight points at the half. The Saints had succeeded in slowing the game down, controlling the ball for the majority of the time. What was worse, only the Armor girls had scored. The shorter and younger girls had simply been overpowered. Ardith called the girls into a huddle at the third quarter break, trailing 39-51.

“We’ve tried to play their game, but we just aren’t hitting from anywhere on the court,” she said. “So, we’re going to pull the stops out on this quarter or we’ll be facing our home fans with our tails between our legs. Natalie, Daniella, Roberta.” She paused and looked at the rest of the team carefully. She needed good ball handlers. “Amy and Diane. This quarter belongs to you. There’s no time for substitutions. We’re going to hit them full force with what we’re known for. We need to get the ball, control the ball, and score. Every opportunity. Every possession. Get the rebounds. Get the steals. And score! You know what that means.”

“Run and gun,” Natalie said with grim determination. She was already leading the team with seventeen points. Daniella had fifteen and Roberta had seven. They were the only ones who had scored so far.

“What are we going to do?” Dennis shouted.

“Beat ‘em!”

“How will we do it?”

“Run run run!”

“Who are we?”

“Angelines!”

If the Saints expected a beaten team to take the floor for the fourth quarter, they were sadly mistaken. Roberta went up against their center and controlled the tip to Amy. Amy was overwhelmed with defenders and passed between their legs to Natalie. Natalie launched the ball downcourt to Daniella who threw an alley-oop toward the basket. Roberta appeared from nowhere to slam it through the hoop. Natalie stole the ball on the inbound and drove to the basket for a quick two. Amy picked up her offensive player and to everyone’s surprise, rose into the air to block her shot. In two minutes, the twelve-point deficit had been cut to six and the Angelines were running the Saints into the ground, forcing errors and stealing the ball. They ignored normal balancing around the team and simply passed the ball to whichever of the Armors was open.

And they ran. They were aggressive under the boards. They stole the ball and blocked the Saints’ shots. It looked like a different team than had played the first three quarters. When Amy sank two foul shots to put the Angelines ahead with two minutes to play, the home fans went wild. They weren’t finished yet and Natalie drove for two more layups and Daniella popped a three-pointer from the corner. In the fourth quarter, they outscored the Saints 20-4 and ended with a 59-55 victory.

Dennis went straight into the locker room with the team and held his three Armor girlfriends in a tight hug. The rest of the team surrounded them, hugging so tightly they could hardly breathe.