Chapter 33

THERE WASN’T TIME to work with the girls on jumping rope. They were on the bus to an away game against the Bulldogs Monday as soon as school was out. Dennis and Lana worked on getting everyone taped on the bus, so there wasn’t a chance for the girls to do any teasing in the locker room, either. It was now expected that Dennis would show up for games in his burgundy sport coat and powder blue T-shirt as a coach, leaving Lana to get the team warmed up before the game.

Ardith was definitely feeling better and was the active coach for the team, combining her style of frequent substitutions with Dennis’s move toward longer ball control. The game was never in doubt as Natalie and Daniella hit seventeen points each. Roberta led the team in assists, calling the plays from the point and shoveling the ball out to the open player. Whenever the Bulldogs backed off of her to cover the other players, she sank a three-pointer from the top of the key. She ended the game with eleven points and half a dozen assists.

Even though the three sisters led the team with forty-five points among them, the other girls had snapped out of their dry spell and contributed another twenty-two points to the 67-30 victory.

With a home game against the Comets coming up Tuesday night, the girls didn’t stay to watch the boys take another tight game, 67-66. There were kisses and hugs in the locker room, but everyone hustled out to get a good night’s sleep.

Dennis had managed to get his English Comp paper finished on Sunday, so he spent his study time Tuesday morning in the fitness room. He got his jump rope out and began one of the intensive workouts he’d read about. He had a bit of learning to do in order to get his coordination on the rope down, but by the end of an hour, he’d mastered four of the fifteen steps in the program in thirty-second intervals.

“Are you going to start including that as part of conditioning exercises?” Coach Byers said from the doorway. Dennis coiled his rope and went over to meet the coach.

“Sorry. I didn’t know anyone was here. The Angelines want more exercises that will help them jump higher. I’m testing a few. But I checked the equipment cage and we don’t have any jump ropes,” Dennis said.

“We’ll have to correct that,” Byers said. “Wrestlers could use that for speed and agility, too. Get on line and find a supplier. Send me the order info and we’ll get a gross of them in here next week.”

“Yes, sir,” Dennis squeaked.

“A lot different than the days when we needed an extra budget approval to get the Angelines a game ball, isn’t it?” Byers laughed.

“Yes, sir. And we just got fifty new practice balls for the workout sessions. We’re going to need a bigger equipment locker,” Dennis said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“We’ll have to make do for a couple of months yet,” Byers said. “By next fall, we’re going to have a new athletic facility. Dennis, the sponsorship of AgCentral has put us on a whole new playing field. Your contribution has been noticed.”

“Um ... Thank you, sir. I’m just doing my part.”

“And then some. Send me that link.”

Coach Byers left the room and Dennis noticed Thoms, the wrestling team manager standing a few feet away.

“Hey, Thoms. How’s it going.”

“I wanted to mention something to you. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to lead two reps from AgCentral on a tour of our facilities. They were real impressed when they watched your workout. I’m not sure whether one of them was impressed with the workout or with the number of girls in shorts and sport bras. Whatever. They totally ignored me and talked as if I wasn’t even there. What I heard was that they want to make sure you have anything you need for your workouts, for basketball, and even for the exercise program you put online.”

“Why would they be concerned about that?” Dennis asked. “It’s not even part of the school since they kicked us out and told us we couldn’t record here.”

“I’m just a fifteen-year-old freshman and don’t understand half of what adults talk about,” they said. “I got the impression, though, that they’re trying to guarantee your support of what they want to do. And I don’t think they were just talking about the school program. They talked about building a big pig farm near here.”

“I think that’s what the equipment is on the other side of the river north of here. Don’t tell me they’re going to put a million pigs there.”