Chapter 11

WEDNESDAY PRACTICE was jubilant. Even though the boys hadn’t won, they’d played a great game. The Angelines were charged up and ready to go for blood.

“You’ve got a lot to be proud of today,” Dennis said as he led conditioning exercises. “Guys, I don’t usually use this kind of phrase about games because you play to win and that’s that. But the odds against a Raider making a half-court basket at the buzzer in an act of desperation are out of sight. You got robbed. So, now you know you need to lead by more than two at the end of the game. Get to your practice and put the dedication it takes into winning Friday night.”

Everyone applauded and Dennis waved the guys back for a minute.

“I heard somebody say something disturbing. It wasn’t a Wolverine. That person said, ‘It’s just a warmup game. The season’s hardly started.’ But we know something and it bears repeating right now as we’re preparing for Friday night’s game against the Tigers. Angelines, what is our Friday night game?”

“The championship game!” yelled out the more experienced players.

“Angelines and Wolverines together. Every game is...”

“The championship game!” they all joined in.

“Now let’s get to practice like we’re playing for the championship Friday night.”

The crew was happy they’d managed to see Brenda play Sunday and beat the Scotties, extending their winning season to seven and two. Brenda had another great game, scoring twenty points. But no one would be able to get all the way to the Tritons to watch the game Wednesday night. It was too long a drive to make after school. Unfortunately, the team was off all evening, losing 58-70.

Thursday morning, Dennis had a clinic with the Bears at DMACC.

“Last night showed us that when there is pressure, we can’t make the shots. Only twenty-three percent from the field. That won’t win us any awards. So, here’s what we’ll work on today. Fadeaway jumpers. Their number 22 blocked ten shots. That would have changed your percentage a lot. And just six of those would have tied the game,” Dennis said. “So, let’s go through the approach, the set, and the shot.”

When Dennis suggested the session to Coach Dearborn, the coach was skeptical.

“That’s the worst shot in basketball,” the coach said. “We only had twenty-three percent last night as it was. Why do you think they should learn a more difficult shot?”

“Two reasons, coach. Number 22 blocked at least one shot from everyone who took one. The only consistent defense against a taller player blocking you is to get back away from her. And it’s just as likely to draw a foul if it’s done right,” Dennis said. “Second, the women need to see this as a limited speed bump, not as the start of a trend. Teaching them something new will make them focus on moving on instead of remediation.”

“Okay. You’ve convinced me. Let’s go see if you can convince the ladies.”

Of course, it wasn’t easy. But once Dennis taught the trick of a fake shot just before the backward jump, nearly every defender fouled the shooter. It was almost impossible to resist. He stressed the importance of judging when the shot was appropriate, primarily from inside against intense coverage. He could see the confidence improve in the women as they went through the one-hour clinic.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get that shot down. It seems like I’m shooting blind,” Brenda said as they drove home so Dennis could make his 1:30 class at Bartley.

“Well, you need it less than most of the others,” Dennis encouraged her. “You were high scorer with thirteen. But all your field goals were three-pointers. And you were perfect from the foul line. You’re less likely to face the same coverage out there that you face on the inside. Still, it’s an alternative to trying to drive around when you get caught in traffic.”

“You’re such a good boyfriend and coach. I don’t want to go away from where you are coaching. Wherever we end up, I’ll want you to work with me, no matter who the coach is.”

“We’ll have lots of time when we’re all three at the same school,” Dennis said. “It’s getting back to coach Amy that will be stressful. I’m worried about her and Lana.”

“Me, too. But you’ve promised to be near enough to get home frequently for Peg, right?”

“Right. I’ve got the list narrowed down to three schools. I’m sure we’ll be okay at one of them.”

“I think that should be our weekend task,” Brenda said. “We need to visit the schools and decide which one we want. We’ve got acceptances at all three. I suppose it will come down to best deal.”

“Ardith keeps telling us to wait until the second half of the season at least before we accept an offer. She says the recruiters will step up their efforts in January and February.”

“All we have to do is keep winning.”

“The good news is it’s fixable. It’s mostly just an irritant,” Neil said when the coaches met Friday morning.

“Why didn’t the inspection they put the building through catch it?” Lyle asked.

“Well, once again, the building wiring is according to spec and passed all the tests. The one they didn’t test was turning on all the power at once, which created a surge in the draw from the power main,” Neil said. “The power main is where the problem was. It didn’t draw enough service to allow for any kind of surge. It will take the power company about a week to get new service hooked up and tested.”

“So, what about tonight’s games?” Ardith asked.

“We know not to bring everything up at once and to keep the general lighting down a little lower. We’ll also make sure we aren’t burning every power drain in the building at the same time. We should be fine. We were showing off Tuesday with tours of the whole building and even had volunteers on the treadmills when the game started.”

“Should be,” Andy sighed. There would be JV boys’ and Freshman/Sophomore girls’ games before the varsity played this evening.

Splitting the girls into two teams reduced the number dressing for the varsity game. Ardith kept Janice dressing for the varsity but all the other freshmen and sophomores joined in the JV game. With only eleven dressing for varsity, it was the smallest team they’d fielded since their first year when they had only nine players.

The freshman/sophomore girls did well, defeating the Tiger team by six points in a low-scoring game. The JV boys also won a narrow victory 32-30. Then it was time for the varsity girls to take the floor. The ritual basketball drill during warmups was immediately attention-getting. The rhythm of all the balls bouncing at the same time was mimicked on the sideline by the cheerleaders and got the fans clapping in unison. The Tigers scarcely knew what to make of the precision.

At least the power stayed on when the lights came up under the guidance of the maintenance people operating that part of the light switch board. Diane, Tori, Natalie, Amy, and Rosie took the floor and Diane controlled the tipoff with ease. It looked like a repeat of Tuesday night with the Tigers scoring only once in each of the first three periods. The thirty-five-point continuous clock ran through the entire second half as the Angelines led by thirty-seven at the end of the half. The first five sat out the last period entirely, letting Chris, Jennifer, Judith, Leanne, Janice, and Shelby play. Interestingly, the Tigers played all substitutes in the last period, both teams wanting to give more girls experience. The Tigers’ subs proved more effective against the Angelines’ subs than the starters had. The Angelines still won the game 62-17.

The boys struggled to keep up with the Tigers and ultimately fell behind to lose their game 54-57. They were still feeling good about the way they played, though. It had been a hard-fought contest.

Saturday morning the teams traveled an hour to the Wolves. The Angelines claimed the court so rapidly that they had a phenomenal thirty-two-point lead at the end of the first quarter. If they had not scored again for the rest of the game, they would still have won. Ardith rotated all the substitute players through the lineup starting in the second quarter and they held their own against the Wolves. The final score was 70-24.

The Wolves had exercised a rare option of playing up a division and had been granted 2A status even though they were a smaller school than the Wolverines. In an oddity of this year’s division system, the Wolverines played in class 1A while the Angelines played in class 2A. The Wolves showed why they were playing in Class 2A as they totally controlled the game against the Wolverines and won handily at 35-46. The Wolves’ coach complimented the Wolverines as playing much harder and better than they expected.

While the Angelines were playing their game, Brenda and the Bears were coming back with a vengeance from their Wednesday night loss as they beat the M-town Tigers 76-58 to extend their season to 8-3. It was the best season the Bears had seen in a long time.

Saturday night, Natalie, Lana, Brenda, Amy, and Dennis slept over at Amy’s house. Gransy had missed Friday and Saturday’s games because she flew to Las Vegas for a weekend with seniors. She’d be back on Monday. Her instructions were to not wreck the house and not to get the police called. Amy had taken that as permission to have her boyfriend and girlfriends over.

“It feels a little strange to just be the five of us,” Dennis said. “Not that I think we need any more,” he hurried to add, “but I don’t want to leave anyone out. We’ve been so close for two years.”

“We’re okay,” Natalie sighed. “Tori broke up with us. Rosie, Leanne, and Diane have been separating for some time and said they weren’t really interested in our ‘sex parties’ as they called them. The only one who’s borderline is Judith, and have you noticed she’s been acting a little strange lately? Even her game is off. She played better last year.”

“Do you think something is wrong?” Brenda asked. “Should we be thinking of an intervention of some sort?”

“I don’t think it’s wrong like that,” Lana said. “We talk. We’ve got three classes together and she’s doing okay in class. But ever since Diane got recruited, I think there’s been some re-evaluation over what her life is like and what she wants in life.”

“You mean, like being afraid she might not get recruited like her sister?” Dennis asked.