Chapter 22

AFTER MORNING CHORES, most of the team headed for Salter to watch what was billed as the Conference Championship game between the Crusaders and the Spartans. It got off to a bad start. The Spartans opened up a ten-point lead before the Crusaders fought back to close it to four points at the end of the first quarter. Then, Brenda and Grace entered the game to ignite the Crusaders on a twenty-two-point spree to lead 39-36 at the end of the half.

The Spartans closed to two again before the end of the third quarter and immediately tied the game at 51 in the first twenty seconds of the final period. The score seesawed back and forth for another two minutes, being tied three times. Then Brenda and Grace came off the bench again to combine for a sixteen-point unanswered scoring binge. With the lead opened to fourteen, the Crusaders maintained control for the rest of the period, ending the game in a 79-65 victory.

The victory clinched a disputed regular season conference championship for the Crusaders. The team would become the first seed in the conference tournament when it started in two weeks. They were presented the trophy after the game, but some of the Spartan fans were protesting. The Crusaders were sixteen and six for the season, but none of their early-season losses had been in conference competition. The Spartans had an overall better record of twenty and two, but both their losses had been to the Crusaders in conference play.

The Bartley fans were jubilant as their former coach and teammate came out of the locker room after the game.

“Another championship!” Dennis crowed, leading the applause.

“You keep winning and we’ll keep winning, babe!” Brenda yelled as she hugged her boyfriend. She went down the line hugging girlfriends and former teammates, eventually getting to even the younger girls who had come to the game.

“You and Grace are like a machine!” Natalie said.

“Are you kidding?” Brenda asked. “Grace is the dynamo. Did you see her steal the ball? Nine times! And she scored on seven of them.”

“And still, she led everyone but Laura in assists. Including two to you,” Ardith said. “I’ve never been so happy to have seven starters on my team. We’re going to keep marching on. Two more games next week before our tournament starts.”

“We’re thinking of stopping at the Roadrunners’ this evening for the round one game that will determine who we play in the quarterfinals on Tuesday,” Dennis said. “We’ve played against the Roadrunners before, but we’ve never seen the Tigerhawks play.”

“Just don’t try to second guess your strategy based on what you see,” Ardith warned. “Play your game the way you play it and keep your team focused.”

“Thanks, Coach,” Dennis said. He subtly put an arm around Ardith and gave her a squeeze. She grinned and winked at him.

“How about dinner before the game tonight?” Brenda asked. “We might get Grace and a couple others to join us.”

“Sure! That sounds great,” Amy said. “Grace is my hero.”

“Honey, to get up in Grace’s strata, we’ll all have to learn to run faster!” Eve said. “Hey, Makayla. Come join us for dinner. You can give this guy of Brenda’s some coaching tips.”

“Hey, I’m still learning from Coach Graves. But food sounds good!” The bubbly woman rushed to join up with the Angelines. She’d played the last minute of the game and managed an assist and a rebound in the fifty seconds she was in.

“So, little cutie,” Grace said as she sat on the other side of Amy from Brenda. “I hear you have a reputation at your high school and you’re likely to be with us here next year. Glad to have you aboard. We’ll have to figure out how to integrate you with Bren and me. If we can extend our range to a triple threat, we’ll have it made.”

“I can’t believe how well you and Brenda work together,” Amy said. “I’m jealous.”

“Oh, don’t be. Your girlfriend is beautiful and smart and talented, but I just don’t have a taste for pussy. Now your boyfriend looks like he’d be fun. Problem is, there’s too much competition there. I guess I’ll stick with Ham.”

“Who’s that?”

“My boyfriend since freshman year in high school. He’s at Drake and we maintain limited contact during basketball season. Once the season is over, though, I’m going to show him how much faster I’ve gotten this year,” Grace said.

“That’s cool. Is he an athlete?”

“No. Can you believe it? A total brainiac. I’m just arm candy.”

“Don’t let her kid you about that. Our fast girl is an A student,” Eve said. “And we love her for it.”

“Hey, I noticed Tori isn’t with you today,” Brenda said. “Is everything okay?”

“I have a feeling Tori is playing a different game today. I saw her and Brandon leave PJ’s together last night. I just hope she isn’t too sore to play ball on Tuesday,” Leanne said.

“See? Now that’s why Ham and I have limited contact during the season. Can’t run fast if you’re bowlegged, if you know what I mean,” Grace said.

“Girl, most of us couldn’t beat you in a footrace even if you were bowlegged,” Makayla said.

The conversation was lively and Ardith felt comfortable with her high school boyfriend and girlfriends in the crowd of players. When they left, though, Brenda joined their girlfriends and Dennis while Ardith went to her house in Bartley alone.

That evening, the Tigerhawks fell to the Roadrunners 38-30. It was a low scoring game, but not for lack of trying. Neither team hit more than one of five shots from the court and only a handful of free throws had been made. Still, for the level of talent on the two teams, it was a good match-up. The Angelines were ready for Tuesday.

“They were just so cute!” Natalie said as they cuddled up at Amy’s house. “I felt so bad for the Tigerhawks. They looked like our junior high girls.”

“That’s not so far off,” Dennis said. “Half those girls are freshmen. They only have one senior on the team. And I don’t think any of them are over five-nine.”

“Wouldn’t you just love to take over a team like that and really make something of them?” Brenda asked.

“I’m not ready for that,” Dennis laughed. “You know who is, though? Makayla. If that girl got hold of a team like the Tigerhawks next year, she’d take them all the way to the State Championship.”

“I wonder if they’re hiring,” Brenda said. “I don’t wish ill on their coach. He was doing the best he could, but he was really coming off as a man-dude. I’ve no doubt there’s some hero-worship where he’s concerned, but it’s hurting his ability to coach.”

“You guys are so observant!” Natalie said. “You need to help me get ready to coach girls like that. I really think I could do well with a junior high team. I’ll let you guys run the varsity.”

“Well, what we saw tonight should clue us in a little on what to expect Tuesday. The Roadrunners are more mature and they’re aggressive. They’re going to be after the ball from the opening buzzer,” Dennis said. “I think they’ve adapted their game since we met them in December—probably to make up for their height deficiency. You notice they weren’t towering over the Tigerhawks, they just played with more maturity. No one on the team is over five-eight, but they’ve got four seniors and have been starting two sophomores and a junior with them. They’re on a five-game winning streak, including three of the teams we beat, and until tonight, all those games have been away games. They are going to press and try to get under us right away.”

“Um ... Coach? Can we let up on the game talk and fuck?” Lana said. “I’m really, really horny.”

That was all it took for Dennis and the three other girls to focus all their attention on Lana. Between kissing, sucking, licking, and fucking, they made sure her hornies were well-taken care of. Natalie dove in to lick Dennis’s semen out of Lana’s pussy while Brenda mounted his cock and Amy rode his face.

By morning, Amy and Natalie had also had their pussies reamed by his prick, but the girls did as much to love each other as he did to love them.

The team had a good practice Monday. Dennis had them play short against tall in a scrimmage to get them used to the height difference and made sure Lana and Josie were brutal about blowing the whistle on any foul the tall team made against the short. Dennis was pretty sure there would be a subconscious bias against the taller team running into the smaller one. They needed to make sure they were playing cautiously and still connecting for points. He also wanted to do more substitution of shorter players into the lineup. He’d keep Natalie in as long as she kept scoring and snatching rebounds. He planned to always have either Janice or Diane in the lineup. But he’d be swapping Tori, Amy, Judith, Leanne, Carrie, and Karen on a regular rotation. He hoped to overcome the subconscious bias by not having five girls on the floor who towered over the other team all the time. He was still undecided as to whether he’d play Rosie. He thought she was still favoring her ankle and didn’t want to risk injuring her when they might really need her when they went up against the Wolves again.

There was a pep rally during the last period of school on Monday. The boys’ team would be playing the Wildcats in their first round game Monday night. They’d beaten the Wildcats soundly in an early season game and there was a lot of excitement around the boys moving to the next level. Both first round games in their district would be played at Bartley, with the Wolverines in the second game at 8:00.

After dinner, the Angelines joined the junior varsity teams to create a cheer block for the boys as the Wolverines pushed through to a victory over the Wildcats 66-49. Brandon still started and played well with six points. He also made a solid contribution with rebounds and assists. The Wolverines would move on to meet the Chargers on Thursday in the quarterfinals. They had lost a tight contest to the Chargers early in the season and then came back to dominate them in a later game. They were looking forward to the next game.