The Basketball Game

Holden White

I started running up the court, sprinting as fast as I could run after being so tired. As I was dribbling I was thinking, “Well that was easy,” but sadly there was someone else running up beside me. They were one of the best players on the other team, and they were faster than me. I still thought I could do it though. I ran really fast up the court,  almost into the defender, backed up, did a fade away, shot the ball up into the air… and let me backup a bit.

My name is Holden White, and I really like basketball, so I signed up for a basketball league called Parks and Rec, a little over a year ago. All the games were outside. It’s non-competitive, but I’m a competitive person. Most of my team wasn’t very good, because they had never played before, so I and a few other people ended up being the best people on the team. Anyway, I really wanted to make a basket, right before the clock hit 00:00, winning my team the game. 

It was a random game in the season. We were playing at a park. Our team was losing by five points with about forty seconds left on the clock. By that point both teams were tired and starting to get cold because of the sweat on them starting to freeze. Someone on my team got the rebound that the other team missed, passed it (we had a few good passes that game), and we made a shot. We were only losing by three. “We might actually win,” I thought to myself. Then right on cue, the other team got a break-away and ran up the court. By then there were only about thirty seconds left on the clock. Luckily, his shot was off from playing so hard for the whole entire game, and he missed. Then our team got another good play and a good basket. With twenty seconds left there wasn’t much more room for error. Just then I saw the ball coming toward me, and I caught it! This was an amazing opportunity to accomplish my goal. 

I started running up the court, sprinting as fast as I could run after being so tired. As I was dribbling I was thinking, “Well that was easy,” but sadly there was someone else running up beside me. They were one of the best players on the other team, and they were faster than me. I still thought I could do it though. I ran really fast up the court,  almost into the defender, backed up, did a fade away, shot the ball up into the air… and missed completely. Sadly running at full speed, then backing up and trying to shoot doesn’t really work.

I was so mad I thought to myself, “DANG IT! DANG IT! DANG IT! WHY CAN’T I MAKE THAT FUDGING SHOT?!?!?!?!!!!!!” Though I couldn’t let that stop me from still trying to win the game.. 

After a second of being mad at myself, the defender ran up the court, though since all my team's defense was already back there, he didn’t have much of a chance. He attempted a three-pointer and missed. I looked at the clock. “Only fifteen seconds left. We have to win this game,” I again thought to myself. Suddenly, the other team got the ball again, “BRUH!” I accidentally said out loud. The player on the other team passed it out, and the same guy from before attempted another three. 

“Dude, this guy is a ball hog,” someone from my team said. The ball once again missed its target. It bounced off the backboard and ended up in my hands. At that point I knew there had to be like 3 seconds left on the clock. I knew what I had to try to do.

I knew my mistake from last time, but this time I knew how to handle it. I ran up the court as fast as I could, my entire focus on the hoop and the ball. I could hear the players running up right behind me, struggling to keep up. My speed was pure adrenaline. I knew he would catch up to me before I got to the hoop. I looked at the clock. Three seconds. I wanted to make the shot so bad, but I could hear the defender breathing right next to me. I put my plan into action. Right before I got under the hoop, I stopped completely. Remember what I said about trying to run then immediately stop? You can only do it if you’re ready. I was. He wasn’t.

The defender already had so much momentum that, when I stopped, the momentum kept pushing him along. He ran right under the hoop, almost into the fence. “No defender. Easy lay-up. You can do this,” I thought to myself. I put the ball up in the air. It hit the backboard. The clock hit zero and I knew this shot meant the game. It bounced once. I saw the audience ready to clap if it went in. It bounced twice. My coaches were watching from the sidelines. It bounced a third time. “PLEASE!!! I need this,” I thought. 

Swish.

Everything after was mostly a blur. The audience erupted in applause. My team congratulated me. I felt a sense of relief that it was finally over. I had done it. 

I had won the game.

This event was really important to me because the sense of accomplishment after was incredible. That accomplishment now gives me more confidence in basketball. It’s also another reason I still play basketball and enjoy it. Also that game helped with my competition skills, and made me better. Also, I know that if I keep practicing, I can always do something awesome.