Rebound: A 2nd Chance

The two teams took to the court. Their respective players getting into position as they got ready for the tip-off.     

Kyle wore a determined and focused expression as he walked into position. Standing in front of him stood Dominion Middle School's Center.     

He was a tanned boy with straight brown hair that just dropped past his ears. His hair kept orderly by the dark red headband on his head, the color of the headband matching with the dark red jerseys of Dominion.     

He stood just about an inch and a half shorter than Kyle. But his long arms and legs combined with his lean yet toned build gave him an impressive aura.     

The opposing Center didn't seem to be the least bit intimidated by Kyle's stature and spirit as he wore a steeled expression himself.     

Both boys got into an athletic stance as they prepared themselves for the tip-off. The two had their eyes locked on to the ball as the referee began to toss it into the air.     

Before the ball had even reached its apex Kyle had gone into motion. His legs propelling him off of the ground he soared upwards.     

As the ball finally reached its highest point Kyle was there to tip it towards his team. But surprisingly his victory wasn't as dominant as he was accustomed to it being as he had just managed to beat Dominion's Center.     

'This guy has some serious jumping power' Kyle thought to himself as he began to run down the court after confirming that his team had control of the ball.     

Sprinting down the court at full speed Kyle heard the voice of one of the players from the opposing team "That's it Rev! Keep tracking him!"     

It was then that he noticed in the very edges of his periphery, the figure of Dominion's Center following closely behind him.     

With the ball in his hands Jason began to rush down the court. To his surprise he found the opposing team's Center keeping up fairly well with Kyle's insane speed.     

As Kyle approached the basket Jason found it impossible to throw a lead pass to him as the defender chased closely with a hand stretched out, blocking any direct paths.     

'Kyle's got some space but the defender chose a good angle to chase from behind. Not to mention that the athleticism needed to stick that close to Kyle when he's going full blast.'     

Jason analyzed the situation as their fast break died down into a half=court set. He held the ball at the top of the perimeter as he took a quick scan of the floor.     

With his mind made up Jason began to call out a play. Kyle cut through the baseline as he set a screen for Matt to flare out to the wing.     

Matt followed the play as he tried to lead his defender into Kyle's screen but the boy chasing after him stubbornly stuck to him.     

He even tried again as Kyle reversed the screen but his defender fought through it once again.     

Seeing the second attempt fail Kyle began to roll towards the rim with his defender in tow.      

With his own defender in front of him Jason attempted to drive past the three point line.     

Tightly guarded, Jason attempted to throw an overhead lob pass toward Kyle. Seeing the ball headed in his direction Kyle got ready to receive the pass.     

But before the ball could reach his hands the defender leapt high up into the air. Knocking it off course.     

Luckily Dlo was able to scramble toward it and regain control of the ball before any of the Dominion players could.     

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The first quarter passed at a sluggish rate in terms of scoring. Especially when considering that the two teams competing had some of the best offenses in the country.     

On the sidelines both coaches seemed to be complete opposites in terms of their current moods.     

On Jefferson's side Coach Swendle gripped his arms tightly as he had them crossed while watching the game play out.     

'What the hell?! How are they keeping slowing down our offense this well? Forget about that freak athlete that they have keeping up with Kyle.     

But even their other players are doing great reacting to our plays. It's like none of our guys can get open.'     

But on Dominion's side, Coach Wikemen had a fairly relaxed and composed look on his face despite his team being down 14 to 18.     

'Haha, looks like the first phase of our plan is working out just like I had thought it would.     

Moving Ricky from the bench to a starter dipped our offense a bit but he's the perfect defender to put on to Jefferson's Center.     

I bet they're probably shitting bricks over there. Well, I don't blame them. They're probably used to having the most athletic player on the court by a huge margin.     

And while I'll admit that that Kyle kid still has the edge over Ricky, the difference isn't all that huge. In fact I would say his biggest advantage would probably be the small difference in measurements.'     

A pleased smile crept up on his face as he watched how well his team defended Jefferson and their highly touted offense.     

'I hope you're enjoying the gift I prepared for you. I spent all the time leading up to our game pulling all nighters just to see as much film as I could in order to dissect your offense.     

At this point you are going to have to fight hard and earn every bucket that you guys get.'     

The game went on as Jefferson was forced to reset their offense and attempt multiple plays each possession. With some of them even leaving them empty handed as they were forced to put up some rather tough shots.     

After resetting for the second time this possession Jason instead signaled for his teammates to clear out.     

The boys began to pull their defenders out of the way as they opened up the floor to Jason.     

At the beginning of the game Jason was surprised to see that Devin was sitting on the bench and that another player had taken his spot as a starter.     

But as the game went on Jason began to understand why. Usually after getting a screen from Matt and switching defenders he would be able to utilize the new match up.     

But both the starting Small Forward as well as the boy that had replaced Devin as the starting Shooting Guard were both elite defenders.     

Dominion's starting Small Forward was a few inches taller than Jason and was also a far better athlete than himself.     

His elite foot speed made it easier for him to stick on to Jason and his long reach combined with his explosiveness meant that he could contest his shots even after being beat off of the dribble.     

While the boy who had replaced Devin as the starting Shooting Guard seemed to be an elite defender who was around the same size as Jason.     

So both perimeter players were able to make Jason work for each possession as none of his buckets came easy.     

And while Dominion's starting Point Guard seemed to be the weakest link in terms of their perimeter defense, their defensive schemes and game plan worked hard to hide him on that side of the ball.     

Jason sized him up with a few slow crossovers before driving hard to the right. Dominion's Small Forward turned his hips as he stuck next to Jason.     

As he got close to the paint with the defender right on his side Jason killed his momentum with a behind the back dribble.     

He then faked a drive to the left which got his defender committed in that direction before right with a crossover.     

Hard dribble, step back toward the right, Jason had managed to create some space as he got into his shooting motion for the mid range shot.     

Swish The ball hit nothing but net as he drained the shot. But he had no time to rest as Dominion quickly got the ball and started their offense.     

As usual Jason took on the assignment of guarding the opposing team's most dangerous offensive weapon.     

And for Dominion at the moment that was their starting Point Guard. Gregory Tillman aka GT.     

He was a shifty Point Guard with a deep bag. Elite handles that at this stage allowed him to get to where he wanted to be.     

And the ability to take and make a number of different shots from different spots across the court with different set ups.     

Jason got down into a low defensive stance as he danced with GT. After a good spin move that almost created some distance between them Jason then fought through a tough screen set by their Center as he stuck to his assignment.     

GT drove hard towards the right with Jason right beside him. The clock was winding down as he stepped on the brakes and began to spin back over his left shoulder for the turn around jumper.     

Jason tried his best to kill his momentum before planting hard on his right foot and exploding forward with his hand stretched out to contest the shot.     

He managed to get a hand in the Point Guard's Face as the shot went up. Just as it had left his hand the buzzer had rang out.     

All eyes on the court and out in the audience were on the ball as it traveled through the air.     

The ball hit the back of the rim before going in and the crowd in the arena began to go wild.     

With that shot to end the quarter Dominion Middle School had tied up the game at 23 to 23.