My teammate Jenna put both hands over her heart when I walked into the gym at Harrison Prep.
“I can’t take it! Elle’s last game!” she said dramatically.
“Are you sure we can’t convince you to stay?” asked Summer, flashing a smile of perfect white teeth. With her golden blond hair, she looked just like her name.
“My heart belongs to basketball,” I told them. “But I’ve had a total blast playing with you guys.”
“You still owe us one more game!” said Kenya, the team captain. “Don’t let us down, Elle!”
“I won’t,” I promised, and I didn’t. Three of my serves earned us direct points, and I spiked two balls over the net to score. Not bad! We handily beat Harrison, winning the first two games in the best-of-three match.
“We’re going to miss our Ace,” Kenya said. (The team had nicknamed me Ace because of my killer serves.)
“Come out to celebrate with us!” Jenna pleaded.
I turned them down, because it was 9:30, and I was beat. Besides, I didn’t want to be wrecked for Sunday’s game. On Saturday I laid pretty low. Dad and I took Zobe to obedience class in the morning, and in the afternoon, I headed out into the chilly November air for a driveway game of pickup with Blake.
Blake has lived next door to me our whole lives, and playing basketball is how we became good friends. Well, it’s one way we became good friends. We have also bonded over video games, superhero movies, and the awesome playground in the park.
“Oh yeah? You’ve had like, what, two practices?” he teased, dribbling the ball around me.
“Two practices this week,” I said. “I wasn’t even away from the team that long. I’ve still got it.” To prove it, I stole the ball from him.
“Hey!” he yelled, as I dribbled to the basket for a quick layup. “I was just kidding!”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, and I sank down on the curb of the driveway and gulped down some icy cold water from my bottle. Blake sat next to me.
“Bianca’s really glad you’re back,” he said.
“Yeah, she’s been cool,” I told him. Blake and Bianca were sort of dating, although Blake’s mom had no idea so I’m not really sure if it counted.
“You came back just in time for the game against the Wolves,” Blake said.
I nodded. It had been years since any team from Spring Meadow had beaten the Wallton Wolves. Playing them was always a lot of pressure.
“We’ve got our game against the Wolves right after yours,” Blake said. “Bianca and Tiff are going to stay and see it.”
“I’ll stay too!” I said. “Most of the time, I can’t get to your games because of our games.”
“Well, now you can,” Blake said. He stood up and took the ball from me. “After you guys beat the Wolves, you can watch us beat the Wolves!”
He sank the ball into the net to make his point, and I laughed.
“I’m not afraid of any big bad wolves!” I said.
* * *
But Sunday afternoon, running out onto the high school court in my Nighthawks uniform, nervous energy was racing through my body.
“Nighthawks, shooting drill!” Coach Ramirez yelled.
I lined up behind the three-point line with my teammates and took turns shooting. I made my first shot and as I ran back to the end of the line, I glanced at the mostly empty stands. Not too many students came to our games. But a bunch of Spring Meadow parents were there, including mine, wearing green and yellow. Caroline’s little brother, Pete, was there, cheering me on like he always does.
“It’s Elle! Elle is playing again!” he was calling out, and I waved to him.
“Hey, Pete!”
Caroline looked at me and laughed. I’d met Pete when I started volunteering for Camp Cooperation, the after-school program for kids with special needs. I thought Pete was adorable, and he’d become my biggest fan. Caroline could have been jealous, but she thought it was cute.
There were three people there who I wasn’t expecting to see: Kenya, Summer, and Jenna from the volleyball team. I waved to them, and they waved back.
“Go, Elle!” Jenna yelled, and I grinned. Had they come to the game just to see me?
After our shooting drill, Coach called us off the court.
“Is everybody ready for today’s game?” she asked.
“Yes, Coach!” we all shouted.
Dina looked over at the Wolves in their brown-and-red uniforms.
“They don’t look so scary. Elle’s taller than all of them,” she said, and she was right. “Why does everybody keep talking about a curse or something?”
“Yeah, they say it’s impossible for the Nighthawks to beat them,” Natalie said.
Coach Ramirez frowned. “I don’t want to hear any superstitious talk from you guys, got it?” she said. “They are a strong, solid team, but they’re not magic. It doesn’t matter how many games they’ve won, or who they’ve beaten. The scale can change its balance at any time. Today is our chance to beat them, and we will. Isn’t that right?”
“YES, COACH!” we replied.
Then we made a circle and put our hands together. “Go, Nighthawks!” we cheered.
The ref’s whistle blew.
“Elle, Bianca, Avery, Tiff, Dina!” Coach called out, and the five of us ran out onto the court. I noticed that Coach had put in our five best players to start, which maybe meant that she was more nervous about the Wolves than she was letting on. But I couldn’t focus on that.
I faced off against the Wolves center, who was about six inches shorter than me. When the ref tossed up the ball, I easily outreached her and tipped it to Avery. Avery dribbled a few feet and then passed it back to me. I dribbled down to the basket with my back to the defenders. But when I stopped to shoot, three Wolves defenders surrounded me in a tight circle. I couldn’t get my arms up for the shot.
Tweet! “Three seconds!” the ref shouted.
I had broken the three-second rule! I tossed the ball to the ref and she gave it to the Wolves to throw it in.
That wasn’t how I had wanted to start the game, but I was confused. I had seen that type of defense in the pros before. It’s called double-teaming or crowding when you let more than one defender cover a shooter. For some reason, I didn’t think it was legal play in the youth leagues. But the ref hadn’t blown the whistle.
The Wolves took the ball down to our basket, and one of them took a shot that bounced off the backboard. Bianca recovered it and dribbled down the court. I tried to get open, but as soon as I got near the basket I got swarmed again. Bianca passed it to Tiff, who made a two-point shot.
I slapped Tiff’s hand as we hustled back. The Wolves passed the ball down the court this time, and took another shot. The ball careened off the backboard and there was a frenzy as both Nighthawks and Wolves went after it. The ball hit Dina’s hands and flew out of bounds.
One of the Wolves threw it in to her teammate, who caught it and sank a shot close to the basket. Now the score was tied.
Tiff passed the ball in to me, and I tore down the court, determined to score this time. As soon as I got in the key, the wolf pack descended. I had no time to shoot, but I managed to get a bounce pass to Dina. She raced ahead with it so fast that she took some extra steps when she tried to shoot, and got called for traveling. The Wolves got the ball after that, and they brought it back down the court. One Wolf passed to her teammate, and got past us for a layup. Now we were down by two points.
The rest of the quarter was pretty frustrating. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get free to shoot. It was like instead of a number I had a target on my uniform, and the Wolves were all out to get me!
As the first quarter came to an end, the score was Nighthawks 8, Wolves 12, and none of our eight points were mine. I had possession of the ball and was dribbling down the court when I heard Coach yell, “Elle, half court!”
I knew what she wanted me to do, and I didn’t hesitate. I stopped right where I was and took the shot. It soared over the heads
of the Wolves and into the basket. Swish! Then the buzzer rang. The quarter was over.
“Woo-hoo!” I cheered. It felt so good to finally make a basket, especially a three-pointer! I ran off the court, thirsty and sweaty.
“Coach, what is going on with their defense?” I asked. “Are they allowed to do that?”
Coach nodded. “The U.S. basketball rules allow double-teaming or crowding with players who are twelve or older,” she said. “It’s up to the coach’s discretion. Most of the coaches in this region don’t use it, but I think it’s the Wolves’ way of dealing with your height.”
“Yeah, they’re intimidated,” Avery said.
I frowned. “Do you want me to sit out?”
Coach shook her head. “No way. Not until I have to. You’re still getting rebounds, Elle. And you can use your long arms to steal the ball.”
“What about scoring?” I asked. “Should I keep shooting from the foul line?”
“When I called for that shot right now, it was because we only had a few seconds left in the quarter, and I knew you could make it,” she said. “But I don’t want you shooting from there all the time. You should be drawing the foul.”
I had totally forgotten about drawing the foul. I guess being away from the game for a few weeks had its drawbacks after all.
“You mean, take the shot, even if they’re swarming me, so that they foul me while I’m shooting,” I said.
Coach nodded. “Right. You’ll get free throws from that, and that will give us points.”
I nodded. “Got it!”
The buzzer blared, and Coach put Hannah in for Bianca, Caroline for Avery, and Patrice in for Dina. League rules say that no player can play all four quarters, so I guessed that Coach was going to swap out players in the second and third quarters, and finish strong with the original five in the end.
When I ran out onto the court, though, my main thought was scoring. The first rebound I caught, I took off toward the Wolves basket. When I got into range, the Wolves defenders formed a circle around me again. Two of their players waved their arms in front of me, trying to block me from shooting.
Draw the foul, Coach had said, so I leaned into their arms and shot the ball. It bounced off the rim, missing the basket, but I heard the ref’s whistle.
“Foul, Wolves!”
I jogged to the free-throw line and easily sank both of my free shots, for two points.
We pulled ahead of the Wolves in that quarter. Caroline caught a rebound and made a basket. I tossed a pass over the Wolves to Patrice, and with nobody guarding her, she made the shot. Hannah made a layup. I didn’t have to draw the foul again, because twice I took the ball down the court, blowing past the defenders. Both times I shot and scored.
When halftime came, the score was Nighthawks 20, Wolves 18.
“I think the Nighthawks curse might finally be broken,” Avery said to me, when I came off the court.
“Shh! Don’t let Coach hear you,” I whispered.
Coach called us into a circle for a talk.
“That was a strong quarter,” she said. “Elle, you did a good job getting past their defense, but remember to keep drawing the foul if they’re on you. I know I can count on you to make those free throws.”
“Yes, Coach!” I replied.
“Now, you’re all looking pretty good out there, but I do not want you to lose momentum,” she went on. “Keep up the passing game. Don’t lose focus on defense. And I don’t want to see any more traveling violations today, okay?”
“YES, COACH!”
Coach benched me third quarter, like I thought she would. She put Bianca in as center and kept Hannah as shooting guard. Avery returned to play point guard. Caroline replaced Tiff, and Natalie replaced Patrice.
I took a seat on the bench next to Amanda, and I noticed that she wasn’t smiling, like she usually is. In fact, she almost looked like she was going to cry.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Coach didn’t put me in,” Amanda replied, without looking at me. “She left Hannah in. And I don’t think she’s going to use me in the last quarter.”
“Maybe she forgot,” I said. “She usually gives everyone a chance to play.”
Amanda shrugged. “It’s just weird, because before you came back Coach was putting me in as second center, and I was on the court all the time.”
Her voice was tight, and I didn’t know what to say. I mean, I understood why she was upset. If I had gone from being center to being benched, I would be upset too.
What I couldn’t figure out was if she was upset with me, or with Coach. It didn’t feel totally fair for her to be upset with me.
I pushed aside my worries about Amanda as I focused on the game in front of me. After just a few minutes, it seemed like the Wolves curse might be a real thing. The wolf pack had chosen Bianca as their new victim, and in her attempts to break away from them she ended up fouling twice! The Wolves started racking up points with foul shots. Coach had to call a timeout to remind Bianca to start drawing the foul, just like she had told me.
But we had lost our momentum. We couldn’t seem to get a rebound, for some reason. Maybe it was just that the Wolves were being more aggressive to get the ball, but they always seemed to get possession, and kept scoring again and again. When the quarter ended, we had lost our lead: Nighthawks 29, Wolves 35.
“Elle, Bianca, Avery, Tiff, Dina, I want you all in!” Coach yelled, and I avoided Amanda’s eyes as I ran onto the court. It definitely looked like she wasn’t going to get to play, unless Coach made a substitution. And with us down six points, that wasn’t likely.
I looked at my four teammates. “Let’s take this wolf pack down!” I said, and they all nodded, just as determined as I was to turn the game around.
Bianca threw me the ball and I raced down the court. The Wolves converged on me quickly, and I had to zigzag through them. Tiff was open so I passed it to her. She moved across the court but Wolves defenders stopped her, so she pivoted and passed it back to me. I was on the three-point line.
“Shoot, Elle!” Coach instructed.
I jumped. Swish! Three points!
“I have a new nickname for you, Elle,” Dina called out as we jogged over to our basket. “Three-point Elle!”
That was a big improvement over the last nickname she had given me—the Runaway Train—after I’d spent a game running out of bounds. I grinned.
The Wolves missed their next shot, and Bianca took it down the court. The wolf pack went after her, and as I ran, I had an idea.
“Bianca, here!” I called out, waving my arms.
She couldn’t get clear to pass to me, but that wasn’t my plan. The pack turned their attention to me, freeing up Bianca. She took a shot and made it. Now we were only one point behind!
“Nice, Bianca!” I called out. I was drenched in sweat, but my energy was off the charts. I knew we could do this!
Avery scored next for us, and Dina got a point after one of the Wolves fouled her. Now the score was Nighthawks 37, Wolves 35, with four minutes left in the game.
The crowd might not have been big, but they started to get really excited once it began to look like the Nighthawks might finally beat the Wolves. I glanced up and saw a lot of people on their feet, even Mom and Dad!
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so excited during a game! Did it make a difference? Maybe. Because I scored again twice during the next four minutes, and so did Bianca.
“Biaaaaaaanca!” I cheered.
And the Wolves scoring streak had ended. Our defense was so tight!
“Block her!” I called to Dina, as the player in front of her moved left and right, trying to get past her. She gave up and let go of the ball, sending it wildly into the fray, and Avery scooped it up.
“Denied!” I cried. I was really enjoying seeing the downfall of the Wolves firsthand.
In the last seconds of the game, one of the Wolves tried for a three-point Hail Mary from the other side of the court. The ball didn
’t even reach the net. The final buzzer blared, and I looked at the scoreboard in disbelief. The final score was 44–35. Not only had we beaten the Wolves, we had beaten them by nine points!
The Nighthawks fans in the stands started screaming. We started screaming and jumping up and down. Then we composed ourselves long enough to slap hands with the Wolves. They really had played a great game.
Mom and Dad came out onto the court and hugged me.
“That was quite a return to the game,” Dad said.
I nodded, still breathing heavily. “Yeah,” I said. Then I glanced over and saw Amanda’s sad face.
I should have felt great, but I didn’t. I figured that Coach had put in the players she needed to so we could beat the Wolves. But I hated that Amanda hadn’t been one of them.
It wasn’t fair! Finally, I was having fun playing basketball, but my friend wasn’t!
5 Are You Kidding Me?
Hey, why so sad? You guys beat the Wolves!”
I turned to see Kenya smiling at me, with Summer and Jenna next to her. I hugged them.
“It’s so cool that you guys came!” I said.
“You’re still our teammate, in spirit,” Summer said.
“Yeah, even though you left us,” Jenna said, her dark eyes twinkling. “But I guess it’s good you did. I don’t think your team could have beaten the Wolves without you.”
“It was a team effort,” I said.
As we talked, the members of the two boys’ basketball teams streamed into the gym.
“Hey, me and some of my friends are going to stay to watch the boys’ game,” I said. “Want to hang out?”
Kenya looked at the other two girls, and they shrugged.
“Sure, why not?” Kenya said. “I’m curious to see if the boys can beat the Wolves too.”
Jenna wiggled her fingers like she was some kind of magician. “Maybe the curse is broken,” she said, in a spooky voice.
I laughed. “I’m going to get something from the snack table. See you in the bleachers!”
As I headed to the bench to grab my duffel bag, Blake ran up to me and held up his hand for a high-five.
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