Technical Foul

by Rich Wallace

  Jared took his place and leaped as the referee tossed up the ball. The Memorial center got there first, tapping the ball back to a guard, who took control and began to dribble.

  “Defense!” shouted Spencer. Jared made his way into the key near the basket, finding the Memorial center and getting between him and the hoop. The guy hadn’t scored much last time—Memorial had won it with outside shooting—but somehow he seemed more confident this time, more ready to take charge. He was shouting for the ball, his arms raised high above his head.

  The pass came in, and Jared planted his feet, refusing to yield any ground. The Memorial center pivoted and took one dribble, then jumped high and lofted the ball over Jared’s outstretched arms. The ball fell cleanly through the net, and Memorial had taken the early lead.

  He didn’t make a single shot like that last time, Jared thought. He’s been working, that’s for sure.

  Ryan Grimes missed a short jumper for Hudson City, and Memorial grabbed the ball and ran. Spencer and Fiorelli hustled back, halting the fast break, but Memorial pulled back and set up its offense, with the point guard calling for a play.

  It was a simple play. The center cut across the key and around a teammate as Jared followed. But Jared couldn’t get through the screen set up by the other Memorial player, and the center wound up wide open for an eight-foot jump shot from the baseline. Again the ball fell softly into the basket, and the Memorial crowd went nuts.

  “What got into him?” Spencer said as he dribbled upcourt alongside Jared. “He didn’t do that last time.”

  “No kidding,” Jared said. “It won’t last. I won’t let it.”

  But things did not get easier. The Memorial center continued his hot shooting throughout the first half, scoring fourteen points before intermission to lead his team to a 31–24 advantage. Jared had scored ten, but he’d also picked up two fouls. He’d have to be careful not to foul out.

  “We’re still in this game, boys,” Coach Davis said at halftime. “We need to make a run in the third quarter and put some pressure on them. Jared, their center is bound to cool off sooner or later. Stay in his face. No easy shots.”

  “I think his arms must have grown six inches since last time,” Jared said. “He’s been getting way up over me on those jumpers.”

  Coach laughed. “I think he just learned how to use his size,” he said. “They’re a better team than they were. Good coaching, I guess.”

  Spencer got hot in the third quarter, connecting on a pair of three-pointers and two fast-break layups. Hudson City cut the lead to four points, then one. By the time the fourth quarter started, it was all even.

  “It’s attitude now,” Spencer said at the bench. “Who wants it more? Let’s put these guys away. Let’s go.”

  The teams battled back and forth, exchanging the lead. Jared scored on two consecutive possessions, making tough layups with his defender all over his back.

  “The guy’s holding my shirt!” Jared called to the referee as he raced downcourt after scoring. “Can’t you see that?”

  The referee did not respond. But Willie Shaw did. Willie was the quietest guy on the team, but he spoke up to Jared. “Watch your mouth,” he said. “Keep your head on.”

  Jared decided to dish it right back. The Memorial center got the ball in the key and drove to shoot. Jared leaned hard into him and pushed at his elbow. The shot went in anyway. And then came the whistle.

  “Number thirty-three, red,” said the official. Foul on Jared. The spectators stood and yelled, jeering at Jared and pointing with a chant of “You! You! You!”

  Jared stared at the high ceiling for a second, then brought his head down and mouthed a curse word. Spencer grabbed his arm and said, “No big-gie. Just keep at it.”

  That was Jared’s third foul. About three minutes remained. The free throw was good, and Memorial led, 48—46.

  They’ll pay for that, Jared thought. Just get me the ball. I’ll clobber ’em.

  Memorial tightened its defense, and Spencer and Fiorelli worked the ball around outside. Jared and the Memorial center kept battling under the basket, with Jared working to get open and his opponent hounding him.

  “Let go of me,” Jared said, swatting at the defender’s hand, which had a grip on Jared’s jersey. “Quit cheating.”

  Spencer unleashed a long three-point attempt, but the ball smacked off the rim. Jared leaped high for the rebound. He got his hands on it, but the Memorial center batted it away. Fiorelli dove for the loose ball and called time-out before falling out of bounds.

  The team huddled up. “What’s going on in there, Jared?” Coach Davis asked.

  “The guy’s all over me,” Jared said sharply. “He’s holding my shirt, he’s elbowing me. Every time I get the ball, he’s fouling me. And they’re not calling anything.”

  The Memorial spectators were mostly standing and stomping their feet. Coach Davis looked at the bleachers and shook his head. “In a hostile environment, you have to keep your cool,” he said. “Keep working now. Be smart.”

  They broke the huddle and walked onto the court. “Great advice,” Spencer said to Jared with a little smile. “ ‘Be smart.’ Like we don’t know that?”

  “Coach does what he can,” Jared said. “He doesn’t know much basketball, but he knows how to stay calm.”

  When the ball came to Jared he backed hard into his defender as both players pushed. Jared dribbled and feinted left, then jumped high and banked the ball off the backboard. It fell safely into the basket, tying the score.

  The Memorial point guard answered with a driving layup. Jared inbounded the ball to Spencer. Memorial was pressing now, picking up their opponents in the backcourt and sticking close. Spencer dribbled quickly around Fiorelli’s screen, then tossed the ball to Grimes at midcourt. Things were getting tight now. Less than two minutes remained.

  Jared raced up and took his position near the basket. Again he felt the hand on his back, again he swatted it away. Spencer’s pass came in. Jared was under the basket and his opponent was all over him. There was no shot, but Jared spotted Fiorelli in the corner and fired it out to him. Jared stepped into key, calling for the ball back. He felt a sharp blow to his shoulder, and turned and jabbed his elbow hard into his opponent’s chest.

  And there came the whistle, sharp and long. “That’s a T!” the referee shouted, pointing at Jared. “Thirty-three, red, with the elbow.”

  Jared felt a chill and all the air seemed to go out of him. He’d lost his temper at a critical point, and now Memorial, leading by two, would shoot a free throw and then get the ball.

  “Not again,” Jared said to himself. He couldn’t cost his team another game.

  The horn sounded, and Tony Coccaro came onto the court, pointing at Jared. He was out of the game. Jared walked slowly to the bench as the spectators hooted him loudly.

  “Sit here,” Coach said, pointing to the spot next to him. Jared sat down and stared at the floor.

  “Just take a breather,” Coach said. “This isn’t over. You’re going back in as soon as we get the ball.”

  Jared nodded. Memorial made the technical free throw and set up to inbound the ball near midcourt. The scoreboard clock read 1:17. Plenty of time. Memorial led, 51–48.

  Spencer shadowed the point guard, not letting him penetrate. Jared kept his eyes on Coccaro, who was overmatched by the Memorial center but was managing to guard him closely. Fiorelli was playing off from his man a step, keeping half an eye on the situation near the basket, ready to help out if the ball went inside.

  Spencer forced his man to stop dribbling, and he sent a long pass toward the center. Fiorelli raced over and nabbed it, intercepting the pass and keeping Hudson City alive.

  Fiorelli passed to Spencer, who dribbled upcourt quickly. He stopped as he crossed the midcourt line and glanced at Coach Davis, who was signaling for him to call time-out. Spencer did.

  “Great defense,” Coach said. “Tony, you did what we needed. You’re out.”

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sp; Jared was already at the scorer’s table, reporting back in. As he stepped onto the court, the spectators let him have it again.

  “Mr. T!” came the cry. “Sharpen up those elbows!”

  Jared winced, but they wouldn’t get to him this time. Fiorelli put his arm across Jared’s shoulder. “Let’s shut them up, Jared. Let’s do it!”

  Spencer and Fiorelli passed the ball back and forth, taking their time. Then Spencer drove into the lane, spurting past his defender, toward the basket. The Memorial center stepped away from Jared, blocking Spencer’s path. Spencer gave a quick little juke and fired a bounce pass to Jared, who was wide open under the basket. Jared laid it up and in.

  Hudson City had cut the lead to one point. This defensive sequence would make the difference. “Stop ’em!” came Spencer’s cry.

  Half a minute remained. The ball came in to the Memorial center. He turned and faked to his left, but Jared had been watching that move all day. When the center pivoted to his right to shoot, Jared was ready. He leaped and blocked the shot, swatting it cleanly toward the sideline. Spencer got to it first, and Hudson City had a chance to win.

  Spencer dribbled past midcourt and called Hudson City’s final time-out.

  “Get the ball inside,” Coach Davis said in the huddle. He tapped Jared’s chest with a finger. “We’re putting this on you, Jared. You win this game for us. You do it.”

  Jared swallowed hard, but he wasn’t nervous. He wanted that ball. Let the guy grab me, Jared thought. Let him foul me, let him try to stop me. I’m going to score.

  “De-fense!” came the chant from the bleachers. “De-fense!”

  And when the ball came to Jared, he did what he needed to do. Up and over his defender, who pushed back and grunted, leaving his feet and reaching toward the backboard. Jared’s shot was clean and sure, drifting above his opponent’s hands and into the basket. Hudson City was back in the lead.

  Memorial frantically brought the ball up with the seconds ticking away. A long shot at the buzzer fell short. The spectators were suddenly silent.

  Jared pumped his fist and hugged Spencer. Hudson City was back in business.

  “That’s it. That’s the Hudson City way,” said Fiorelli as they walked off the court. “They’re like, ‘We’ll stuff these guys. We can hold and foul and talk trash all day,’ and we’re like, ‘Talk all you want. We’ll put it right back in your face.’ ”

  Fiorelli turned to Jared and gave him a hard high five. “That’s right, Mr. T!” he said. “You! You! You! You showed ’em. You did.”

  Jared didn’t say anything. He just smiled broadly and shook his coach’s hand as the team made its way to the bus.

  10

  Taking a Break

  Hudson City followed that win with two more, improving their record to 6–4 and moving into playoff contention. With five straight victories, every team in the conference had taken notice of the Hornets. Two games remained—the rematch with Palisades and the regular season finale against Emerson. They’d beaten both teams earlier, but there were no easy wins in this league. The top four teams would make the playoffs. The standings stood like this.

  Jared’s parents were waiting outside for him after the win over Eastside.

  “That was worth waiting for,” Mom said as Jared got into the backseat of the car. “I wish we could get to more of the games. If you make the playoffs, we’ll certainly get to those.”

  “Well, as long as we split our next two, we should get in,” Jared said.

  “You played a great game,” Dad said. “And you lost to those guys last time?”

  “I didn’t play last time, remember?” Jared said. “That was my suspension.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Dad said. “Well, you made up for it today.”

  Jared had scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Hudson City rolled to the win. He was still averaging over 20 points a game, even though he was shooting a bit less. He was taking better shots and getting more assists by passing to his teammates.

  “Let’s eat out,” Dad said. “Hamburgers okay with everybody?”

  “Sure,” said Jared. “Sounds good.”

  What a difference a couple of weeks had made. The Hudson City team had gone from being a frustrated group of players to league-championship contenders. And Jared had gone from outcast to leader, with two new friends in Spencer and Fiorelli. Things were definitely looking up.

  There was a tough road ahead though. The rematch with Palisades was next. And even though it was a home game for Hudson City, Jared knew Palisades would be gunning for revenge. Then, if they made the playoffs, things would get even hotter.

  “This is one tough league,” Jared said. “No such thing as an easy game.”

  “You wouldn’t want it any other way, would you?” Dad asked. “You always want to be testing yourself. That’s how you get better.”

  “Yeah,” Jared said. “I know.”

  Dad turned the car into the restaurant parking lot. For once, Jared was getting a little tired of talking about basketball. “How’s work going, Mom?” he asked.

  Mom turned back with a surprised smile. “You’ve never asked me about work in your life,” she said. “It’s fine.” She raised her eyebrows. “What makes you ask?”

  “Just changing the subject,” Jared said. “Sometimes a guy thinks about things other than sports, you know?”

  “Sometimes,” Mom answered. “That just hasn’t been the case with you.”

  Jared nodded and grinned. “This has been a tough season. About time I took a break, at least for one evening.”

  At home, Jared climbed the stairs to his room and took out his guitar. He’d started playing late last winter, and by spring the instructor had asked him to take part in a recital at the community center. Jared had only advanced enough to pluck out a simple version of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” at the recital, but by summer he was playing acceptable versions of some rock songs.

  Jared began strumming. He was rusty, but it came back quickly. Despite a few mistakes, he hadn’t lost much skill since summer.

  After a while there was a knock on his door, and Dad stuck his head in. “Haven’t heard that in a long time,” he said.

  Jared stopped strumming. “Just jamming a little,” he said. “It’s relaxing.”

  “You ready to get back into it, Jag?”

  Jared shrugged. “Soon. After basketball season. I can only concentrate on one big thing at a time.”

  “That’s understandable,” Dad said. “If you’re going to do something, do it right.”

  “That’s what I figure,” Jared said. He strummed a couple of chords. “One thing at a time. One direction.”

  11

  Out of Their Game

  The Hudson City gym was packed this time. A win would move the Hornets into a tie for second place, but a loss could jeopardize their chances to make the playoffs.

  Palisades was clearly psyched up for the game, with the players smacking each other’s backs and shouting enthusiastically as they shot layups down at their basket. They wanted to avenge that first loss to Hudson City. A lot of Palisades fans had made the trip. They’d even brought along their pep band, which was blaring the theme from Rocky.

  “Thought this was a home game,” Spencer said to Jared as they stretched on the side of the court. “I think they’ve got more people here than we do.”

  “Just block it out, like we always do,” Jared said. “We’ve got fans here.” He looked up at the bleachers. “Some.”

  “I’m kidding,” Spencer said. “Besides, we kicked their butts in their own gym last time. No way they beat us in ours.”

  “No way,” Jared said. But he did feel uneasy when he glanced back at the Palisades players. They were energized. They were definitely not intimidated one bit by being the visiting team, or by the fact that they’d lost to Hudson City already. They looked like a team on a mission.

  “Huddle up!” called Coach Davis, and the players trotted to the bench. Coach was much more
in command these days. The winning streak had boosted his confidence as much as the players’. And he had learned a lot, being smart enough to listen to team leaders like Spencer and Fiorelli, but wise enough to know when they were wrong.

  “Remember to run on these guys,” Coach said. “Our fast break ran them ragged last time, fellas. Let’s do it again.”

  But it was clear from the start that Palisades was determined not to let that happen. With the score tied early on, Jared grabbed a defensive rebound and quickly hit Spencer with an outlet pass. Jared then ran hard downcourt, eluding the Palisades center, who did not have the speed to stay with him.

  “Right here!” Jared said as he crossed midcourt and headed into the key. Spencer’s bounce pass was right on target, but Jared never got to it. Leon Johnson, the Palisades’ point guard, stepped in front and stole the ball. He took two quick dribbles and threw a long pass to their center, who was wide open in the backcourt. He easily dribbled in and scored.

  The second fast-break opportunity came a few minutes later, when the Palisades center missed a shot and Jared hauled in the rebound. Again he found Spencer with the pass, and again he raced toward the opposite basket.

  But this time the pass didn’t come. Spencer pulled back when he saw that Jared was tightly covered by Johnson. Instead, he dribbled out beyond the three-point line and eventually passed to Fiorelli.

  By then, Palisades had all five players back on defense.

  At the break between the first and second quarters, Coach Davis pointed out what had happened. “They’re matching up differently when we try to run,” he said. “They’re trying to buy time until their center gets down there to play defense, so they’ve got their quickest player shadowing Jared. But somebody has to be open, right? Who’s being left alone?”

  Ryan Grimes said, “Usually me.” Ryan wasn’t much of a scorer, but he was one of the team’s best defensive players.

  “See, they learned something from that last game,” Coach said. “They’re making sure not to leave our scorers open on the break. So look for the open man. Ryan, if no one’s on you, get into the key. You may get a couple of easy baskets. Then they’ll have to adjust. If we keep running on ’em, there’ll usually be at least one man open.”