I have been waiting for this game for weeks. It was mid February and I was playing for the Texas Hotshots, we were ranked number 2 in the nation behind the Texas Titans. We had fought our way through the Nationals and we had made it.
It was game time the ref blew his whistle and threw the ball up. We got the tip and immediately scored. We went back on defense ready for them. They came down and passed it, but I stole the ball. I ran down the court and scored with an easy lay-up. We went back on to defense and their big man backed me down. He got the pass and jabbed me powerfully in the eye. I fell back in pain and he scored an easy basket. This was going to be a rough game.

It was now the 4th quarter and it was tied 60 to 60. They were running a tough press, which we were having trouble getting through. I did a cross over and a spin and I had broken the press. It was two on one and only their big man was under the basket. I sprinted straight at the basket and passed it out to our man on the three-point line. He went up and sunk the three pointer. We were up by three. We were running a press also. They passed it to the left and we all slid over to him. Two guys trapped him in the corner. He freaked out and threw a bad pass. I snatched it out of the air and flipped it to the wingman and I cut to the basket. He passed it to me and the other teams big man stuck out his foot. I threw the ball to the opposite side while jumping to avoid the cheap shot. In midair moving forward, he moved his leg higher up and caught my leg. My momentum propelled me forward and I did a full flip. I landed on my back and I groaned in pain. I looked up to see the Titans going up for a lay-up. I jumped up in rage that a call so obvious could have been missed. I ran over to the ref, “how could you miss that! He flipped me in midair!” “I didn’t see a foul” the ref calmly replied. I could hear my pulse pumping in my head. What was going on, I thought, did the other team pay off the refs? I glanced over to my coach who gave me an unknowing look.
We got the ball down the court but they were quick and were able to get a steal and go down for a lay-up. We brought it down and passed it inside to our big man. He went up but their dominant big man rejected him. They brought it down and took a quick three. It was now 62 to 66, we were falling behind. I got the ball and threw a lob pass to our big man. He went up for the lay-up but their big man stuck out his foot and tripped him. He landed straight on his face. When he turned over his nose was crooked and bloody. He had a broken nose. In addition, there was no call. Something was really up with this ref. “what are we gonna do?” I asked the coach. “I don’t know. Steven you’re in.” He answered. This is not good. Steven was brand new this year and had not played at all except for the first round when we were winning by thirty. We walked back out to the court, discouraged and down.
They brought the ball down and passed it to their wingman I stole it and ran down the court and their big man was waiting for me. I stopped right below the basket. I pivoted twice and saw his elbow swinging straight at my face. Not this time, I ducked it and watched as his elbow smashed into his own teammates face. His teammate fell to the ground and was in pain. Their big man was shocked and could not believe what had happened, because he had knocked one of their star players out of the game. While he was in shock, I got an easy lay-up. 64 to 66. They brought it down with only 43 seconds remaining. Their point guard shot a three and missed. I jumped up and got the rebound almost immediately our team was running down the court in perfect alignment. I passed it to the right wing man who then quickly passed it to the left and then dumped it down the middle. Steven went up for an easy lay-up, his first basket. Tie game. They quickly came down the court with under 30 seconds left. He drove the basket and drew the foul. Two shots. He made one shot and we got the ball. There was 15 seconds left and the clock was running down. I passed the ball to the left and watched as the play started. Steven came up for the pick and the wingman swiftly went off his shoulder. He jumped up at the elbow and dished it to Steven. He was heavily guarded so he passed it back out. 7 seconds. I caught the ball panicking since there was no time. Their defense charged at me, I was swarmed and had nowhere to go. I threw it up and it landed in Stevens hands at the three-point line. No one was near him and there was only a second left. He jumped up and everything was in slow motion. His wrist flicked forward and sent the ball soaring through the air. The backboard lit up and the buzzer sounded. The ball was flying right at the basket and I watched as the champion would be decided from this shot. It started to descend and it perfectly swished through the net. From then on, I did not know what was going on. We dog piled on Steven, we got the trophy, and Steven was named MVP. However, it was not until everybody left that it really hit me. We had won the championship.