I lay awake for hours thinking about tomorrow, the big game. The game I’ve been working for most of my life, it was the championship for my collage team, the Wildcats. We made it all the way this year. It’s my sophomore year and I’m starting. I finally fall asleep and I have a nightmare. We are down by 10 points with 30 seconds left to play and we are play our number one rivals, the Jayhawks. Charlie has the ball and I’m guarding him. He makes a move and goes around he makes the shot at the last second and the buzzer rings, we lost the game by 12 and the last point was all my fault. My alarm starts to go off and I wake up.

Our coach has us on a schedule, he says we should be awake by 8 and go for a light jog. Then eat a good breakfast to be ready for the game. When I’m about to leave for my jog my roommate, Anthony, is just getting back from his jog. Anthony and I met last year because we were both on the team and we have been good friends ever since. He is the starting point guard this year. I go for my jog and come back and Anthony’s girl friend came over to make us breakfast. After that I was just relaxing in the living room of our apartment. Anthony and I couldn’t sit still because we were so nervous, since we were only sophomores and last year we didn’t make it very far in the big tournament, so this year was really important. This game was going to be really hard we were playing our rivals and Charlie was on that team. We have been archrivals since the first game we play against them I knocked one of his teeth out that game and I swear he’s out for revenge!
I fall asleep on the sofa. I wake up to Anthony shaking me and yelling, “wake up! Wake up!” We had meeting Anthony and I were the last to show up. We weren’t late everybody else was just early. Coach started off by telling us how proud he was that we made it this far and that it was going to be a fight till the end. He said that the Jayhawks weren’t just going to give us this victory; we were going to have to earn it!!! Then, we started talking about strategy and how it was going to be a very physical game and the refs probably weren’t going to call a lot. The team meeting only lasted about an hour. It was four o’clock, the game started at 7 and warm ups started at 6 but we all were to be in the locker room by 5:30 ready to go.

5:30 rolled around and I was sweating like crazy because I was so nervous. Coach pulled me aside seeing that I was so nervous and asking if I was all right and that I shouldn’t worry. He said I was a good play and if I just tried my best that’s all that counted. I completely agreed with what coach was saying. Warm ups started and the other team wasn’t here yet. About 15 minutes in, the other team showed up. My team just acted like they weren’t even there. The fans started showing, first a few, and then at last the stadium was filled every spot. There are usually a lot of people at our games but not this many. It seemed like every single seat was filled and it was so loud in there.

Tip off. That’s me; I try and win the ball when the ref throws it up. The whistle blows and I jump and the player I'm up against jumps higher and wins the tip off. I’m frustrated I usually win the tip off, but I shake it off and go back on defense. The first quarter goes by and we are tie 15-15. Second quarter I’m guarding Charlie and its wasn’t going too well I got my second foul which I thought was unfair!! I didn’t even touch him when he shot so coach took me out because he didn’t want me to get any more fouls. The buzzer rings it was half time and we are down 36-45.

Second half we make a come back! The nerves wear off and I start to make a lot of my shots. I’m playing really well. Then Charlie slams into Anthony sending him to the ground smashing his wrist. The crowd gets quiet and the trainer comes on to the court. Anthony walks off the court back to the locker room. I can tell he’s in pain even though he is not crying. Our back up point guard comes in and takes his spot. I am relived to see that Trenton, the back up point guard is playing well. The quarter ends we are still losing 55-60.



My nerves are coming back and I’m getting tired. I’m getting worried because they have been ahead for the majority of the game. The game carries on and I get my fourth foul. There’s 10 seconds left in the game and we are down by 2 points. Trenton has the ball passed to me. I have to make a three pointer and if I don’t make the shot we will lose the game, the championships. I fake to the right and then go left the player who was guarding took the fake and I line up just behind the 3-point line and I take the shot. It seems like it’s going in slow motion and the finally SWISH! The buzzer rings right after I make the shoot. We just won the championships. I can hear the crowd screaming and yelling. My teammates come running up to me, jumping and cheering for me because I made the winning shot. We are the champions at last