The One that Fell Short

            5…4… Brock rockets the ball to Matthew at the top of the key. The last seconds of the fourth quarter in the Semi-finals of the VYI winter basketball league tick away, leaving us with just one last opportunity. A fierce, high scoring game is raging between the 1^st place Jade team, that is projected to win it all, and my team, the Denim Wranglers. We are the under dogs in this match up, having just come off a nail biting win the day before. But having no expectations put upon us is something that we feed on, and by some miracle we have made a stunning comeback to only be down by three points. The clock ticks away and we will need a last second shot to win this one. Lucky for us, last second comebacks are something that we have proved very capable of. Throughout the season we have already won three games that have been decided by three points or less.

We had been down in the first play-off game by one point when a kid on the other team accidentally turned around and shot the ball at his own basket. The moment the small brown basketball left his hands everyone seemed to realized his mistake, the crowd gasped and everyone watched in amazement. The ball seemed to roll around the rim teasing everyone for a few painfully long seconds. Before it stopped and rolled into the hoop, handing us the last second victory. I felt really guilty after the win. The short Korean kid with long shaggy hair who had just made the accidental basket ran to the bathroom and hid. He hid from his teammates, he hid from his parents, he hid from the world. He knew that everyone would hate him for what he had just done. His teammates all showed different emotions. Some cried in anger, some turned beat red and began punching the walls and throwing their water bottles on the ground. Most just stood there awestruck in disbelief of what had occurred. All hating their teammate. I just sat there in disbelief praying that I would never be that poor kid stuck in the bathroom. Little did I know that to my horror I would soon follow in his footsteps.

3… The score board read Jade 45, Denim 42. Matthew tries to drive in, but is met with two defenders under the basket. 2… He kicks out the ball to where I am standing at the top of the key behind the three point line. I am faced with only one option, to shoot it. This is risky I know, no one else on my team has shot a three-pointer all year. I flash back to the kid who lost the game for his team at the last second. I envisioned those tears running down his sweaty face, and his teammates not wanting to see him ever again. But I shake off the fear that tries to grip me. If I don’t shoot the ball, I will only bring more humiliation upon myself. 1… From behind the three-point line I square up with the rim and bring up the ball from my hip. My feet leave the ground and the next thing I know the ball is sailing through the air towards the basket. The buzzer buzzes, the loud sound is reflected off the tile walls off the gym. All that matters now is the ball. It hits the backboard up high, too high. The ball falls on the front of the rim with a dull clang, and for a moment I am unsure of whether it will roll in or out. If the buzzer beater were to go in I will become a hero, but if it falls short I will be just like the kid in the last game i think. It rolls for a second before the weight of the ball becomes unbalanced and falls down, out of the basket. Now I was the kid who everyone would hate for losing it. I had just ended the season for my team. 

Game over. Scenes rushed through my head of everyone glaring at me as they had to the other kid. All my teammates, all my friends were going to hate me. Nothing else would count, even though this had been one of my best performances ever, nothing would count. The points I made wouldn't be a factor, no one would remember my tenacious defense. But instead something unexpected occurred. "Hey It's okay man don't worry" Brock said. I just stood there stunned. Half of it was because of the depressing loss we had just faced, and the other half was that no one seemed mad at me. They were true teammates, they were true friends. I had failed them, but they had stayed loyal to me.