Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 104 - First Game Of The Tournament

The entire home section got on their feet as they cheered crazily after seeing Kyle's amazing dunk.

Kyle's mom was shaking her homemade noisemakers as Jason's parents and Tory's dad did the same.

Tory didn't have anything in her hands but she was going red in the face as she screamed her head off "That's my brother! Way to go Kyle!"

Jason walked up to Kyle as they both jumped into the air for a chest bump. They then began an elaborate handshake that ended with the both of them shooting imaginary energy beams out of their hands toward each other.

Jason had a huge smile on his face "Since when did you start dunking like that bro? That was sick as hell."

Kyle laughed as he scratched his head "I was working on that the whole time we were on break.

My mom bought a basketball hoop for the backyard as soon as I brought it up. She seemed even more excited than I was haha."

The two of them stopped their small talk as they ran back on defense. Vista Heights inbounded the ball to their Point Guard as he then brought the ball up the court.

As soon as he crossed halfcourt Jason began to pressure him with his suffocating defense. The Point Guard had to give up initiating the offense as he hurriedly passed the ball of to their Shooting Guard in order to avoid having the ball stripped away by Jason.

But before their Shooting Guard could catch the ball Matt caused the ball to bounce away as he deflected the pass. 

He had been fighting to maintain contact with his defensive assignment. And when he saw him trying to catch a pass he stuck his hand out and deflected it.

Jason used his body to block his defensive assignment from running for the ball as he made his way toward it.

As Jason ran he didn't stop for the ball. He scooped it up from the floor in one fluid motion that didn't disrupt his running.

With the ball in his hand Jason lead the fastbreak. The roles had reversed as Jason's old defensive assignment was now chasing him in order to prevent him from scoring the ball.

Jason was just a half step ahead of the defender as he went up for the lay up with his right hand on the right side of the basket.

The defender saw this and jumped toward Jason in an attempt to block the shot from behind. But as his hand was flying toward the ball Jason switched from a lay up to throwing the ball behind him over his shoulder.

Matt who had been trailing Jason and the defender caught the pass. Matt held onto the ball for less than a second before laying the ball up.

It had been less than thirty seconds and yet Jason had propelled Jefferson Middle School to two straight baskets.

On the sidelines the head coach for Vista Heights' basketball team had a furious expression on his face as he looked at his team and then at the scoreboard.

'It hasn't been more than thirty second yet and we've already given up a turnover and two straight baskets. What the hell is going on?!

That white kid was supposed to be one of their worst defenders.? Did we mess up on the scouting report? No that can't be. I went over film with the team myself.'

What he ,along with everyone else, didn't know was that during this short break Matt had made it a point to work on his defensive awareness.

He spent hours going over film of himself as well as Jason in order to try and improve himself on that end of the ball.

Jason walked over to Matt and high-fived him before making their way back on defense. Jefferson set the tempo for the quarter early on as they stifled all of Vista Heights attempts at running their offense.

While on the other end they scored the ball by moving it meaningfully and methodically. Even with Jason on the floor there were a few possessions where they let Udonis run the offense.

He would have the ball as he posted up his defender while Jason and Matt ran off of screens from Trell and Kyle. 

Occasionally one of the two would shake things up even more by slipping the screens early and instead cut straight to the basket.

With their offense being headed by the two of them they were able to switch things up often enough that Vista Heights couldn't adjust their defense to match them.

By the end of the first quarter Jefferson Middle School was up with a score of 38-12. There was a clear disparity in talent between the two teams.

Jefferson was in full control of the game as the momentum was completely in their favor. Everyone was making their shot's and giving their all on defense.

Kyle and Udonis had a block party of their own as the two of them combined for thirteen rejections before the second half was even finished.

And Nick and Matt were on fire from the three point line as the both of them made three three pointers in the third quarter.

Trell and Kyle turned the game into all star weekend as they caught different lobs and passes from Jason before finishing the play off nice with a dunk.

The score was a lopsided 76-32 as both teams went into the fourth quarter. Jefferson's players were all smiles and in high spirits as they stepped back on to the hardwood.

Vista Heights on the other hand couldn't be anymore different. Their coaches as well as all of their players had grim and ugly expressions on their faces.

Their body language and facial expressions made it clear that they would rather not get back out on the court.

With the ball in his hands as he stood at the top of the perimeter Jason called for a play. Everyone began to move accordingly.

Jason handed off the ball to Kyle as he ran past his screen. Jason then set a screen for Matt who was making his way over from the corner.

Matt came off of the screens from Jason and Kyle. As he ran past Kyle he took the ball into his hands.

He saw the defender trying hard to fight over Kyle's screen. He started his shot but stopped as he saw his defender jumping toward him.

After getting his defender into the air with a pump fake Matt then jumped into the defender as he got his shot off.

The referee blew his whistle as everyone's attention went to the ball as it was making it's way through the air.

As the ball swished through the net the entire gym started shaking as everyone was on their feet making some noise.

Jason was the first one to run over to Matt but the rest of the team quickly followed. They all had smiles on their faces as they lifted Matt off the ground and started hyping him up for the potential four point play.

With a confident look on his face Matt sank the free throw. With that four point play Jefferson began to play with even more energy and intensity.

With only two minutes left in the quarter Jefferson had actually managed to keep Vista Heights scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Jason threw the ball over to Trell before coming off a screen from Udonis. He then called for the ball back but Trell waved him off.

Trell had a smile on his face as he signaled for everyone to clear the floor. Everyone was surprised by this, even the fans. This was the first time that Trell had ever called for an isolation play all year long.

Jason smiled as he shook his head 'Were up by so much that it's impossible for us to lose. I guess there's no harm in letting Trell get an iso play in.'

Everyone cleared the floor for Trell as he began to dribble the ball. Although his ball handling wasn't yet at the point where he could function as a primary ball handler in real game situations Trell had improved tremendously compared to where he was at the beginning of the season.

Trell was able to crossover to the right, hesi, and then explode off his back foot as he drove to the right side of his defender.

The move itself didn't help Trell get to the basket but it did give him the opportunity to take advantage of his insanely quick first step.

After getting past his defender Trell saw that he had an open lane to the rim. So he planted his right foot into the ground before exploding into the air.

Trell felt like he had gotten the most bounce out of this jump compared to any other jump he had done in the past.

Feeling a little courageous Trell cocked the ball back a little bit. He almost lost control of the ball but he was able to corral it as he slammed it down into the basket.

As he landed Trell faced the crowd before yelling out in excitement "Yeahhh!!!" But just as he was about to turn around and get back on defense he was pushed in the back.

"The games over already asshole! You don't have to act like such a bitch!"