Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 128 - Come Hell Or High Water

As the clock buzzed signaling the end of the timeout Jason and the rest of the guys made their way on to the court.

Their lineup currently consisted of Jason at Point Guard, DJ at Shooting Guard, Nick at Small Forward, Trell at Power Forward, and Vince at Center.

Vince inbounded the ball to Jason who then dribbled it up the court. As soon as he crossed half court Jason signaled for a play.

Trell went to set a screen for DJ who was standing in the left corner. DJ ran off the screen out into the perimeter.

DJ then positioned himself at the top of the perimeter as Jason passed him the ball. Jason then began running toward DJ.

Jason ran by DJ to the right as he got the hand off from him. DJ then used his body as he screened for Jason.

Jason had a bit of space as he approached the right wing because his defender had gotten caught in DJ's screen.

This forced the opposing team's starting Small Forward to leave Nick alone as he closed out on Jason.

Jason got him slightly into the air with a pump fake before driving toward the basket. This caused the Small Forward to chase after him after he recovered from the pump fake.

Jason also had the attention of his previous defender as both of them chased him into the paint. After pulling both of them far enough Jason tossed the ball over his shoulder as he kicked the ball out to Nick on the perimeter.

Nick caught the ball and was about to shoot the three when he noticed that DJ's defender was rushing toward him.

He slowed down his jumper by just a bit to give the defender more time. As soon as he got close he passed the ball over the defenders head to DJ.

DJ caught the pass without a single defender in the vicinity so he took the three point shot. He bent his knees and aligned his hip and elbow to the basket.

His release was a little past his forehead as he let the ball go with a flick of his wrist. He held his right hand up from the follow through as he watched the ball glide through the air.

DJ's shot was flat as it didn't have much of an arc. It was going straight for the basket. The crowd had gotten excited from the amazing display of ball movement.

But the the crowd released a collective sigh of disappointment after seeing the ball bounce off the front of the rim.

Luckily for the audience as well as for Jefferson that wasn't the end of the story. After hitting the front of the rim the ball bounced high up.

And as it came down there was a Jefferson jersey there to grab the offensive rebound. The muscular figure that didn't match the image of a 13 year old had jumped straight up and caught the ball with his fully extended right hand.

As soon as Trell came back down to the court with the ball in his hands he was covered by the arms of Nashton Academy's backup Center.

Trell tried to look up at the basket but all he could see was the shadows of the Center's arms 'If you ain't the big tub of lard then don't even think of stopping me!'

Trell bounced the ball once before trying to clear some space by jumping into the Center and pushing with his back.

The Center had underestimated Trell's strength as he ended up getting pushed back a step and a half 'How the hell!?'

Trell then went up strong with the ball as he held it with both hands. The ball bounced off the backboard before falling through the net.

Trell punched the air before looking up at the ceiling and yelling passionately yelling out "Yeaahh!!!"

The audience clapped and cheered as they chanted his name "TRELL! TRELL! TRELL!" For that brief moment Trell felt a warmth in his chest that he had never felt before.

- - -

Billy and Troy watched as Jason and the rest of Jefferson put on showed the whole gym a lesson on how to pass the ball.

They watched as Jason pulled the defenders away before kicking the ball out to Nick. They then watched as Nick purposeful pulled the defender toward him before passing the ball over to DJ.

When they saw that the three pointer had missed the two of them joined the rest of the crowd as they sighed in disappointment. 

But then a figure came out of nowhere to grab the offensive rebound. The both of them felt their heart rate begin to quicken. 

As Trell fought underneath the basket before finally scoring the second chance points off of the offensive rebound the both of them had forgotten who they were as they jumped to their feet and began cheering.

After realizing what they had done the both of them smiled in embarrassment. Troy coughed to clear his throat. 

"That was a hell of a basket don't you think?" Billy nodded his head in agreement "That offensive rebound was something else.

He got off the ground quicker than anyone else that was there. And the power needed to move a defender out of position like that... That's the kind of move you expect out of a Center. Not your wing player slotting in for a few minutes at Power Forward."

Troy began to rub his hands together as he greedily looked out into the court "This kid could end up being a match up nightmare.

All he needs to do is make sure that his game develops properly. If he can add some more polish to his game while developing physically the same way that he's been then there's no way that this kid won't make it to the league."

Billy chuckled before looking over at Troy "I thought you said that you turned scouting mode off. What happened?"

Troy slapped his leg before laughing "What can I say? The kid just showed me something that was too good to ignore. 

I feel like you're the only other guy that I kinda get along with in this industry Billy so I'll give you a warning.

Don't even think about recruiting Trell. We're the only school that can make sure that he maximizes his potential. He's going to be playing for us next year come hell or high water."

- - -

Without 3D in the game Jefferson was able to control the game as they locked down Nashton Academy's on defense while also slowing down the tempo and playing methodically on offense.

Since 3D wasn't on the floor there wasn't a point in pushing the tempo and playing high paced basketball.

Jefferson forced the game to come to a grinding and slow pace as they honed in on D while playing slow half court offense.

This change of tempo made it hard for Nashton Academy to adjust to Jefferson's new offense as they were forced to change the way they guarded the players.

This change in tempo also allowed for some of the players on Jefferson to catch a breather now that they weren't constantly running up and down the court.

Jason allowed DJ to become the primary ball handler as he initiated the majority of their offense.

They repeatedly ran the pick and roll with DJ and Trell. If the opposing team's Power Forward stepped up to contain DJ then he would simply pass the ball to Trell as he rim runned.

This would either lead to a easy basket by Trell or if the other team's Big went up to guard him then Trell would simply pass the ball to Vince who would be waiting in the paint.

If the opposing team's Power Forward didn't step up to contain DJ then he would take the mid range jumper.

He wasn't Jason but DJ could still hit a pretty decent amount of his mid range jumpers. And if he missed then Trell and Vince would fight for the rebound.

If Nashton Academy switched on the pick and roll then DJ would just pull the Power Forward out to the paint before passing the ball to Trell as he posted up the Guard.

With Trell's freakish strength and his improved ability to finish around the rim there was no chance for the guard to stop him.

The second quarter came to an end as Jefferson built up a sizable lead. The score on the scoreboard was now 60-44.

Jason and the rest of the guys slumped down into their chairs after coming back over to the bench. Ms. Yuller walked up to them with a bright smile on her face.

"That was an amazing performance gentlemen. Go ahead and rest up during the intermission. You have all deserved it."

Jason got his towel and soaked it in some ice cold water from his sports bottle before laying it over his face.

"Hmmmm" Jason groaned as the ice cold towel met his hot face 'Just two more quarters Jason. You just need to last two more quarters.'