บท 46: Winners and losers
Jason caught the ball from Shania 'Girl I wouldn't get so excited if I were you. You might have scored a basket but you are still going to lose.'
Shania pressed up against Jason once again as she guarded him tightly. Jason tried his best to ignore everything that was unrelated to basketball as she pushed her body against his.
Jason drove hard to the right. But after a single step he came to a stop with a through the leg dribble.
Shania had been preparing to chase Jason during his drive. She tried her best to force her body to stop after she realized that Jason was no longer driving to the right.
But her momentum forced her to take another step. Jason had successfully created space with his through the leg dribble but he wasn't done yet.
He stepped back and to the left as he shot a three-pointer. The space created from the through the leg dribble combined with the space created from the stepback meant that Jason was practically wide open.
Jason held his hand up from the follow-through of the shot as he watched the ball fly through the air in a straight high arc toward the basket.
After the ball swished through the net he blew on his hand as though it were scorching hot "Looks like the scores 3-1."
Shania responded with a serious face "Not for long" As soon as she caught the ball from Jason she drove left.
She had a quick first step. It was almost as good as Trell's. But Jason had been going up against the better version every day at practice so he wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
Jason predicted where she was trying to go and beat her to her spot. After he made contact he put his hands up and made sure to shuffle his feet.
Shania went deep into her bag of tricks but no matter what she tried she couldn't get rid of Jason. He was staying on her hip and pressuring her the entire time.
The two of them were to the left of the free free-throw line. Shania tried to go for a spin move but Jason predicted the direction she was going to spin in and jammed her up.
She had managed to keep possession of the ball but she had lost her dribble in the process. Jason started pressuring her even more 'She lost her dribble! She doesn't have many options.'
Shania turned around and used her body to protect the ball from Jason. It looked like she was posting him up.
Things weren't looking good for her but she didn't give up. She pivoted to the right and pushed Jason back with her body.
Afterward she quickly pivoted back to the left before shooting a turn around jumper over her left shoulder.
Jason was pushed back slightly by Shania but he recovered almost instantly and exploded toward her. He reached out and contested her shot to the best of his ability.
Jason had his hand all in Shania's face as she shot her turn around jumper. This contest was even better than the one from Shania's crossover.
But to Jason's dismay he watched as the ball hit the rim, bounced a few times, and fell through the net.
Jason was still in the same pose as when he contested Shania's shot 'I guess she really is just a tough shot maker.'
There were some players who could make shots despite facing pressure from the opposing defense. The best example would probably be Kobe Bryant.
Kobe was known for having the courage and skill to shoot over multiple defenders using a wide variety of moves.
But tough shot makers also existed at lower levels. Such as JR Smith. Not only did he take tough shots in the face of defenders. He even took shots from the halfcourt.
Jason had checked out Shania's skills before but he remembered that he forgot to check to see if she had any badges. He activated Heart's eye once again.
[Tough Shot Maker (Silver): Decreases the effect that defense will have against your shot by a small margin and increases the speed of your release when defense is close by.
Human Highlight Reel (Silver): Performing highlight plays will temporarily give you a slight boost to your abilities. Keep performing highlight plays to keep the boost active. But if you make a mistake or if a highlight is performed against you the boost disappears.
Jason was surprised that only did Shania have two incredible badges. They were both at the silver level.
The badge that Jason was most jealous of was the one that had Dominique Wilkins nickname Human Highlight Reel.
Nique was an incredible athlete and one of the most ferocious dunkers in basketball history. You could make a feature length film with his highlights alone.
Shania had a smug look on her face as she watched Jason standing still 'Yeah. Now you know what you goin up against.'
She called out "Hey! How long you gon act like a statue? We got a game to play and I got an ass whoopin to serve. Hurry the hell up."
Jason pushed the thoughts of her badges out of his mind as he focused himself back on the game.
The game continued as the two of them went back and forth at each other. Although Shania had the ability to make tough shots that didn't mean that she could make them at the same consistency as someone who was taking good shots.
And that is what lead to Jason getting ahead in the score. Jason's consistent lockdown defense proved to be effective against Shania's tough shot-making.
Jason missed a few shots as well because no one can make all the shots that they take. But he was able to force Shania to miss more shots than him.
Jason used his ability to maneuver around the court with his handles as well as a variety of fakes and offensive moves to create good looks for himself.
Whereas despite Shania's amazing ball-handling ability she was constantly forced to taking and trying to make bad shots. She was able to make a few of them but not enough to stay ahead of Jason.
- - -
On the side of the court Marcus was sitting on the bench in the shade along with the other kids from the group.
Marcus lowered his sunglasses as he watched Jason drain another shot "Yo what's the score so far?" one of the boys answered "15-6"
Marcus pushed his sunglasses back up and smiled "He really givin Shania the business haha. She might end up having to go clean for real. Who is this cat?"
One of the boys spoke up "I think I know him Marcus. You heard about the kid that beat up Trell right?"
Marcus whistled in amazement "So that's him?" The boy nodded his head "And that's not all. Check this out Marcus."
The boy pulled out his phone and showed the video of Jason playing against Mt. Vernon as well as the new's segment, and his interview.
Marcus was so absorbed in watching the video that he took his sunglasses off. After Marcus had watched all the videos he was silent.
After a minute Marcus smiled as he put his sunglasses back on "Looks like Riverside got anotha Tyreek Hills in the makin. I just hope that this a good thang."
- - -
Jason hit Shania with the double behind the back, hesi, stepback move and got her leaning. Afterward he nailed the mid-range shot.
Sweat was pouring down his face and he was gasping for air. But he still smiled as he looked at Shania who was in disbelief.
Jason wiped his head with his shirt "21-10 Shania. Looks like I won." Shania was silent. She didn't know what to say.
The silence was broken up by the sound of clapping. Jason and Shania turned their heads and saw Marcus walking onto the court.
Marcus walked to Shania "Don't look so down Shania. Just treat this as a chance to get out of the street life.
Normally it's a lot harder to get out but considering that yo pops was an OG who did a lot for the streets we can just close our eyes this one time. Besides you need to stop giving your uncle such a hard time."
Then he walked toward Jason. Jason was a little nervous as he watched Marcus getting closer to him.
'He's not just going to shoot me right? I'm sure he wouldn't do it in broad daylight.' Despite his own words of self-encouragement Jason still looked around to make sure that there were surveillance cameras around.
Marcus laughed after seeing Jason's nervous face "Chill bruh. I ain't gon do nothin. You beat the breaks off of Shania fair and square.
I just came by in hopes of making a connection with one of Riverside's future superstars. Who knows? I might have to ask you for yo autograph after you make it to the league haha."
Jason tried his best to smile despite being close to pissing himself out of fear 'This dude has a gun!' That was all Jason could think about.
Jason smiled at Marcus "Well that is very kind of you Marcus. I will definitely remember to give you an autograph if I ever make it big haha.
Now if you'll excuse me I still need to get back to school. My next class should be starting soon. I hope you all have a nice day. Bye."
Jason turned around and tried to speedwalk out of there. He had completed his goal of talking with Shania. He had no reason to stay their with those dangerous people for a second longer.
But before he could take a single step he felt a hand on top of his shoulder. He turned around and saw Marcus's smiling face.
"I got something to talk to you about in private. It shouldn't take too long. I hope you don't mind?" Jason gulped 'Shit! What did I just get myself into?'
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The_Gaji
The_Gaji Here is today's chapter guys. I hope you all liked it. Let me know what you guys thought. I love reading the comments and I try my best to respond to all of them. Quick shout out to everyone that votes with their power stones. I really appreciate it. Seeing the notification that you guys voted is such a huge motivation booster. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you all have a beautiful day :)
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