บท 34: Team Gilbert vs Team Justin Carter
Each match has a duration of 12 minutes per quarter. Once twelve minutes have been reached, the match will be stopped and alternate with the other team, and so on. They are more or less aware of the time each half takes, so there is no further explanation about it.
Gilbert, as the captain of the New Ares Basketball Division, has been practising his skills since elementary school as a Point Guard. This position is arguably the most vital because those in that position set the tempo of attack and defence simultaneously. Every player has a position they are good at, but after trying out all the positions, Gilbert feels more challenged if he stands as the Point Guard.
However, the purpose of playing is not to choose something that has a high risk, but compared to other players, Gilbert has high hopes when he becomes a captain as well as a playmaker. In contrast, Justin Carter is the only player who wants to surpass Gilbert and play as a Shooting Guard.
Meanwhile, they were already standing on the court and placing their respective positions. Team Gilbert's Center and Team Justin's Center stood at the centre of the court, and between them was Coach Marlon holding the ball in his right hand. Gilbert's team wore bright green vests while Justin's team wore orange vests.
Coach Marlon gave the signal for the two Centres to prepare for the referee's toss. Both Centres nodded slowly while staring at the ball in the coach's hand.
"Ready... Tip-Off!!!" Coach Marlon shouted as he threw the ball, straight up.
The players sitting on the sidelines were excited as the game started. Both Centers jumped as high as they could to grab the ball. Neither would budge until they both groaned so loudly that one of them managed to knock the ball back and was caught by the Point Guard in their defence.
"Nice jump, Henry." The Captain managed to receive the ball with just one hand thanks to the Center's dominating aerial advantage.
Justin chuckled loudly, it was clear how disappointed he was with his Center.
Then the clock started ticking and Gilbert's team began to enter Justin's defence. The captain was relaxed and his dribbling was calm and unhurried. Although his head didn't turn, his eyes moved quickly to find an opening they could exploit.
"Where are you going, captain?"
Suddenly, the enemy players immediately rotated positions. But Gilbert was not surprised by that because he already knew what type of player he was.
"Switching positions? Why act rashly like that?" On the sidelines, Sherla wondered even though she knew that sometimes it could happen in certain situations.
"You shouldn't be surprised. They've been competing since three years ago and no one wants to give up on each other. Sometimes things like this are necessary because it motivates them to keep improving."
Sherla was silent not because she understood. But the coach's answer didn't answer her question at all. Sherla was just confused as to why the position change was made at the start of the match and had only been running for four seconds.
Back on the court, Gilbert, who was still bouncing the ball, suddenly caught the ball with both hands. He jumped as high as he could with both hands ready to shoot the ball. Justin Carter, who had not prepared himself, simply shouted "Shit!" and jumped in.
But he was about a second too late. Gilbert had already fired and the ball spun towards the hoop while Justin had just reached the highest point of his jump. His jump was slightly tilted towards Gilbert so he almost crashed. But the enemy swiftly avoided physical contact and both his eyes were fixed on the ball spinning in the air.
"Quick Release? Why are you so confident..."
While Justin was busy babbling, the ball entered the ring smoothly without touching the ring at all. Creating the sound of the net being hit by the ball, so melodious to their ears.
"Flawless!!!" Team Gilbert shouted so loudly that the other players cheered and applauded the perfect shot.
"Scoundrel'! What the hell was that? Three points so early in the game? He's absolutely crazy!" Kein couldn't hide his amazement at the captain's three early points.
"Nice shoot, Gilbert!" Henry shouted then rushed back to their defence in anticipation of a counterattack.
The captain wasn't easily flattered by their shouts but he couldn't hide his smile and walked back quickly. When he saw that the ball was still out of bounds, Gilbert looked at Justin and said,
"You're so obsessed with me that you've forgotten what I have to paralyse you!"
"Shut up, you bastard!" Justin understood what his rival had.
Gilbert had better accuracy when he shot the ball from a straight angle to the hoop. Because he could shoot directly at the hoop or bounce off the backboard first, his confidence in scoring points was much greater than at other angles.
The ball was thrown back in by Justin's team. Although he was upset about the point and the captain's behaviour, the desire to slaughter his rival grew and he was obsessed with scoring as many points as possible.
***
PRITTTT!!!
Twelve minutes had passed and the coach blew the whistle. The ball, which was still in Justin's possession, was suddenly slammed away with an unsatisfactory result for them. The match was over and both teams took off their vests that they had used to distinguish themselves.
Team Justin and Team Gilbert had finished their match with a score of 20 : 18. The difference of two points or so at the end of the match they almost finished the attack by scoring at least two points to equalise the score, or directly throwing from their area and relying on luck to get three points.
But the match was over and their hopes of not losing were dashed. Justin almost kicked the empty bench in front of him, but decided against it in anticipation of a fight with the coach.
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