Jaguar Hope by Kyle C.

Jeff Miles was the best basketball player on his team. He was the best point guard in the league and his team, the Jaguars, was in the championship. They were facing the Raptors. They were always the league powerhouse and had won the last three championships. The Jaguars, and especially Jeff, needed to play exceptionally well to win this game. They had really tough practices all week to make sure they were well prepared to play in the biggest game of their lives.

As for the Raptors, they were confident that they would win this game. They have more talent, more championship experience, and better coaching. They had the best player in the area in Brandon Johnson. He was their go to guy and could not be stopped. Almost every team that played against the Raptors had a plan to stop Brandon, but they couldn’t. The Jaguars had a plan to stop Brandon, but they knew it would still be a very tough job.

As the sun rose on Saturday morning, Jeff woke up excited and anxious to play in the championship game. He arrived at the gym two hours before game time to be as fresh and warmed up as possible. As the clock was ticking, players from his team and the Raptors were arriving. He knew the game was getting closer and Jeff was getting nervous. Then he looked up at the scoreboard and there was only five minutes left until the game. Both teams were pumped and ready to play. Then the buzzer went off, and the championship game was about to start.

The starters walked out on the floor and shook hands. Then the two centers stood at half court along with the referee and the game began. The Raptors won the tip and passed it to Brandon for an easy layup. The Raptors put on their devastating full court press and forced a turnover. The Raptors made a three pointer and were out in front quickly. The Jaguars broke the press and Jeff hit a three from the corner. The Jaguars started to go on a run at the end of the quarter. With five seconds left in the quarter, Jeff stole the ball and made a layup to beat the buzzer. The Jaguars were pumped until they saw Jeff lying on the floor screaming. Jeff hurt his ankle really bad and would be out for the rest of the game. In the Jaguar huddle, their coach said they had to overcome this and they could still win this game, but the players didn’t think they could do it.

The next two quarters didn’t go too well for the Jaguars. They were struggling on offense and couldn’t stop the Raptors on defense. Brandon Johnson was dominating the game and at the end of the third quarter the score was 55-42 Raptors. Bandon had 29 points and his team had all the momentum going into the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter started with the Jaguars getting the ball. They moved the ball nicely and they made a wide open three. Then the Jaguars decided to full court press. The Raptors had Brandon bring the ball up but he wasn’t that good of a ball handler. The Jaguars put a lot of pressure on him and forced him to make a bad pass. They stole the ball and Bob, the Jaguars other good player, made an easy layup. The Jaguars were coming back and the Raptors coach called a timeout. After the timeout, the Raptors had Brandon on the wing and passed it to him for an open shot. He missed the shot and Bob got the rebound and went coast to coast for another easy layup. The Jaguars kept their press on and stole the ball and hit a three pointer. The Raptors called another timeout and the Jaguars were only down six with two minutes remaining. The Raptors didn’t score their first possession after the timeout and the Jaguars made a three. The Jaguars once again forced a turnover and made an easy two. Then the Jaguars called a timeout to set up their defense.

There was 30 seconds left and the Raptors had the ball winning by a point. The Raptors put the ball in Brandon’s hands and with six seconds left he drove to the hoop and got fouled. He had two free throws. He made the first with ease but missed the second one. The Jaguars got the rebound and made a quick pass up to Bob. Bob made a spin move around the defender and spotted up for a three with one second left. It felt like slow motion when the ball was in the air. Then, it finally came down and it swooshed through the hoop. The Jaguar players and fans erupted into clapping and cheering. The Jaguars were jumping up and down at half court and they picked up Bob and held him up for his game winning shot. Then they went over to Jeff and they gave him high fives. The Jaguar players knew that they won because they never gave up. They knew it was going to be to win with Jeff on the bench, but they overcame the odds.

Derek’s Disaster by Sam P.

It was a hot afternoon and the score was tied five to five. It was the bottom of the seventh, the last inning, and coming up to bat was Derek. Derek was the best player on his team and one of the top players in the nation. He was only 16 but could hit like a twenty year old. He stepped up to the plate and did his ritual just like the pros. He tapped the plate twice then aimed the bat at the pitcher. The pitcher wound up and hurled the ball towards the plate. Derek took a step towards the ball and swung as hard as he could. The ball made contact with the bat and took flight. Derek stood at the plate and watched the ball sore over everyone’s head and over the fence into the parking lot. As Derek rounded the bases he listened to the parents all cheering for him and looked at his teammates all gathered around home waiting for Derek so they all could mob him.

After the game Derek, his mom, his dad, and his younger brother went out to eat to celebrate the victory. After dinner Derek and his family headed home. Derek had a big game tomorrow and if they won they would make it into the state championship game. Derek went to bed and woke up the next morning ready to play. The game was at 1:00. Derek showed up ready to play. He was a little more nervous about this game than the others because not only was it more important but Derek was going to be the starting pitcher. Derek had only pitched one other game this year. He can throw really hard but wasn’t always accurate.

Derek took the mound in the first inning. His arm felt good but he was very nervous. His first pitch was thrown a little too far inside and almost hit the batter. His second pitch wasn’t even close to being over the plate. Derek just took a deep breath and thought about all the correct mechanics that his coach taught him. Once he started using his coach’s advice, every pitch was thrown over the plate and it was thrown hard. Derek struck out the first three batters in the first and retired his first nine batters. At the end of the third inning the score was 0-0. By the fourth inning Derek’s arm was starting to get tired and he couldn’t throw as hard. He got the first two batters out on ground balls but the third batter was the best on the team. He was huge and could hit the ball farther than Derek. Derek through his pitch and it was right over the middle of the plate. The batter drilled a hard liner into the left center gap. Luckily he was slow and only got a triple. Derek knew this was his last inning and had to finish it strong. Derek’s first two pitches were fouled off. His next three were balls and it was now a full count. The catcher called time and went out to talk to Derek. He told Derek to throw his curveball. Derek had only thrown two so far and they both were in the dirt. Derek reluctantly agreed but knew this was his only chance to strike him out. Derek wound up and threw his twelve to six curveball. It was perfect and the batter didn’t even come close to hitting the ball.

It was now the last inning and it was still 0-0. Derek led off the inning with a walk. He then stole second base and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. There were two outs now and all Derek’s team needed was a base hit to win. The only problem was the worst hitter on their team was up. His name was Mike. He was short and skinny and wasn’t very good at batting. The pitcher of the other team laughed at Mike and threw his hardest. Mike couldn’t catch up to the ball. The count was 0-2 and Mike’s coach told him to focus on the ball and drive it into the outfield. The pitch came and it was the hardest one yet. Mike just closed his eyes and swung the bat. When he opened them he saw the ball in the outfield and Derek coming for home. Mike quickly ran to first and started to celebrate. The entire team ran over to Mike and gave him high fives and pats on the back.

The team was so happy that they won and that they get to play in the state championship game. They decided to have a party since the game wasn’t for another week. Derek and the rest of their team went out to a friend’s house for the party. Everyone was dancing and having fun. Derek had to be home at 11:00 and once that timed rolled around he started to walk home. He didn’t live too far it would only take him about five minutes. He was walking home with Mike because Mike was going to sleep over Derek’s. They had been good friends ever since they were young. On the way home they heard a car in the distance. They looked down the street and saw a car speeding towards them. The driver was drunk and out of control. Derek and Mike tried to get out of the way but Derek was too slow. The car hit Derek at about 50 miles per hour. The driver just kept going never stopping to help Derek. Mike went over to Derek. He was still breathing but was unconscious. Mike called for an ambulance. While in the hospital Derek’s teammates visited him. They all found out that Derek broke both legs, and arm, broke his neck, and had a severe concussion that had him in a coma for three days. The doctors said he was extremely lucky he wasn’t paralyzed.

The day of the game came up and the entire team thought they would lose without Derek. They felt so bad about what happened that they weren’t even sure if they wanted to play. Their coach tried to get them more focused on the game but he couldn’t keep his mind off Derek either. The coach decided that Derek would be a big inspiration for the other kids. Before the game he took all the players to see Derek. Derek was excited to see them all and wished them good luck in the game and told them to win this one for him. Derek’s teammates gave him a hug and then went back to the field to play.

All the talk about Derek inspired the rest of his teammates to play their best. Derek’s team scored twice in the first inning and never looked back. They won the game 6-3 and they did it all for Derek.