There I see him, James Brown. Many have been debating whether he should be the #1 Nationally ranked player or I should be the #1 Nationally ranked player. Today is the day we get to see who is better, on the highest stage of high school basketball, the National High School Basketball Championship. We both play the same positions so this game will be an interesting one.
The commentator starts to call out the starting lineups.
“For the San Francisco Stars, at center, standing at 6’5, Michael Johnson. At power forward, standing at 6’4, Robin Curry. At small forward, standing at 6’4, Ryan Jackson. At shooting guard, standing at 6’3, Justin Lamb. At point guard, standing at 6’2, the number 1 nationally ranked player, the greatest high school player of all, Freeeeeeeeeeqqqqqq!” The gym is electrifying. Everyone’s up on their feet. The crowd is going wild, arms flying everywhere.
“Now, for the Los Angeles Elites, at center, standing at 6’7, Chris Anderson. At power forward, standing at 6’5, Justice Roy. At small forward, standing at 6’4, Dylan Bryant. At shooting guard, standing at 6’2, Roy Lin. At point guard, standing at 6’1, the number 2 nationally ranked player, Jaaaaaaaames Broooooooowwwwwn!” The gym had the same electrifying feeling. The crowd up on its feet, chanting.
The referee calls the starting 5 for both sides to get on the floor. He throws the ball in the air for the jump ball and I gain control of the ball. James picks me up at half court. I zoom at him, crossover, stepback, and shoot. Swish!
“Freq! Freq! Freq,” chants the crowd. That gives me even more confidence. I steal the ball and throw down a monstrous dunk on the other side. The crowd is going bananas.
The other team passes the ball to James. I can see the will in his eyes. He crosses up my teammate making him fall to the ground, drives hard into the lane, and dunks it ferociously on my teammate. The arena is roaring. Everyone gets up from their chairs and they start screaming. My coach calls a time-out to stop the momentum of the other team.
“Freq,” say my coach, “stay on James. Do not give him any breathing room and never leave him. You know you’re better than him, I know you’re better than him, now show him what it’s like to be number 1!”
“Yes coach!,” I reply energetically, eager to show James who the best is.
I came out of the huddle roaring. I was scoring left and right, the Elites unable to guard me. I was unstoppable. The first quarter came to an end, we were leading 26 to 16. I could see the hopelessness in the Elites eyes.
The second quarter was about to start. We got in our offense and came down the court. I passed the ball to Justin who got it stolen. James raced down the court and laid the ball in, 26-18. Again we came down the court, I passed the ball down low to Michael who missed an easy layup. The Elites snatched the rebound and Roy Lin came and swished a 3, 26-21. We were getting very sloppy with the ball. I tried to take the matter in my own hands. I drove it hard down the land, put up an acrobatic layup, and landed right on top of my wrist.
There was a big gasp from everyone in the gym. It was over. It was likely I would not return to the game. My coach quickly ran over to me. He subbed me out and our trainer took me back to the locker room to access my wrist.
“Looks like this is it Freq,” said my trainer, “I don’t think you’re going to be able to return to the game.”
“No but I have to get back in there. This is the most important game of my life,” I argued.
“I would suggest you not to go back in but again, the decision is all yours.”
“I’m going back in, and there is nothing that is going to stop me.”
I headed back into the game. By the time I returned the 4th quarter was about to begin. I glanced at the scoreboard, Elites 43, Stars 33. I huddled my team together.
“Listen guys, we didn’t come this far to lose. We have to come in the gates strong and we have to show them we haven’t given up just yet. Now lets get out there and get the win!”
I took the ball up to the court. I pulled up from between the half court line and the 3 point line and swished it right in James’s face. We were set up in a full court press. We stole the ball from the Elites and laid the ball in the basket, 43-38. I could see the tension growing for the Elites. They passed the ball in, got past the press, went for the layup but I quickly came from behind and rejected the shot. I grabbed the rebound, sprinted down the court and softly dunked the ball, 43-40. Now it was only a 3 point lead with 1 minute left in the quarter. The pressure was on. The Elites took their time to bring the ball up the court. They were going to try to waste as much time as possible. With 30 seconds left, James shot the 3. It hit the back of the rim and clanked out. I grabbed the rebound and took it down the court. I passed the ball to Justin, quickly set a screen for him and I popped to the corner where he quickly passed me the ball. I got it and released. Swish! It was all tied up. The Elites coach called a timeout. There were 15 seconds left in the game and the score was tied, 43-43.
The referee signaled the end of the timeout. The Elites passed the ball in. James took it down the court, looking for an opening in the lane. He drove it in hard went for the dunk, but Michael rejected his dunk. Ryan got the rebound and quickly dished the ball out to me. There were 7 seconds left in the game. I dribbled it up the court. I did a behind the back crossover which put James on skates, I stepped back, and put up the mid range fade away. The crowd was on the edge of their seats.
3,2,1. It clanked off the rim, to the backboard, spun around in the rim...and it went in. The crowd got off their seats and rushed to the court. My team picked me up and everyone started chanting, “#1! #1!#1.” I had done it, I had won the high school basketball championship with the help of my team and I had proved that I am better than James Brown.