The State Champions

by Savannah Kirby – 8th Grade – WWMS

It had been 315 days since Johnny and Dally, my two best friends died. Soda and Darry told me that it would all be ok. It was far from ok. The past few weeks of summer I’ve been going to the park to play and shoot basketball. It really helped get my mind off the whole death situation.

Today was no different. Just another day without them. It was one in the afternoon, so I decided I would head to the park. I told Soda, “I’m headin’ out. See ya in an hour or two.”

I arrived at the park ready to play. I shot for about an hour, then this woman whom I had never seen before walked over.

She introduced herself, “Hi, my name is Kathleen Simmons and I teach at Will Rogers High down the road. You go there correct?”

I responded with a quick, “Yes, ma’am, I do”.

She said, “Great, could I interest you in trying out for the basketball team? I am the head basketball coach, and I’d love for you to play for Rogers.”

Ms. Simmons was waiting for a response so I said, “Maybe I’ll get around to it.”

She smiled a great big smile and said, “Great! I can’t wait.”

Ms. Simmons was very tall and skinny and looked to be around Darry’s age or maybe a little bit older. A few days passed since I last saw Ms. Simmons at the park, and I had school the next day so I went to bed a little early.

It was a new school year, new teachers, and new classes that I couldn’t even complain about to Johnny. It was going to be rough. I woke up, and it was around seven, the normal time I get up for school, and I started getting ready. I met up with Two-bit outside my house to go to school.

I walked into the office and got my schedule. I was reading through it when I saw a very familiar name. Kathleen Simmons was the lady I had met at the park, and I had her class first period, so I headed straight to her class. I sat away from her desk so she wouldn’t notice me. She started to take role and when she came to my name, her eyes lit up as if the sun was shining right on them. Then, her eyes shot around the room straight to me.

In a smiling, cheery tone, she said, “Morning, Pony, am I gonna see you at tryouts next week?”

I responded with, “Well ,maybe, if you’re lucky.”

She chuckled because she knew I was just giving her a hard time. Then, she continued with roll call. The school day was long as usual. I went straight home after school.

I walked in the back door and Darry was waiting for me. He asked me to come sit down because we needed to talk. He said, “So today I got a call from one of your teachers. She said she would really love for you to be on the basketball team. Pony, this is your chance. Ever since you were a little kid, you wanted to play basketball.

This is your chance to get out of this town, to make something of yourself.” Darry had never believed in me like this. He thought I could make it big, and I could get out of this town. Tryouts were in two days. Why not just tryout and see how I did? Honestly, what did I have to lose at this point? Try-out day finally arrived.

After school, an announcement was made to go to the gym if you wanted to try-out for basketball. I walked into the gym, grabbed a ball, and started shooting. Coach Katey called all the boys to a huddle.

She said, “Now, boys, give me your all. Play clean, play nice, and the roster will be posted tomorrow.”

We started off stretching then we began playing. I was running down the floor, getting out ahead of the defense, and I heard, “Pony, look up!” As soon as I looked up, I saw the orange striped sphere spinning in the air in my direction. The ball landed right in my hands. I rushed towards the goal, pounding my hardest dribble. I stopped at the block, and I shot the ball. It hit the top of the white outlined box on the goal and then fell straight into the basket.

As soon as I heard that net whip with the sound of a successful basket, I knew it. This was going to be my year! Sleep evaded me. It was game day, and I was actually nervous. I walked into the gymnasium, my shoes squeaking on the floor.

I saw Coach Katey and the other boys so I headed to the bench. This was going to happen. I was going to play basketball. The referee blew the whistle. It was time for the jump ball.

Coach yelled over to me, “Pony, you got this, I believe in you! Just remember what we learned in practice.” Then I recalled the talk Coach and I had at practice. “Pony, I want to thank you for not only giving basketball a chance, but also for giving yourself a chance. You remind me so much of myself at your age. Your brother told me about losing your parents and your friends. I am sorry that happened to you, and I know how bad it feels. I lost my parents when I was thirteen years old. Basketball always helped me overcome the loss. My parents were big supporters of basketball, and it made feel close to them. I know how it feels to lose someone important. I want you to know I am here if you need anything, and I believe in you.”

She really was an amazing coach, teacher, and friend. The referee blew the whistle. Now it was game time, and I was ready for tip-off. The boys jumped their highest jump, and it was our ball. I ran out in front for the lay-up. I got the perfect pass and I scored. I looked over at Coach Katey, and she was smiling her biggest smile. Before I knew it, the buzzer screamed in our ears. Half of my first high school basketball game was already over. Coach called us to the bench. The score was twenty to ten, and we were up.

Coach Katey said, “Let’s go boys! Keep working hard, and it will pay off.” She said this with a bright smile on her face. She was so happy and proud. At the start of the second half, we were in-bounding the ball. James, our eleventh-grade captain, scored making it 22-10. The other team made a second half push to get the game back within five points. However, we had enough good drives to the goal. We were consistent with rebounds and put backs to keep us ahead by five. There were twelve seconds left on the clock. I knew that was plenty of time for the other team to come back and beat us. I stole the ball and was driving up the court.

Then I heard, “Go, Pony, take it all the way!”

It was Coach Katey, so I did exactly what she instructed. Two more points on the board from my lay-up. I was fouled on the way up, so it could be a three-point play. The lay-up I made counted as two, and now I had a chance to shoot a foul shot and make it three. At that time, there was one second left on the clock. I knew we were going to win, but I wanted to make this count. I got in the shooting position and sank the foul shot, nothing but net!

Our opponents got the ball back just long enough to inbound it before the buzzer sounded. It was the end of my first high school basketball game. We gave the other team good game high fives and headed to the locker room.

Coach congratulated us on our win. “You boys really impressed me today. You all did great.” We told her thank you. We did our bulldog chant and celebrated as a team. Coach pulled me aside, “Pony, I’m proud of your hard work today. I can’t wait for many more games to come.”

Darry and I headed home. He said, “Pony, I am glad you are enjoying playing basketball. You are an amazing player.” I was very happy to hear that from Darry. He believed in my dream, and he wanted me to succeed.

Darry added, “Your coach was very proud of you, too. She seems like a good coach.” I responded to him, “She definitely knows how her students and team thinks.” “Well, that’s great.” Darry added.

Many school days and games passed. We finished the regular season and area tournament with a record of 13-3. For us, this meant we were going to the state championship. We were ready. The championship game was in ten hours. It was Monday morning, so I walked to Coach Katey’s classroom. As I approached, I heard people yelling, and one sounded just like Coach Katey.

When I reached her doorway, I saw and heard Coach Brown arguing with her. I overheard Coach Katey say, “I brought this team to the championship, and they play hard for me. I don’t deserve to have them taken away from me next year!”

Coach B said, “Well, if you lose this game tonight, I get the boys team.” Coach Katey was obviously upset, and she said, “No, I have worked so hard with them this season, and you aren’t taking them away.”

This was classic Coach Brown. He wanted what everyone else had, especially Coach Katey. He wanted to take credit for other people’s hard work. After the fight was over, I walked into the classroom and asked Coach if she was okay. She said she was, and I went and took my seat. The school day went by quickly. When classes were dismissed, we all headed to the locker room to get ready for the championship game.

On my way, I overheard Coach Katey and Mrs. Williams talking about the game that night. They were best friends, and from what Coach Katey told me, they had always been. It was almost game time, and I was all nerves. Coach called the team into a huddle, “You got this! I believe in you and remember you’ve all worked so hard for this moment. Make it count! Bulldogs on three!” One…two…three, BULLDOGS, the whole team shouted.

Wiping my hands on my shorts to remove the sweat, I was ready! It was time for the tipoff, and we got the ball. James dribbled down the court and passed it right to me for the jump-shot, two points on the board for the Bulldogs. The game passed in a flash. The buzzer sounded at the start of the fourth quarter. We were up by two. On the inbound I threw it to James, and he missed the jump-shot. The other team grabbed the ball and took off on a fast break and scored a lay-up. We were tied up 42-42. The next time down the court, I was able to 8 catch the ball and hurry to the basket for a lay-up. I missed but took a lot of contact from the other team. Just then I heard the whistle. I was going to the foul line.

When I got to the line, I heard Coach Katey say, “You’ve got this, Pony!” I got in position and let the first of two shots ride. We were up by one. In the back ground, I could hear the crowd screaming with excitement. I knew there were only four seconds left on the clock. If I could make this shot then the best the other team could do was tie and force us into overtime. Swish went the second basket!

Now, we just had to keep the team from getting the ball in and scoring. The whistle blew. Coach was calling a timeout. She called us over and explained to us how to guard the inbound play to keep the other team from getting the ball in. We executed her play perfectly, and after five seconds of trying to inbound the ball, the referee blew the whistle. We were getting the ball back under our own basket.

Coach Katey yelled to us, “Run play 14!” We knew what that meant, and once again our team did it perfectly. We inbounded the ball and held it while the clock ticked down to zero. The buzzer sounded and the crowd erupted. We were State Champions!

Once the game was over, our overwhelmed Coach pulled me over, “Pony, I am thankful you followed your heart and chose basketball. I can’t wait for another year!”

I hugged her and said, “Thank you, for believing in me.”

Epilogue for ‘The Outsiders’ assignment