Their team's first basket since Leonz's three-pointer.
7-9
Piercings took several steps back, putting his hands down as he looked down at Jersey. Jersey sighed before the other guys started cheering for Piercings. Piercings helped Jersey back onto his feet.
"You good?" (Piercings)
"Yo fuck you man." (Jersey)
It was all in good fun. The five of them seemed like good friends. Leonz had not played a basketball game where everyone was lighthearted while still playing hard for a long time. Training for competitive basketball was hell, and his teammates often skipped practice.
"Moving on, moving on." (Headband)
Leonz continued standing at his corner while Headband went to check the ball.
Sleeve was still marking Leonz. Sleeve saw Leonz's unwillingness to move.
"Your off-ball* movement's pretty bad." (Sleeve)
* Off-ball: not touching the ball.
Leonz scratched his head, not exactly sure how to reply.
"Well, I'm not exactly used to this…" (Leonz)
"Really? Why?" (Sleeve)
"I used to be the ball handler, so I'm not used to not touching the ball often." (Leonz)
Sleeve nodded before looking back. Piercings had gotten the ball again and was sizing up White Shirt.
"Ya just have to get used to it, I guess?" (Sleeve)
Sleeve ran at Piercings, who was driving into the he lane, having gotten past White Shirt. Piercings noticed and instantly passed the ball to Leonz, who was open because of Sleeve's help defence.
Sleeve stopped himself and started running towards Leonz.
Leonz lined the shot up, bringing the ball down to his hip. The shot, like most of his shots, felt natural. He kept his shooting hand up, his left hand dropping to his side. He felt a bounce in his heel, jumping a little even after he landed.
The ball hit inside the back rim, going in.
10-9
"Bang!" (Leonz)
He looked around, feeling slightly embarrassed. He was used to shouting random phrases during matches, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to shout in a half-court match, especially against the opponents they were facing.
"Good shot!" (Piercings)
Piercings gave him a low high-five, followed by Headband. Leonz looked at the rim, a bew feeling swelling up in his chest.
"Fun, innit?" (Sleeve)
Sleeve was guarding Leonz closer, talking to him while the others got the game started.
"How old are ya again?" (Sleeve)
"14." (Leonz)
"Damn that's young. I was just chilling and messing around when I was your age." (Sleeve)
Leonz observed the court for in case the ball was headed in his direction.
"When did you start balling?" (Leonz)
"High school. Have been short my whole life, so I never got much playing time. How bout you?" (Sleeve)
"Two years ago." (Leonz)
In the background, Piercings had gone on to score another basket.
12-9
"That guy's gonna go on a whole run now?" (Sleeve)
Sleeve faced the rest of his teammates and started instructing them.
"Help out each other more! I'll take the shooter, so the both of ya better guard that guy!" (Sleeve)
Sleeve jabbed his thumb in Piercings' direction.
"That guy's a professional player despite his looks." (Sleeve)
"What do you mean despite my looks?" (Piercings)
While he was busy speaking to Sleeve, Jersey had managed to steal the ball from Piercings. Sleeve broke into a grin and ran out of the three-point line, leaving Leonz in the corner. Leonz ran after him in the attempt to guard him.
"Distraction!" (Piercings)
"Your fault!" (Jersey)
Jersey tried dribbling, but Piercings managed to stick with him. Jersey eventually stopped and with his left hand, threw a behind-the-back pass to White Shirt, who was inside the paint. With Headband guarding him, the height difference was obvious.
White Shirt posted Headband up, Piercings moving towards White Shirt to try and help. White shirt spun and got under the basket. Headband could do nothing but let White Shirt score an easy basket.
12-11
"Too small!" (White Shirt)
Headband shook his head before approaching Piercings to discuss matchups. Meanwhile, Leonz found himself once again having to guard Sleeve.
From what he could tell, Sleeve and Piercings seem to be on a whole different level compared to the other guys, Piercings especially.
"Ya ready?" (Sleeve)
Sleeve passed the ball to Leonz who passed it back, prepared for Sleeve's explosion of speed. However, instead of driving, Sleeve dribbled the ball slowly, walking to the right while walking forward. Wary, Leonz simply followed him, his guard still up.
"I got this trick from a friend of mine" (Sleeve)
Sleeve's dribbling became slower and his steps becoming shorter. Leonz watched carefully, also slowing down with Sleeve. Eventually, Sleeve came to a stop, and for a moment, his entire body stopped moving. Leonz was thinking of reaching out for the steal, but with a quick right to left crossover, Sleeve was already exploding towards the rim.
Leonz tried to keep up, the sudden burst of speed too fast for him to overtake. Sleeve got to the basket where no one else was at, Leonz close behind him.
Sleeve easily finger-rolled it in with his left hand.
12-13
Leonz was forced to switch with Headband again. For some reason, Headband was confident in stopping Sleeve even though none of them had been able to stop him. Defence was a problem on both teams.
"Left screen!" (Piercings)
"Switch!" (Headband)
Headband had been screened by White Shirt. Sleeve dribbled the ball to his right, where Piercings had switched onto him. Piercing's defensive posture was, in Leonz's opinion, average.
Sleeve lowered his body and started driving into the paint. Piercings stuck with him, but was unable to push him out despite the height advantage.
When Sleeve got close enough, he took a step back from the drive along the baseline of the court. Sleeve was about aligned with Leonz, who was guarding Jersey in the corner.
Sleeve brought the ball close for a brief moment. Out of reflex, both Piercings and Leonz jumped to block the shot. Sleeve took another dribble without any violations, driving past Piercings for an easy reverse layup with his right.
"That's 11 points!" (Sleeve)
12-15
Piercings walked up to Leonz and spoke with a lower voice.
"We've gotta get a stop here. Also, on offence, I want you to get open at the three-point line, don't stop moving." (Piercings)
Sleeve checked the ball once again, this time, he was breathing slightly heavier. Headband was guarding him once again, and from how the opposing team was spread out, Leonz assumed it was an isolation play.
"Alley!" (Sleeve)
Sleeve had thrown a ball high into the air, directly to where White shirt was running to. However, with his bulkier body, White shirt was unable to get to the ball in time. Instead, the ball was picked up by Piercings, who had run ahead and jumped much higher.
Leonz started running into the paint. Seeing Jersey follow him, he stepped back out of the three-point line. Jersey, who had not expected it, was too slow with recovering. Piercings passed the ball back to Leonz, who shot the ball.
From the release, Leonz noticed something off with his shot.
"Bad shot!" (Leonz)
"Rebound!" (White Shirt)
Piercings was being boxed out, and was probably unable to get the rebound. Meanwhile, Headband started running, probably predicting the trajectory of the shot.
The ball passed below the rim, and Airball.
"Airball!" (Piercings)
The ball bounced inbound before it went out. However, before it could touch the ground on the outside of the court, Headband managed to grab the ball and throw it behind him.
Leonz saw where the ball was going and ran for it, but someone else was already there. Sleeve caught the ball and brought it to his hip, looking up at the rim. Leonz jumped when he knew he could reach Sleeve.
Sleeve passed off to his right, where Jersey stood at the three point line.
"Nice shot!" (Sleeve)
Leonz landed, looking helplessly as Jersey shot the ball.
'Swish' (net)
"Curry*!" (Sleeve)
* Jersey is wearing a Stephen Curry Jersey
Sleeve high-fived Jersey.
12-18
Leonz shook his head, disappointed in himself for air balling a shot from the corner of all places.
Before he shot the ball, his feet slipped.
"My bad." (Headband)
"Nice save, nice save." (Piercings)
Sleeve stood at the three-point line once again. Leonz tried to keep up his enthusiasm, but because of how uncomfortable his uniform was, he found it hard to get into the mood.
"A three will end it." (Sleeve)
Piercings had switched to guard Sleeve. Sleeve lowered his upper body after they checked up.
Without warning, Sleeve started dashing towards the basket. Piercings kept up, even when Sleeve did a crossover and step back. Sleeve, seeing how tight the defence was, threw a bounce pass towards White Shirt.
Sleeve, after thinking about it for a moment, instantly regretted his actions.
"Bad pass!" (Sleeve)
Headband caught the pass instead. Headband passed directly to Piercings, who stepped out of the three-point line, Sleeve guarding him.
Piercings simply went up for a shot of his own from three, but the ball hit the front of the rim, slightly off. White shirt caught the rebound.
Seeing how Sleeve was already trying to get open, Leonz decided to stick to his man. Leonz made sure Jersey was unable to get the ball.
White shirt passed out to Sleeve, who faked the shot. Piercings did not fall for it, instead, moving closer to Sleeve. Sleeve tried driving by, but the ball bounced off his knee and into the hands of Headband.
Leonz made eye contact with Headband and instantly ran to get open. Headband passed the ball in Leonz's direction, a normal chest pass.
The pass was intercepted by Sleeve, who saw the pass coming. Sleeve, instead of holding the ball, tapped it.
"Curry!" (Sleeve)
Jersey held the ball, and with all the confidence in the world, shot it wide open.
'Swish' (net)
Final score:
12-21
Team 1:
Leonz- 6 points (2/3)
Headband- 0 points (0/2)
Piercings- 6 points (3/4)
Team 2:
Sleeve- 11 points (5/6)
White Shirt- 4 points (2/2)
Jersey- 6 points (2/3)