Shoot the Hoops

“Rebound, Alex!”

The ball bounced off the hoop, hitting Alex right on the top of the head. He crashed to the floor, and the crowd moaned.

Coach Winkler ran out onto the floor. Alex’s breathing was very shallow. Coach motioned to the sidelines, and someone called for the paramedics.

Alex was our star player, and this was the championship game. We couldn’t do it without him. Who else could rebound like Alex?

For several minutes we were all frozen as Alex lay stiffly on the floor. The ambulance arrived and put him on a stretcher. Our team was badly shaken, and the coach asked for a quick time out.

“Guys, this is the big game. I know you are all a bit shaken up about Alex. But he would want us to go out there, give it our best, and bring home that trophy. We have gotten this far as a team. I think we can give just a little more and do it for Alex.”

We looked around. Everybody was sober, but we would give it our best shot.

The buzzer rang and we headed back to the floor. 2–2, 10–10, 20–21, the score continued to rise. We fought every basket and always managed to stay dead even with the other team.

At halftime, the score was tied again, 49–49. Coach Winkler gave us his best pep talk and informed us that Alex was cheering for us from his hospital bed. He had a concussion, but would be all right. In our huddle, we put our hands together in the middle and yelled as loudly as we could, “To Alex!”

The score continued to go back and forth. It would just be a matter of which team had the ball in the final seconds. Ten seconds to go. My team gave me the ball. As I dribbled down the court, I could hear Alex whispering in my ear, “Shoot from the center line. You can do it. We’ve practiced this forever.” I aimed and shot the ball out of my hand. It went through the hoop like water rushing through a waterfall.