The first quarter ends and the Warriors players who are on the floor huddle towards their coach. But Kyle Aguas in particular, is toast.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, AGUAS!?,” says Coach Perez. “YOU ARE NOT A THREE-POINT SHOOTER!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?”
Kyle is silent but his face is marked with indignation, kind of smug.
“You will not play for the second quarter. If you will do something stupid again, I will not let you play the entire game.”
Kyle just sits on a bench a distance away from Mark.
“I can’t believe Kyle did that. He didn’t even pass the ball to Fred,” says Kevin.
“Yeah. Berjame was open for a layup. Cesar set him a good screen and gave him an open lane,” says Mark.
“He has no grudge against Cesar alright, but he sure hates his teammates,” says Justin with Kevin laughing when Mark elbows him. “Ow! Whadido?”
“Don’t ridicule a man like that, it’s disrespectful,” says Mark.
“Oh, come on, Mark. That was funny,” says Kevin.
“Ah, just because. I don’t like it.”
Kevin and Justin just look at each other and giggle in their seats because of him while he shakes his head with a smile of amusement.
The second quarter starts and Mark observes the game attentively.
“I can’t wait to be on the floor,” says Mark.
“Me too,” says Kevin and Justin.
“Justin, make plays for Kevin. Then when the defense slackens to the paint, make some plays for me. I’ll sure rain missiles on them. I can’t believe the best team would be so powerless now that we have Kevin.”
“Sure thing, I’ll do it. Kevin is a threat but don’t forget you too are a threat. They can’t deal with a tree and an intercontinental ballistic missile all at the same time.”
Mark and Kevin laugh.
“That’s a good one, Justin,” says Kevin.
“Thank you, Justin,” says Mark.
Some time passes by in the game when Coach Perez subs Mark, Justin, Kevin, and Caballero in.
“Finally,” says Mark.
Maaravi Warriors 56:64 VCF Lions
6:43
2nd Quarter
It’s Lions ball. But before they could inbound, Cesar huddles with his teammates momentarily and speaks to them.
“They gave us a hard time before y’all could be subbed in. Now, we will give them a hard time in return. Got it, Warriors?”
“Got it, master!” is his teammates’ reply.
Ortega handles the ball towards their side of the court.
Ortega dribbles towards the wing where Velazquez is, handoffs the ball to him, and gives him a screen.
Mark observes this and thinks, ‘Ok. After this screen, he’ll pass it to their center and use the screen of the power forward to create for him an open shot.’
Mark goes around the screen and then sees Velazquez in his shooting form.
‘Oh, no you don’t,” Mark tries to close in and contest the shot, but… he gets too close.
Velazquez scores a bank shot off a three with a foul.
“WHAT!!?? Come on!” says Mark.
Maaravi Warriors 56:67 VCF Lions
6:36
2nd Quarter
Cesar approaches Mark and says, “That’s ok, Mark. Don’t worry about it.”
“I can’t believe I got too close.”
“Just raise your hand and jump. Don’t jump towards him so that you can’t foul him, just give him a contest.”
“Ok, master.”
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The referee gives Velazquez the ball for a free throw. Velazquez dribbles the ball two times and aims at the rim. He shoots and a score.
Maaravi Warriors 56:68 VCF Lions
6:36
2nd Quarter
Cesar shouts at Mark, “Mark! Do your thing!”
Mark gives him a thumbs up.
Cesar also shouts at Kevin and Caballero, “You two switch in this play.”
They nod at him.
Kevin inbounds the ball to Justin and they jog across the court. Justin dribbles to the wing and looks at Mark. Mark cuts along the baseline then suddenly halts, leaving Velazquez off his trail. He then cuts high and uses the screens of Caballero and Kevin.
Reaching at the top, Mark receives a pass from Justin and shoots. The ball descends in a crisp friction of rubber and polyester.
The Splash strikes back.
Maaravi Warriors 59:68 VCF Lions
6:25
2nd Quarter
Ortega handles the ball to their side of the court.
Ortega dribbles to the wing where Velazquez is and handoffs the ball to him. Mark goes around the screen quickly and recovers when Velazquez again is about to shoot. Mark jumps to contest the shot only for Velazquez to dribble past him and shoot a mid-range jumper. It counts as a score.
Maaravi Warriors 59:70 VCF Lions
6:15
2nd Quarter
‘I can’t believe I fell for that,’ Mark thinks.
Kevin inbounds the ball to Justin and the both of them jog across the court.
Justin dribbles to the wing and Mark goes to the rim along the baseline then cuts to the top while using the screens of the big men. Before he could go to the top Cesar cuts along the baseline when his defender slept on him and Justin lobs it to him high. Cesar catches the ball and brings it home with a two-handed slam.
Maaravi Warriors 61:70 VCF Lions
6:05
2nd Quarter
It’s Lions ball and Ortega handles it to their side of the court with their center alongside him.
Ortega goes to the wing while the center stays at the slot just a distance from the top. The action begins; their center sprints towards Ortega as he handoffs the ball to him and gives him a screen. Ortega then goes around their power forward and towards the rim with Justin falling behind. The center passes the ball to Ortega and he lays it up. But before the ball could descend to the rim, Kevin blocks it, bouncing it to the board.
Kevin gets his own rebound and he sprints with the ball for the fastbreak. The opposing power forward is in front of him but he just dribbles behind the back and gets past him. He’s like the speed of a bullet when he reaches the paint with the opposing center in the paint preparing for impact.
Kevin jumps high into the sky and the opposing center raises his hands high. But Kevin doesn’t mind this as he goes higher than his defender and gives him a sweet sweet jam.
Maaravi Warriors 63:70 VCF Lions
5:48
2nd Quarter
The jam of Kevin results in the crowd’s oooh’s when the Lions timeouts.
The Warriors lineup runs up to him and celebrates with him. Kevin flexes his arms down and says things.
“YEAH, THIS IS WHAT I’M BORN FOR! YOU CAN’T BLOCK ME!
“DEMOLISH YOUR SCHOOL BECAUSE I’M GONNA BRING IT DOWN!”
While they hype him up, Mark thinks, “Wow, I can’t believe Kevin is this intense. At least I now know what he’s made of… sheer guts.”
The Warriors lineup sits down on the bench while others stand up for them, huddling to their coach.
“Good transition, Rebias. Perfect cut to the basket, Owens. Now, fellas. This is what I want to see. Take advantage of every possession you will have; you can’t waste it or the gap of the scores widen.”
“Understood, coach,” is their reply.
After the timeout, the Warriors defense is very strong now that Kevin is on the floor, limiting their offense to Velazquez’s threes. Velazquez is the only one shooting but no one can stop his barrage of threes, and neither is Mark. Velazquez subs out with four minutes on the clock and Mark is unstoppable. Ortega also subs out for Benigay.
Maaravi Warriors 88:92 VCF Lions
0:41
2nd Quarter
Cesar gets a steal and leads the fastbreak, he’s so fast that he can sleep on the court for a minute and then proceed with the fastbreak.
Cesar hops high to the sky and windmills and, with his back to the basket, he jams it with honey coupled with tea. Splendid.
Maaravi Warriors 90:92 VCF Lions
0:36
2nd Quarter
Benigay sprints across the court while handling the ball.
Benigay positions himself left of the slot when their power forward cuts up to the right of the top. Benigay passes the ball to their power forward and cuts low just inside the paint, giving their center a screen. Their power forward immediately passes the ball to their open center who hooks it to the basket. It scores.
Maaravi Warriors 90:94 VCF Lions
0:29
2nd Quarter
Cesar now carries the ball for Justin. He calls out a play to them while handling the ball and instructs the big men to switch in it. In this play, Mark should be the two but he’s now three to fill in Cesar’s position. Cesar tells Mark and Justin to adjust to the play while they’re in their new positions. Now, Cesar springs his attack.
He dribbles to the wing with a defender shorter than him but sturdy. He finds Justin at the top and passes the ball to him. Justin now carries the ball with his defender off his trail but nobody’s guarding him.
‘I can’t shoot, I’m not a three-point shooter,’ Justin thinks.
But just as he’s about to decide something, Cesar cuts past his defender. Justin passes the ball to Cesar. When Cesar had cut straight to the rim, Mark’s defender sags off him and helps the defense against Cesar. Cesar knows this would happen and passes the ball to Mark.
Cesar already raises a hand with three fingers up and says, “The Splash! For three!!”
Mark jumps and with a quick release, the ball soars high. The ball descends as stated in the second law of thermodynamics for a score.
Maaravi Warriors 93:94 VCF Lions
0:16
2nd Quarter
Benigay sprints across the court with Cesar guarding him. He handles the pressure well; of course, he’s a Lions player.
Benigay positions himself left of the slot when their power forward cuts just right to the top.
“Lerio! You know what to do! Stab!” says Benigay.
He passes the ball to Lerio and goes low to screen for their center. Lerio can’t pass it to the center because Caballero covers well the passing lane. So he passes the ball to Benigay and cuts towards the rim with their small forward waiting for him to be screened. Lerio uses the screen and receives a pass.
He jumps for a slam but he doesn’t notice that Kevin caught up to him after the screen. Kevin’s hand looms over the ball and Lerio forces the ball for a jam but to no avail. Kevin hooks back the ball with his hand and the buzzer beats.
Maaravi Warriors 93:94 VCF Lions
0:00
End of 2nd Quarter