The end of the second quarter truly changed the flow of the ga.
Hugo did most of the score in the second quarter, but when the professional players focused on him, the other mbers ca in to display their play and scored so more.
Ending the second half of the ga with only 18 gap points wasn’t bad. It might still be huge, but the first score Hugo made brought this bubble of hope into the team’s heart. His next point, and the next point that followed several seconds later, completely revived the team’s fighting spirit. It didn’t take long for them to play in sync.
"Isn’t it strange?" Ginnie muttered, her interest was piqued watching this ga unfold. "It feels like four versus one."
Penny’s brows twitched, knowing the missing one in the five was Atlas. At this point, it did feel that way. Atlas barely had any contribution to the ga because Hugo was taking all the spotlights.
"Penny, your second brother is amazing," Lily tilted her head over Ginnie, looking at Penny in awe. "This is the first ti I’m watching them play, but wow... I think I want to sign up for the basketball team fan club."
Ginnie and Penny chuckled.
"You can’t do that when you’re the president and spokesperson of Penny’s fan club," said Ginnie, but deep in her heart, she also seed to have fallen in love with this ga.
Setting their attention to the ga, they could feel the tension from both teams. There was also excitent and nervousness in the crowd, sharing the fighting spirit for their chosen team. Even though the crowd wasn’t playing themselves, they were just as emotionally involved.
"You’re right, Ginnie," Penny suddenly spoke after a mont. "I don’t feel that the professionals were actually playing. They feel like they were just... stand-ins."
Ginnie looked at Penny. "I thought I was the only one who noticed. Isn’t that weird? Weren’t they here to help Max win the ga?"
Penny shrugged and both of them shifted their attention to the court once more.
All scores from Max’s team were from Max himself. His teammates — the professional players from the minor league — always passed the ball to him. Although they were still running and blocking their opponents, it didn’t seem like they were playing very seriously.
"Was it because they think they’d look like big bullies?" Lily blurted out, rubbing her chin. "It’s possible."
Her friends, who cast her a look, rocked their heads.
BUZZ!!!!
And with that, the third quarter ended.
Looking at the score, Max’s team was still leading by seven points. Still, it was smaller than the first and second quarters.
The school basketball team exchanged high-fives as they approached the bench. Drinking just the right amounts of water and wiping their sweat, they surrounded Charles on the bench.
"Great! Just seven points!" Charles cheered, hope and excitent swirling in his eyes. "You guys are doing great!"
The team was panting, and a bit exhausted, but they appreciated Charles’s remarks more than earlier. They stayed quiet to catch their breaths, but still kept their focus on whatever Charles and the captain were telling them about their strategy for their last quarter.
"Keep up what you’re doing," said Charles. "Don’t ever let Max get the ball since he always scores whenever he touches the ball..."
Charles explained aloud since the crowd had gone wild right after the end of the third quarter until now.
anwhile, on the other team, Max couldn’t help but express his dismay.
"Are you all serious?!" His voice was so loud it disrupted the eting from the other bench. "You already see them blocking at every turn, and you still want to pass the ball to ?! Couldn’t you see Hugo is in the zone and kept stealing the ball from you!?"
Charles and the basketball team couldn’t help but turn to Max. They didn’t an to eavesdrop, but despite the crowd’s chanting and cheering, Max’s voice was so loud and clear around their vicinity.
"If you can’t, I told you to block their ace! Yet, you keep letting him off! Seriously! Are you here as my team or my enemy as well?!" he panted, his face red in anger. "All this ti, I’ve been doing the scores!"
Seeing how he was acting and talking to these people put a frown on the other team’s faces. Even Charles was displeased at this boy’s attitude. But unlike the other team’s displeasure at how Max was treating his teammates, his teammates were unfazed.
"Why are you angry?" one of the professional players asked curiously. "Didn’t you tell us that we didn’t need to do anything and you simply need to fill the team?"
"You told us we didn’t need to score because you want to prove to your team you can beat them on your own."
The other one chuckled. "We’re just doing what you asked us to do, and what we promised to do."
"You told us you can beat an entire basketball team on your own. If you think that’s basketball, then go on. We already filled in the empty spots for you, kid."
"We’re already doing more than we promised to do since the ga is quite fun. Their ace player really has a great play style," another one comnted again, making the other person beside him laugh. "You tell you were being serious earlier on that kid, did you?"
"I wasn’t —"
"Hahaha! Dude. You’re being serious, but even so, he slipped through your defense."
"Hey, you should be ashad of yourselves. Those kids are very enthusiastic, and it’s only proper to return their enthusiasm by playing properly. We might’ve agreed not to score, but defend like it’s the championship. That’s called respect."
The four professional players engaged in casual conversation, laughing and teasing, ignoring Max completely. Max ground his teeth and hissed, slumping in his spot to cool his head a bit since there was only one last quarter and he had to either widen the gap or make sure they wouldn’t score anymore.
The school basketball team, on the other hand, understood why the opposing team was playing that way. They were relieved to hear that they didn’t co here just to bully aspiring athletes.
All of them looked at each other, fire in their eyes.
"The last quarter is ours!" Charles gathered the team, their arms over each other’s backs as they made a circle. "The last quarter is ours! Say it loud! Go!"
"The last quarter is ours!
WHISTLES!
And just like that, the fourth quarter started.
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