One Great Chapter from:

The New Waterboy

Fourth quarter, three minutes to go. Bradleys team, Crestwood was down by
eleven to their biggest rivals, Kingsville. They had beat Crestwood by only four the last
time they played, with a three in the final seconds to send it into overtime where they
eventually put it away. There was no way Bradley was going to let them win again. He
had the ball, dribbling up the court. He saw Tyler, his power forward, open with nobody
near him. Bradley pulled up at the three point line and then faked everyone out by
making a jump pass to Tyler, who made the layup without even trying.
Down by nine. The crowd was cheering like crazy. Kingsvilles point guard, Jack
took the ball and passed it to his shooting guard who missed the jump shot. Jason, one
of Bradleys best friends grabbed the rebound and made a pass all the way down the
court to Bradley. He pulled up from three and drained it. Down by six with 1:45 left. Now
its a game.
Kingsville ball. Bradley could see that the point guard looked frustrated. When
Bradley was defending him he pushed him a bit which got him upset, he made a bad
pass which went straight to Jason who took it down the court for a layup. Now
Crestwood was only down by four with 1:23 left. Kingsville ball again. Jack takes it up
and passes to Luke, his shooting guard. He drives in and makes the layup. But wait.
The whistle blew. Travel on Kingsville. 1:00 left now and Crest wood is still down four.
Bradley dribbles up a pulls up from three. It was a bad miss, not even hitting the rim but
luckily Aaron the center grabbed the rebound, got fouled and miraculously made the no
look shot. Bradley couldnt believe it! They were only down by two now taking a free
throw. Down by two now but Aaron still needed to make his free throw. Being the
weakest link on this starting lineup, he didnt make many shots and didnt make the free
throw.
There was 44 seconds left in the game. Kingsvilles point guard, Jack found a
lane, drove through and easily made the layup. Down by four again, Crestwood needed
to score. Bradley gave it to Tyler in the post who saw no opportunity to shoot and kicked
it out to Jason the sharpshooter. He hit the menial three, making it look like the easiest
thing in the world. Crestwood was only down by one now with twenty-seven seconds
left Kingsville tried holding the ball the whole time so Crestwood wouldnt get the ball.
But that was not how Bradley planned it to end. With thirteen seconds left on the clock,
Bradley jumped in front of the lazy pass and tipped it forward. It was bouncing out of
bounds now. Bradley dove for the ball and in mid air he twisted his body and somehow
managed to keep it in. The ball went right to Jason who then called a timeout with nine
seconds left. Crestwood got in their huddle.
Coach Randle says, This was one of the hardest fought games that ive seen
yall play. Coach Randle was from the South. He played college ball at Texas A and M
but messed up his knee while playing and never was the same again. So he moved up
to NY and took up coaching. Down by one. Nine seconds left and our ball. Heres the
play. Tyler you come set a pic for Bradleys man and then Bradley, you cut towards the
inbounder who will be Aaron. Aaron, you give it to Bradley and then Bradley
Yes coach?
Win.

Bradley smiled and he knows he was ready

for this moment. Tyler sets the screen perfectly and Bradley gets the pass,
seven seconds left. He sees Jason open but he wants to take it himself. Hes dribbling,
head fakes to the right so hard his defender falls. Crossovers to the left as swift as
anyone could ever be. Spin moves under the basket, goes up for the reverse layup,
gets fouled and CRACK. He landed on his leg. Hard.
He could feel it burning and stinging like it was on fire. The pain was ubiquitous,
not stopping and he felt it everywhere. The roar of the crowd cheering quickly told him
that he made it won but at this point it didnt matter. Bradley, the star of the team had
most likely broken his leg. By now the crowd was silenced and astonished. All he could
do was just lay there and cry. He couldnt even try to stand. He heard the quiet whispers
around the gym, his coach calling an ambulance and his mom saying that everything
will be alright. Bradley closed his eyes. He felt himself being carried on the hard, cold
stretcher and he had so many questions. Did he break it? How long would he be out
for? He didnt want to think. He just closed his eyes and waited for it all to end.
In the infirmary they met the doctor, Dr. Emily Williams who Bradley thought was
really annoying because he treated him like a 1st grader.
The doctor said, So, how did you hurt it.
Playing basketball, Bradley said.
Awww, you poor thing. Bradley rolled his eyes but quickly cringed because it
was still hurting. The doctor gave him pain killers and put his leg in a splint. While
Bradley was resting he heard a knock on the door. He looked up. Jason was at the door,
smiling holding a big bag of Hershey Bars, Bradleys favorite.
Can I come in? Jason said.
No. Who are you? Bradley said with a smile. Jason rolled his eyes and came
in.
Oh, so you can still crack jokes, huh cripple? Jason said. How does the leg
feel?
Still hurts.
Jason sat on the hospital bed and said, How long will you be out for?
Well, if I broke it, Ill be out 6-8 months.
He sighed. Youre going to miss Lacrosse too? Maybe you can use your crutch
to shoot! He started to crack up.
Dont worry, you're not missing anything. Its not like I was any good anyway.
True, true, Jason said with a smile, but how about basketball? Youre one of
best in the grade and if not, THE best!
Well we still got you and Ty
Yea. But what good are me and Tyler without a great point guard to pass it to
us?
Jason interrupted. if you call Brandon who coach said will be backing you up good, you
have something wrong with you. Anyway, you wanna watch the Knick game?
Sure. Be ready though.
Why?
Ill cry every time they jump.
They both smiled and turned the TV on. After 20 minutes, Walt Frazier's eloquent
commentating was interrupted by the nurse opening the door.

Are you Jason? Dr. Williams said.

Yeah. He said.
Your mom says you have to go.
Well, see you later bro. He left and Bradley was alone with the exception of the
doctor who was quietly sorting files behind him.
The doctor finally took Bradleys x-rays. When the pictures came it was clear.
Bradley broke his leg. There was a silence around the room.
No This cant be happening , Bradley said. The tournament is in 1 month! I
cant miss it! But the doctor kept meandering off about how Bradley was lucky it wasnt
worse. The doctor said that if he landed on a different part of his leg he mightve not
been able to play basketball again. Bradley thought, who would lead the team now.
They had Tyler who was good but always fooled around during practice. There was
also Jason who was the next best player on the team but always missed practice
because he was a lacrosse star. Everyone else on their team was not very good. But
his team had practice tomorrow and he would be there. Not to play of course but to
watch from the bench.
They thanked the doctor and left, with Bradley lugging his giant cast along with
him. At home he picked at his food with a melancholy look on his face.