Technical Foul (6 page)

“This is one tough league,” Jared said. “No such thing as an easy game.”

“You wouldn’t want it any other way, would you?” Dad asked. “You always want to be testing yourself. That’s how you get better.”

“Yeah,” Jared said. “I know.”

Dad turned the car into the restaurant parking lot. For once, Jared was getting a little tired of talking about basketball. “How’s work going, Mom?” he asked.

Mom turned back with a surprised smile. “You’ve never asked me about work in your life,” she said. “It’s fine.” She raised her eyebrows. “What makes you ask?”

“Just changing the subject,” Jared said. “Sometimes a guy thinks about things other than sports, you know?”

“Sometimes,” Mom answered. “That just hasn’t been the case with you.”

Jared nodded and grinned. “This has been a tough season. About time I took a break, at least for one evening.”

 

At home, Jared climbed the stairs to his room and took out his guitar. He’d started playing late last winter, and by spring the instructor had asked him to take part in a recital at the community center. Jared had only advanced enough to pluck out a simple version of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” at the recital, but by summer he was playing acceptable versions of some rock songs.

Jared began strumming. He was rusty, but it came back quickly. Despite a few mistakes, he hadn’t lost much skill since summer.

After a while there was a knock on his door, and Dad stuck his head in. “Haven’t heard that in a long time,” he said.

Jared stopped strumming. “Just jamming a little,” he said. “It’s relaxing.”

“You ready to get back into it, Jag?”

Jared shrugged. “Soon. After basketball season. I can only concentrate on one big thing at a time.”

“That’s understandable,” Dad said. “If you’re going to do something, do it right.”

“That’s what I figure,” Jared said. He strummed a couple of chords. “One thing at a time. One direction.”

T
he Hudson City gym was packed this time. A win would move the Hornets into a tie for second place, but a loss could jeopardize their chances to make the playoffs.

Palisades was clearly psyched up for the game, with the players smacking each other’s backs and shouting enthusiastically as they shot layups down at their basket. They wanted to avenge that first loss to Hudson City. A lot of Palisades fans had made the trip. They’d even brought along their pep band, which was blaring the theme from
Rocky
.

“Thought this was a
home
game,” Spencer said to Jared as they stretched on the side of the court. “I think they’ve got more people here than we do.”

“Just block it out, like we always do,” Jared said. “We’ve got fans here.” He looked up at the bleachers. “Some.”

“I’m kidding,” Spencer said. “Besides, we kicked their butts in their own gym last time. No way they beat us in ours.”

“No way,” Jared said. But he did feel uneasy when he glanced back at the Palisades players. They were energized. They were definitely not intimidated one bit by being the visiting team, or by the fact that they’d lost to Hudson City already. They looked like a team on a mission.

“Huddle up!” called Coach Davis, and the players trotted to the bench. Coach was much more in command these days. The winning streak had boosted his confidence as much as the players’. And he had learned a lot, being smart enough to listen to team leaders like Spencer and Fiorelli, but wise enough to know when they were wrong.

“Remember to run on these guys,” Coach said. “Our fast break ran them ragged last time, fellas. Let’s do it again.”

But it was clear from the start that Palisades was determined not to let that happen. With the score tied early on, Jared grabbed a defensive rebound and quickly hit Spencer with an outlet pass. Jared then ran hard downcourt, eluding the Palisades center, who did not have the speed to stay with him.

“Right here!” Jared said as he crossed midcourt and headed into the key. Spencer’s bounce pass was right on target, but Jared never got to it. Leon Johnson, the Palisades’ point guard, stepped in front and stole the ball. He took two quick dribbles and threw a long pass to their center, who was wide open in the backcourt. He easily dribbled in and scored.

The second fast-break opportunity came a few minutes later, when the Palisades center missed a shot and Jared hauled in the rebound. Again he found Spencer with the pass, and again he raced toward the opposite basket.

But this time the pass didn’t come. Spencer pulled back when he saw that Jared was tightly covered by Johnson. Instead, he dribbled out beyond the three-point line and eventually passed to Fiorelli.

By then, Palisades had all five players back on defense.

At the break between the first and second quarters, Coach Davis pointed out what had happened. “They’re matching up differently when we try to run,” he said. “They’re trying to buy time until their center gets down there to play defense, so they’ve got their quickest player shadowing Jared. But somebody has to be open, right? Who’s being left alone?”

Ryan Grimes said, “Usually me.” Ryan wasn’t much of a scorer, but he was one of the team’s best defensive players.

“See, they learned something from that last game,” Coach said. “They’re making sure not to leave our scorers open on the break. So look for the open man. Ryan, if no one’s on you, get into the key. You may get a couple of easy baskets. Then they’ll have to adjust. If we keep running on ’em, there’ll usually be at least one man open.”

Palisades went on a hot-shooting tear in the second quarter, so Hudson City had few opportunities to utilize the fast break. By halftime Palisades had built a 27–20 lead.

“We’ve got to try something different,” Spencer said. “They’re nailing three-pointers. So can we. A couple of treys and we’re back in it.”

“That’s not our game,” Jared said. “We run. We hammer the ball inside. Stick to that and we’ll break these guys down, just like last time.”

“We’ll see,” Spencer said.

Spencer did come out gunning in the second half, but the strategy didn’t work. Spencer hit only one three-pointer in the third quarter and missed four of them. The Palisades’ lead grew to double digits.

Jared grabbed Spencer’s arm during a time-out. “We’re totally out of our game,” he said. “We’re a team, remember? No heroes?”

Spencer nodded. “I was just trying to get us back into it,” he said.

The fourth quarter went better, but the lead was too much to overcome. Spencer started feeding the ball inside, and Jared scored readily from close range. Hudson City cut into the lead, whittling it down to four points in the final minute. But a clutch three-point shot by Leon Johnson sealed the game for Palisades.

“Man, we should have won,” Fiorelli said in the somber locker room after.

“We have to stick to our game,” Jared said. “They stopped us from running, but that isn’t all we’re about. If the fast break doesn’t work, we have to get the ball inside. We lost our heads in the second half and dug a hole. When we finally got back to our game, we at least made it close.”

“We just ran out of time,” Coach Davis said. “I think we learned that we can beat that team in more ways than one. And we may see them again in the playoffs.”

Jared walked across the room and took a seat on the bench next to Spencer. “You okay?” he said to Spencer, who was staring glumly into his locker.

Spencer shrugged. “I blew that one, man. I panicked. When they built that lead, I kept trying to make some big statement. Score some points in a hurry. If I’d just been patient, we would have been all right.”

“Listen, you’ve been a big reason why we went on that winning streak,” Jared said. “As long as we learned something today, then we’ll be fine. I’ve got a feeling we’ll see these guys again.”

Spencer nodded and tossed one of his sneakers into the locker. “I hate losing,” he said. “Especially when I know we should have won.”

H
udson City defeated Emerson in the final regular season game, clinching a spot in the playoffs. The Hornets would meet South Bergen in the first game of a Saturday-afternoon playoff doubleheader at Palisades, with the home team taking on Memorial in the second game. The winners would meet Monday night at Palisades to decide the title.

Ironically, each of the four teams in the playoffs had one loss and one win against each of the others. There was no telling who would emerge as the champion.

Friday’s practice was easy, with the Hornets running some basic passing and shooting drills and then scrimmaging lightly for about half an hour. As they left the court, Spencer fell in step with Jared.

“Got a few people coming over tonight,” Spencer said. “Just to hang out, maybe shoot some pool in the basement. You up for it?”

“Definitely,” Jared said.

“I figure we should stick together tonight,” Spencer said. “Minimize the distractions, you know? Keep the focus right where it should be. On the team.”

“Yeah. Should I bring anything?”

“I don’t know. You could pick up some pretzels or chips if you want. My mom’s making sandwiches and cake. We’ll have plenty of food.”

“Sounds great, Spence. I’ll be there.”

 

The night was cold, but Jared felt warm as he walked along the Boulevard toward Spencer’s house. Most of the stores were closed at this hour, but the small restaurants and pizza places were open. Jared wasn’t much of a night guy; he spent most evenings at home with his parents. Getting invited to Spencer’s had been a nice surprise.

Jared reached St. Joseph’s Church at Ninth Street and crossed over to the small grocery store on the corner. He walked down the fruit-and-vegetable aisle toward the back of the store. There was a big variety of chips and other snacks on the shelves back there. Jared picked up a large bag of barbecue potato chips and shook it gently to make sure it was full. Then he felt a poke in the back.

“What are you doing here?” Jared asked when he turned and saw Fiorelli’s signature grin.

“Getting some soda,” Fiorelli said. “You headed to Spence’s place?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah. Didn’t want to show up empty-handed.”

“Me, either,” Jared said.

They paid for the snacks and headed out together. Spencer’s house was just a couple of blocks away.

“Big one tomorrow,” Fiorelli said as they walked along.

“No kidding,” Jared said. “Everybody says the playoffs are different. More intense and pressurized.”

“Seems to be true,” Fiorelli said. “Hard to tell in this town. Hasn’t been much playoff excitement around here for a long time.”

Spencer’s mother answered the door. “Hello Jason,” she said, smiling at Fiorelli. “Hello,” she said to Jared.

“Hi, Mrs. Lewis. I’m Jared.”

Jared stuck out his hand and she took it in both of hers. “Oh, yes,” she said. “Spencer’s mentioned you a lot. Come on in, boys. The others are downstairs.”

The other three starters and a couple of subs were there. All were sixth graders. The cellar was small and crowded, but somehow they’d managed to fit in a pool table. A game was under way, and music was playing from a portable CD player.

“Welcome, gentlemen,” Spencer said as Jared and Fiorelli came down the stairs. “One rule: no basketball talk tonight. We need to relax. We’ll have all morning to get psyched for the game. Tonight we avoid the pressure.”

“Good deal,” Jared said.

“Fine by me,” added Fiorelli.

“All right,” Spencer said, chalking up his cue. “You two are up next against me and Willie. As soon as we finish this one off.”

“Black against white?” Fiorelli said, faking surprise.

“Hey, that’s the way of the world,” Spencer said, smiling. “It’s all equal on the billiards table. Basketball court, too.”

Fiorelli grinned and nodded. “I hear you. No basketball talk, though, remember?”

“Okay,” Spencer said. “New subject. Somebody told me Amanda asked you out yesterday.”

Fiorelli blushed and rolled his eyes. “It’s like this, Spence,” he said. Then he hesitated. It was no secret that a lot of girls had crushes on Fiorelli, with his all-American-boy good looks and sense of humor. As of yet, he hadn’t made any kind of move, however.

“Like
what
?” Spencer asked slyly.

“She comes up to me after the Emerson game, and she’s like all friendly and everything, like ‘Oh, you played great.’ And I’m like, ‘Thanks, I know,’ even though I had, like, my worst game in a month. And she’s going, ‘We should go celebrate. I’ll buy you some pizza.’ And I’m like, ‘My mom’s making spaghetti. I’m already late.’ So she acts all disappointed, and she’s rubbing my arm and going, ‘How about tomorrow night?’ ”

“Tonight?” Spencer said. “So what are you doing
here
, my man? She’s cute.”

“Oh,
man
,” Fiorelli said. “I told her I had plans. You know, to come over here. So she goes, ‘Is Spencer having a party?’ And I go, ‘Yeah.’ But then I go, ‘No. No. It ain’t a party really. Just guys from the team.’ And she’s like, ‘What fun will that be? Just guys?’ ”

“So what are you saying?” Spencer asked. “She’s coming here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. But she wouldn’t come alone. She’d bring other girls.”

“Well, if they show up, they’ll have to squeeze in here with the rest of us,” Spencer said. “The maximum capacity of this cellar is about six people, and we’re over the limit now.”

Jared was hoping the girls wouldn’t show up. He’d been looking forward to a fun evening with the team. Girls would only complicate matters. And, unlike Fiorelli and Spencer, he had no idea how to talk to girls anyway.

Spencer and Willie won the first game of eight ball, then Jared and Fiorelli beat Ryan Grimes and Louie Gonzalez. Spencer’s mom opened the cellar door and called down, “Spencer. More visitors.”