Page 4 of Making It Count
“Damn,” Shay said when she slapped her hand again.
Layne looked over at the bench again, where Martin was standing, ready to go back in, but Coach was pointing to a seat on the bench. Layne was staying in; at least, for another play anyway.
She stayed in longer than that, though, and when the fourth quarter began, she was back on the court. Martin was sitting on the bench next to the assistant coach, holding a towel, ready to go back in the instant Coach told her to, but Layne was playing well. Her speed, combined with Shay’s, meant that Seventeen and the player guarding Shay had a hard time keeping up with them.
Shay scored. Hilton scored. Shay scored again. It went on like that for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, and with only five minutes left in the game, Dunbar was pulling away and was up by seven, with Layne at the line. Free throws hadn’t ever been her thing, but she made one out of two and, somehow, got the rebound on her second missed shot, passed it to Shay, who gave it to Michaels, who scored. They were up by nine with only four minutes to go. The other team called a time-out, and Layne jogged with her teammates over to the bench.
“Layne, take a seat. I want to get you a quick breather in case we need you in the last few minutes,” Coach said.
“Okay,” she replied and took the bottle of water she was passed.
She was a little winded. She didn’t normally play this many minutes, so Coach was right to take her out. She just hoped she got a chance to go back in and finish the game. She took her spot on the bench and wiped her face with a towel as the game continued with Martin back on the court.
“You killed it,” Lisa told her and slapped Layne’s knee.
“Thanks,” Layne replied and returned her attention to the game.
The other team scored once. Then, they hit a three, which meant Dunbar was only up by four now.
“Layne!”
Layne jumped up, feeling useful for maybe the first time since she’d joined this team four years ago, and checked herself back into the game. Martin slapped her hand on the way out but didn’t look happy about it. Layne went back to guarding Seventeen, needing to hold her to no points for the rest of the game.
With just thirty seconds left in the game, Dunbar was three points up and close to moving on in the single-elimination tournament. Shay scored with twenty-eight seconds left. Then, Seventeen took the ball up the court, and Layne, who only had one foul on her, played aggressively, trying to prevent her from making an easy pass.
At eighteen seconds, one of their forwards made a quick two. Shay inbounded to Layne, who threw the ball across the half-court to Hilton, who dribbled around with it before getting it to Jameson. Jameson then passed it to Michaels, and with only seven seconds left, Michaels was fouled. Layne stood at the center circle next to Shay and looked around the stadium. They were going to win, and she’d gotten a chance to be a part of it.
When the buzzer finally sounded, they shook the hands of the other players and had a mini celebration on the court before they hurried to the locker room to continue it. Layne sat in her chair and tried to catch her breath. She hadn’t played that hard in a long time.
“All right, this was a team win,” Coach said when she walked in with the rest of the staff. “Great play off the bench, strong on the boards, good shooting. You should all be proud of yourselves. But that’s one win. We’ve still got to win two more. So, rest up tonight. I want everyone to take it easy tomorrow. Light workouts. Good meals and hydration. Understood?”
“Yes, Coach,” they all said.
“Martin, you’re with the trainers,” Coach added.
“Yeah, I know,” Martin replied.
“Think she’s okay?” Lisa asked.
Layne turned her head, expecting Lisa to be talking to someone else, but she was actually looking at her.
“I don’t know. I hope so.”
“I don’t know… You played pretty well tonight,” Lisa said with a smile. “Where did that come from?”
Layne didn’t respond because she didn’t know how to, so she just smiled back and pulled out her clothes to change.
CHAPTER 3
“We have a curfew,” Shay said.
“I know. But we also have to celebrate,” Michaels replied and handed Shay a bottle of water. “Come on. We’re not drinking; we’re just hanging out.”
“We’re not even supposed to do that.”
“Coach said to celebrate,” Jameson pointed out and sat down on one of the two queen beds next to Shay.
They were in Hilton and Jameson’s hotel room. They’d just won the first game of the conference tournament, meaning they’d already gone further than any of the other Dunbar teams. There was something in that for Shay. She liked to be the first to do something, the best to do it, or the one to break records. It was one of the reasons why she’d chosen Dunbar: she’d had the best chance to do all of that. The only problem was that she’d expected them to be better than they were when she’d arrived on campus as a freshman.