Rebound: A 2nd Chance

It was finally Friday. Jason sat on the bench as he tied his hair up into a small bun before putting on his white headband. Then he looked out into the bleachers.

There weren\'t a ton of people there to watch the game. The bleachers were half-filled allowing Jason to find his parents with relative ease.

Jason then looked at the away section. The bleachers on that side were even emptier. It looked like the only ones who showed up were probably the parents of the players from Cider Grove.

It was almost time for the game to start. Jason turned and smiled at Kyle \'He looks a lot less nervous compared to the first game.\'

He patted Kyle on the back "You ready?" Kyle nodded his head before smiling "You know what? I don\'t feel nervous at all. In fact I kind of feel excited."

Jason was surprised but happy to hear that. He laughed before standing up from the bench "Let\'s go out there and kick some ass."

Coach Swendel sent out Jason at PG, Matt at SG, Trell at SF, Udonis at PF, and Kyle at C. They all walked out on to the court and shook hands with the opposing team before getting into position to start the game.

Cider Grove\'s Center was about the same height as Udonis. The height advantage combined with Kyle\'s athletecism allowed him to easily win the jump ball.

Jason brought the ball up court as he scanned the floor \'Looks like Cider Grove is using the same zone defense as Mt. Vernon. First things first I\'ll have to teach them to respect my jumper.\'

Jason started the game off the same as last time as he nailed a quick three-pointer just a few seconds in.

The coach for Cider Grove was surprised but he tried his best not to show it as he quickly began to instruct the team on offense.

Unfortunately for them as they were in the middle of running one of their plays Jason saw an opportunity and stole the ball from one of their big men as he double-teamed him with Udonis.

Jason started pushing the ball down the court for the fast break. As he was running he smiled as he saw Trell speeding down the hardwood.

He tossed the ball ahead to Trell who caught it and continued to run toward the basket. After getting into the paint he timed his steps and slammed the ball in with his right hand for the statue of liberty dunk.

Trell pointed to Jason to acknowledge the assist. The two of them made their way back on defense. It had been less than a minute and the score was already 5-0.

Jason did his usual thing and orchestrated their defense. With Jason\'s focused gaze scanning the floor and directing the rest of the team they were able to hold Cider Grove scoreless.

After three minutes had passed Coach Swendel called for a timeout as he subbed Jason and Trell out for Nick and DJ. At this point the score was already 15-0.

With Jason off the floor they switched their playstyle and began playing more through the post with Udonis.

By running their offense through Udonis in the post they slowed down the tempo of the game dramatically as they played to their strengths.

Udonis had a clear advantage against his defender in the post. And even in the off chance that he would miss his shot Kyle would be there to crash the boards and keep the possession alive.

They switched through their rotation every few minutes. The rest of the team was also in better shape compared to their first game. So the fatigue wasn\'t as bad.

The final score for the game was 64-27. Jefferson completely dominated Cider Grove and Jason didn\'t even have to play that many minutes.

His stats for the night were 24 pts, 8 ast, 3 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk. Udonis was the second biggest contributor with his 14 pts, 3 ast, 7 reb, and 2 blk.

Udonis walked up to Jason and put his arm around him with a huge smile on his face "We stomped em tonight bro! We was on fire tonight!"

Jason laughed "Nah bro. This wasn\'t us on fire. This is our baseline. We gotta show out again on Sunday when we play against Bell View."

- - -

Sunday was Jefferson middle school\'s second game of the season. They had slightly more people in attendance this time around.

Bell View was a slightly below-average team in the county but that meant that they were better than a bottom-feeding team like Cider Grove.

Jason propelled Jefferson\'s offense early by scoring 6 straight points as he sliced his way through their defense and into the paint.

This early penetration caused them to focus on defending the paint which ended up letting Matt and Nick get off on the offensive end.

They both ended the game in double-digit points. While Jason had another great night with 22 pts, 10 ast, 4 reb, 3 stl, and 1 blk.

The final score was 59-36 as Jefferson came out with another dominant display. This time against more challenging competition.

- - -

Tuesday night. Jefferson made their way down to Moreno Valley as they were the away team for the first time this year.

Tonight they were playing against Vista Heights middle school for their third game of the season.

They were ranked slightly higher than Bell View and this season they were in even higher spirits as just like Jefferson they dominated in their first two games.

The home section was packed with parents and students from Vista Heights. Jason\'s mom and dad felt slightly nervous as they sat in the away section.

This was their first time experiencing what it was like to come to a different school as visitors. It also didn\'t help that their own section wasn\'t as packed or as noisy.

Jason\'s dad laughed as he put his arm around his wife "Look at us. Jason would be laughing his butt off if he saw us like this."

Jason\'s mom smiled "You\'re right. He would be having a blast right now. I still don\'t know how Jaya could be so calm.

When we got here he saw the crowd and acted as if it was nothing. I guess he must get that from his dad." She turned her head and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

As they were chatting and joking around a tall lady sat down next to them. They turned their heads and smiled as they saw Kyle\'s mom.

Kyle\'s mom had her arms full of stuff. She had made some noisemakers at home by filling large empty soda bottles with plastic marbles.

She handed them out to some of the parents and students in their section and then gave some to Jason\'s parents.

She smiled at them "Hey Henry hi Naomi, sorry I\'m late. I had a small emergency pop up at work and then I still had to rush home to shower and change out of my scrubs.

Thanks again for giving Kyle a ride. I made these last night so we could make some noise and cheer for the boys." Jason\'s mom smiled before hugging Kyle\'s mom.

"No problem Veronica. I already told Kyle that he should just let us know if he ever needs anything. He\'s practically like Jason\'s brother at this point.

In fact we should be the ones thanking you for having Jason and the rest of the team over at your house so often and feeding them.

Knowing how Jason\'s appetite can get it can\'t be easy to cook that much food." Kyle\'s mom laughed "Jason has a huge appetite but that\'s no problem.

I love to cook anyways. If anything I\'m hoping that my baby picks that up from Jason. I always tell him to eat more because he\'s so skinny.

Especially now since he started playing basketball. I tell you what I just about damn near fainted when I saw my poor baby getting pushed around in the paint last game.

Ever since then I\'ve been puttin gravy on everythang and adding extra helpings of meat to his plate haha."

A couple minutes passed as Jason\'s parent\'s and Kyle\'s mom talked about the team and how exciting it was that they were doing so well so far.

Vista Heights\'s home section went wild as they cheered for the team as they made their way on to the court.

Their cheer team got the home crowd even more pumped upped as they got them to start chanting "Let\'s go Vista let\'s go! Let\'s go Vista let\'s go!"

After that it was Jefferson\'s turn as the team made their way out on to the court. The gym went silent as the team walked down.

The away section had been intimidated by Vista Heights home section\'s thunderous cheering.

But that only lasted a second as Kyle\'s mom jumped to her feet and started yelling at the top of her lungs "Let\'s go Jefferson! We came here to kick some butt!"

She was yelling and shaking her noisemakers all by herself. Shortly after Jason\'s mom and dad stood up and joined her.

The rest of the away section joined in as they cheered for Jefferson middle school. They weren\'t as loud as the home section because of their lack of numbers.

But their passion was just as high. Jason was focused as everyone got into position for the tip-off \'This is going to be a real test for the team.

It\'s time we show that we can dominate on other team\'s courts. We might be in your house but we\'re gonna make you play our game.\'

The referee tossed the ball into the air as the game officially started.