I was the new kid on the block. No one paid any attention to me. That was all going to change when basketball try-outs started. Running suicides, sprinting the mile, dribbling until my hands bled, and shooting until I couldn't even see the hoop any more. 2 days before tryouts, I met the coach. His name was Coach Barry.

There were finally here, 5 days of intense training, I thought to myself. We had the same type of any school. We had Varsity, JV, and freshmen. I was a freshmen. That following Monday, the coaches posted the teams in the boys locker room. I took a quick glance at it and saw that my name was on 2 of the sheets: Varsity and JV. I went to talk to the coach about it. He told me that he wanted me to be on 2 teams but he could only have me on one. So he told me to choose one. Of course I choose the varsity team.

We had 20 practices until game day. They were all 2-a-days, so really it was only 10 days of practice. There it was, the first game. I got so nervous. After the game was done I wondered why I wasn't sweaty. It was because I didn't play. I thought this was a one time thing. All our games that the team played I didn't play at all. I stared to think of myself as the bench warmer. I was so bummed out. Whenever I touch a ball it didn't feel the same, it was a firey ball of fire because of all the work I put in it. Our next game was a week away and I was thinking about trying to quit, but I stuck through it and didn't quit.

Our record was 20-0. A perfect record, and our game was tomorrow. I didn't practice the night before because I knew I was going to bench it like always. I had always practiced the 3 point shot to win it. I did a fake imitation of the crowd counting down. I would always make it, I was that good.

Before the game, the coach wanted to talk to me. He told me that I was going to be starting at point guard! My mouth, an anchor, dropped to the floor with surprise. After he told me that all I did was practice dribbling and shooting. I didn't want to run any drills because I was trying to get prepared.

The first 2 minutes of the game I was trying to make good plays but all I did was mess up. Coach took me out and all my hopes of being the star of the game sank like the Titanic. Coach put in another point guard that i didn't like. As we reached half-time i didn't feel like shooting around.

People running, to get more points that I lost. I almost fell asleep because I wasn't doing anything. I glanced up at the clock and it had only 5 seconds left. Coach came over and put me in! I was at shooting guard though. I figured out what he wanted me to do... shoot the game winning shot.

I look up at the scoreboard and it said 63-61. We were losing. I felt my hands start to shake. Our team tried to pass it in but they blocked it and I was there to get the ball. I bolted down the court with the ball in my left hand. Right as I reached to the three point line there was .5 seconds left the guy was covering me so tight that i had no chance of getting the ball in the hoop. I heaved it up and hoped that it was going to go in. It didn't and I fell to the ground. All of a sudden I heard a whistle. I had gotten fouled. I was at the line shooting 3 shots.

Time slowed down like the world stopped turning or something. I looked at all the fans. I couldn't see their faces because they didn't want to watch. I stepped to the line and looked at the rim. My teammates came up to me and told me it was okay if I won it or tie it or even lose it. The first shot i want thinking about anything but that ball going in the basketball hoop. I released that ball from my hands and it floated and made a swish sound, my favorite sound ever. The second shot I started to worry because I didn't want to let my team down. When I was shooting it, all I thought about was the crowd and if I missed they would all hate me for missing that shot. This shot, the ball felt heavier, and slipper. After I shot it I didn't look at it i turned at it. Shooting the ball it seemed to slip from my hands. The crowd shouted and that's how i knew it went in. The third was had the most pressure.... I just shot it without any kind of timing or anything. It hit the rim and the other team jumped up and down but then I heard another whistle. They stepped on the line and got a foul. The time was at .5 seconds left because they started the clock when the ball hit the rim. The officials set the clock for another 2 seconds.

We had this play where 2 of our guys are a distraction and one person inbounded the ball and another guy ran down court to get the ball and shoot the last second shot. Then began to run the play and I saw that the person who was supposed to shoot it didn't know what to do because he wasn't paying attention. I knew what I had to do... Try and get the ball and shoot it. After he threw it in I sprinted to it and got it 1.4 seconds left.. I ran to do the lay-up and i made it but I heard another whistle. He said the guy hacked me but I didn't feel it because I was trying to get the points. I didn't notice it at first but now I did I hurt my ankle really bad. I had to go and sit the bench and so our best free throw shooter came to shoot it for our team. The first shot.... it was good. This is what I liked, the constant pressure. I was put in again before he shot it. I saw it go up and i thought it was good, but it ended up being off so we got the rebound and i got the ball. I was at 3 point line and i counted down with the clock.... 1..... I put it up and I couldn't believe my eyes it went it !!!!! After the game I told the coach that I never crack under pressure and he chuckled and said we will see about that next year.