Basketball Nationals
I started off playing basketball on a travel team from Tyler, Texas. At first, I was nervous to play for the team, because I didn’t know anyone. But after a few weeks passed I got use to a few people and, I was more comfortable playing games with them.


So, the first season game came, and we were going against a team called East Texas Heat. They were from Tyler like we were but, we were way better than they were. First quarter we were up by 10 points and we had possession of the ball. Our point guard had the ball and his name was Jay Mose. He shot a three, and it went right in so then we were up by 13.
Halftime came and it was still a blowout, so the team decided to forfeit. So, we were 1-0 in the tournament.
The next team we had to go against was a team from Houston called the Houston Blazers. This team was a little better than the last team we played last game. Tipoff came, and the player that was jumping for us was Klayton Copeland, and he was a 6 foot tall star. His opponent was a 5 foot 10 post so, we ended up getting the tip off and the ball went to our point guard Jay Mose. He took the ball down court and when he got to the three point line he faked the defender out with a fake jumper and passed to a wide open player named Haydin Thomas, he is our shooting guard. When the ball touched his hands he was already set up to shoot the ball.When, he shot it from long range about 5 feet away from the three point line, and it went right in to beat the buzzer. Halftime came and the score was 33-19 we were up. The 3rd quarter came and they started off with possession of the ball. They turned the ball over with a great block from me Darion Peace I was the guard on the team so I played down low in the paint. We took the ball down the court going full speed. Our point guard had it and are big post Klayton Copeland came and got the alley oop from Jay Mose. When he dunked it the whole backboard shattered so they had to end the game so we won that game with a final score of 35-19.
So, we were 2-0 in the tournament moving on to the 3rd round. The next team we were playing were the Longview Lobos they were 2-0 just like we were. Before the game the coach for the team came up to our coach to give us a heads up about a player on their team. The coach said that he likes to talk a lot of smack and fight a lot. Tip off came and the boy that likes to talk a lot jumps for them and Klayton Copeland jumps for us. The ball went in the air and our 6 foot tall post gets the ball to our point guard Jay Mose. He dribbled the ball down the court and he passed the ball to me and I went for the three and it went straight in. So, the point guard for there team was a 5’8 kinda buff dude. He was quick with the ball when he was dribbling our point couldn’t stay with him so I had to guard him cause I had the best defense on the team. At first, I could not hang with him but after a while I got use to him doing the same moves so I started stealing the ball from him. The coach had to call a timeout because, the team was falling apart and the score was 23-2 in the first quarter. Then out of nowhere we heard the boy with the bad temper just start yelling and he walked off the court. The coach walked up to the referees and said their team had to forfeit so we won that game by default.
So, we were 3-0 in the tournament and we were heading to the championship. We were playing the winner out of the Houston Blazers and a team we haven’t got to face in the tournament the Mexia Blackcats. We didn’t get to stay for the game so, when we got back to the gym we had to look at the bracket. When we looked the Mexia Blackcats won so we played them the next day at 3:00. The next day came and the team that we were playing was already there warming up. The coaches and referees came up and started talking and they were talking about having a clean and fair game.
First quarter came and they were up 20-15. We had possession of the ball. Our point guard Jay Mose brought the ball down the court, and soon as he crossed the half-court line they stole it. Point guard from the Mexia Blackcats took the ball to the goal and scored the layup. Furthermore, the score was 22-15 with 1 minute left in the first quarter. Jay Mose brought the ball down and the point guard for the other team wasn’t paying attention so, Jay pulled up at the three and it went straight in with the buzzer going off.
Second quarter came and the score was 22-18 and we had possession of the ball. I brought the ball down this time because, Jay Mose was out. When, I crossed the half-court line they were playing man defense so, I dribbled pass the first defender and dropped the ball off to Klayton Copeland for an easy 2 points. When Mexia brought the ball down their point guard dribbled past our point guard then just threw the ball out of bounds. He was acting like he wanted us to come back so, then after that we took the ball down for an easy three pointer. So, now the score was 22-21 we were down. Mexia’s point guard brought it down again but this time he actually tried to make a play this time when he did we stole the ball and went for an easy 2 points again. Score was now 23-22 and we were finally ahead of them. Second quarter came to an end and we were up in the ball game we had 10 minutes before we had to go back out and start playing again. Our coach was going over our new plays that we just started doing the week before nationals so, we barely knew them. It was this one play called Baylor that I think we could score on every time.
Third quarter came and since they won the tip-off we had possession of the ball. Mexia this quarter came out more lazy than the were the first two quarters. Our point guard Jay Mose brought the ball down the court and he just drove right pass all of the defenders and scored 2 points. Mexias’ coach called a timeout after that play and when they got to their sideline, the coach started yelling at them. When we got to our sideline we were getting high fives left and right. Score was 25-22 with 1 minute left in the first quarter. It was a running clock so once we resumed play the clock never stops running unless, we call a timeout or the ball goes out of bounds. Mexia had the ball they brought it to our defense and our defense were doing good the first few quarters and we were doing even better this quarter. As the time was running out we stole the ball and I had it and shot it half-court and I just missed it before the buzzer.
Fourth quarter came in the nationals tournament in the championship game. We were still up 25-22 but, they got the ball start of the 4th quarter because they won the tip-off. Mexias’ offense were starting to step their game up 4th quarter so, they brought the ball down and hit the three with 5 minutes left in the game. When Jay Mose brought the ball down he dribbled past the first defender that was guarding him and we ran the play Baylor and we got them with it. So, the score was now 27-25 with 3 minutes left in the ball game. Clock never stopped running and they didn’t realize it so it was now 1 minute left in the game and they had the ball. As the clock was going down the were stalling and trying to tie the game up so we can go into overtime. They had 10 seconds left and they dumped it off to the big man and he shot the layup but, Klayton Copeland blocked the shot and time was out.
Now we were the 2017 3A national basketball champions. Our whole team got these plaques and big trophies so, that was the time my basketball team won nationals.