Victory...

Psh, you thought that you had heard the sports stories of incredible odds... Just wait to you hear this one...

Fitz looked up at the scoreboard. 29 to 9. They had lost. But it didn’t matter to her. She was proud of her team.

The team had been formed on short notice. The board announced that there was to be a scrimmage with another private school – playing their varsity team - in a week or so. A draft quickly began. The board had accepted the challenge without really considering whether or not the kids would be interested or willing to play. So kids were coerced into playing, having had their arms twisted by various adults.

Fitz hadn’t played basketball in over two years and even then she had been on a team for one day. (she had quit because of the scariness of the boys… she had been the only girl…) So when she was drafted because of her height, she was rather bitter. But finally she decided that it would be the best thing for the school – school spirit and all that – so she finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. The final count for the teams were 7 for the boys’ and 7 for the girls’. 7 against 20.

The teams – the boys’ and the girls’ – were finally formed on Tuesday. Practices were announced to be on Wednesday and Thursday and the game would be on Friday.

Fitz missed the first practice, as did many of the girls. So when Thursday rolled around, most of them were learning how to play basketball for the very first time – Fitz included. Practice lasted for two hours. Two hours to learn how to beat the varsity team.

Uniforms were ordered, but they were to arrive on Friday at 5 p.m. It was thought that the game would be at 6:30, but then it was moved to 4. But the printers came through and they delivered the uniforms at 1.

Friday arrived. A pep rally was held, with food and karaoke as well (the karaoke was bad… most of the boys can’t sing at all… the entire school laughed a lot)

The teams reached the gym of the other school. The girls’ game was to be first. There was a great deal of anxiety as they practiced. Most of the girls were horrible shots – they had only learned the night before.

When the game began, the team was timid. When breaks were called, the coach was teaching them how to play. They were learning by total immersion.

The first quarter ended 18 to 0. It looked hopeless. Half-time was 20 to 0. But by the third quarter, the team began to understand how it was done. Their defense became formidable. The other team’s scoring slowed. Fitz’s teammate Brownie was short, but fierce. She scored the first point. Bammi, another on Fitz’s team, began to score. The score rose. Fitz even scored a basket, despite her hopeless shooting ability.

Then Bammi fell. Her ankle seemed shot. The team feared that she had broken it. But then the news came that she was fine. The ankle was sprained. Bammi was out for the game but the bones were whole.

Fitz’s teams’ subs came only when a player was desperate. There were only two players to spare at any one time. The other team could switch out their entire team whenever they wanted.

Heather was the fantastic dribbler. Anna played defense. Megan was all over the other players. Michelle played nearly all of the game. They were learning how to play as they went. The coach would call a timeout whenever possible to show them a technique. They were getting it.

Final score: 29 to 9. But the team didn’t care. They had come from 20 to 0 at halftime to 29 to 9. They still lost by 20 points, but they blocked the 70 or more other shots that the other team had taken. They felt as though they had won.

The boys’ game was more aggressive, but the girls were too excited by their victory to care that the boys ended up losing. The school had put up a challenge to the other teams. They had made a dramatic entrance. With only 7 players on each team against 20, two days of practice (1 day for most of the girls) and little to no experience, they never gave up. It was a victory for them.