“It’s okay, you boys have had a great season, whatever happens next doesn’t matter.”

I could barely hear my coach over the loud and obnoxious crowd of people. I couldn’t focus on anything. My mind is all over the place I forgot we were in a basketball game. I heard the ref's whistle blow over everything. I looked up at the scoreboard. 55-58. There were 20 seconds left. The ball was handed to my teammate. He threw it at me. My heart was beating faster than the speed of light. I could feel myself shaking. I felt like I was going to lose the ball. My teammate was wide open in the paint. I threw him the ball and he caught it. The defenders were all around him. He shot the ball up into the air. I could see the spin he put on the ball. It hit off the backboard and rolled in. 

“TIMEOUT!!”

My coach screamed and we got the time out. Now we were only down 1. We needed a stop. As I was going into the huddle I could hear my coach talking. My dad came up to me and talked to me.

“You go get that ball and make a bucket. Don’t be scared because you can do it.”

I was so nervous I just nodded my head very slowly and went to my coach. My dad was right, I had to be confident. But inside there were butterflies and I was nervous. Right now I couldn’t show that. There was sweat running down my face. I could feel the moisture sinking into my face. I felt like I was going to fall over as I was walking towards my team. 

“Get in here boys. We need a stop and it needs to be a good one.”

I started to zone off but then I heard the buzzer sound and then the refs Whistle.

“You know what, just go out there and don’t worry about anything. We have already done so good. Whatever happens out there is okay because you guys have played great this tournament.”

Then I thought about how good we actually have done. We were the 8th seed going into a 8 team tournament. We beat the one seed first game and now we are in the championship game down by 1 against the 2 seed. But I am also so nervous because I want to win this game. As I was in my own world I heard a big

“TOOOT” 

The refs whistle scared me to death. My soul almost left my body. I was walking towards the court. The parents were screaming and cheering so loud. I was shaking so much I thought I was going to fall over. I was scared I was going to mess this up and lose the game for everyone. The ref handed the ball to the other team. There were so many thoughts running through my head I was so nervous. I was guarding my defender. He was towering over me. He was so tall. The ref blew his loud whistle. The ball was thrown in. 

“FOUL!”

My coach was screaming so loud I could see his vocal cords moving through his throat. The ball got thrown into the middle. I was right behind the guy with the ball and didn’t know what to do. My teammate tipped the ball out of his hands. I had the ball now. I had the ball in my hands. I didn’t even know what was going on now. Everything in my mind was telling me I can’t do this. It’s game over. But then I thought back to what my dad said. 

“Get the ball and score a bucket and don’t be afraid”

I was not going to give up. I was going to be Confident. I started dribbling down the floor so scared. There are 4 seconds left on the clock. We are down by one. This is it. For the championship. If I mess this up we lose. I could feel the air of the ball against the palm of my hand while I was dribbling down the floor. The clock said 2 seconds. I am in between the three point line and the half court Line.

“Shoot” 

I think I can make further up the floor. I dribble the ball once more. I take a step which feels like a mile. I take my second step. I am now fully holding the ball. As I am pushing the ball into the air I see someone jump besides me. I can feel the ball rolling off my rough finger tips. I hear all the screams around me go silent. Now all that I can hear is the buzzer. As the ball is in the air I fall to the ground. The ball hits the rim. It bounces up and hits the back board. Then it hits the front of the rim. I am praying it goes in. If it goes in we win the championship. My mind is thinking of all of the ways this could end out. We could win and I score the bucket. We could win if I got fouled and I make the free throws. Or, we could lose. The ball bounces off of the rim and it goes through the net. Everything around me is so Loud. My teammates are jumping on top of me. Everyone is celebrating and screaming. I am now thinking back how we were the last seed. We were supposed to lose the first round. But now we are here celebrating the championship win. 

“Good game 28”

Some guy from the other team came up to me.

“Good game bro”

The lesson I learned was to never give up and to think positive in any situation. From that day on I was never going to give up and to always think positive. When I was losing the game, thinking positive made the end of the game fun. We won the game as the last seed and I thought positive and did not give up.