Down one point with five seconds left in the Sharp Shooter Tournament Championship in Miami, Florida. Jay gets the ball at the three point line, he shoots the ball it looks like it’s going to go in. “Jayden! Wake up its time for school!” His mother yelled. Jayden got up, put on his clothes and walked down stairs for breakfast. Every day that he had a basketball game his breakfast was eggs, bacon, toast,
and drank chocolate milk. Jayden loved basketball so much that he quit all the other sports that he played so he could focus on basketball all year round. After breakfast he packed up his backpack, got his ball and went outside. He practiced drills that he learned from his coach until his bus came.

When Jayden got to his homeroom he didn’t feel right. But he didn’t know why he was feeling this way so he thought it might be because he was tired. His first class was Science. He had a substitute so he became a little happy that he didn’t have to do much work. But Jayden was wrong his class watched an hour movie about cells and the class had to take notes for an up coming quiz.

Jayden’s next classes were Woodshop and Spanish Test Prep. Those classes were his enrichments. In woodshop he was making a bird house that was going to be in the garden section of the school. In Spanish enrichment Jayden, Aaron, and Taylor were in a group project. Aaron Flowers and Taylor Washington were Jayden’s basketball teammates so they knew each other well and knew how to work with each other. The project was to rewrite lyrics of any song and make them about the AR, ER, and IR verbs and conjugating. “Ding! Ding! Ding! “The bell rang. Jayden walked out of the class and when he got to his locker he started feeling worse but he was still not feeling right.

He went to gym trying to just get through the day and when he got home he could tell his parents. He did everything as usual like the stretching, running, and cardio workouts. After the run the teachers usually explained the game that they were going to play or told them what they were doing and then the kids would do whatever they were supposed to do. Jayden and his soccer team beat Aaron’s team 6-3 and Jayden scored twice. Jayden showered and got ready for Social Studies.

In Social Studies Jayden and his group were working on their project. The project was to invent your own civilization. They had to answer questions like where would it be, what would it be called, how are your going to eat, etc. He tried to help his group and relax at the same time but it didn’t work out for him at all because his teacher was with their group most of the time and trying to help them so he had to join in on the discussions so that his teacher wouldn’t think that he wasn’t doing anything was wrong with him. He made it through the day and was ready to go home.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! “The bell rang. Jayden walked out, went to his locker and packed up his backpack. When he got on the bus all Jayden wanted was some peace and quiet so he could relax and maybe go to sleep. When the bus started moving most of the 8th graders and some 7th graders went crazy they were screaming, yelling, jumping over seats, walking around when the bus was moving, they were just out of control unlike usual. Jayden was so anxious to get off the bus that he got off at the first stop even though his house was a couple blocks away he didn’t care all Jayden wanted to do was just go home and try to get some sleep and see if that would make him feel better.

Now he was really ready to get some sleep after he walked for 10 minutes to get home. Jayden opened his front door, walked in, closed the door and ran upstairs to his soft, cozy, and warm bed. He jumped into bed, fluffed his blue stripped pillow, and pulled his soft, fuzzy, warm, Florida Gators football blanket up to his neck. When he was watching TV he could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier every time he blinked and suddenly he fell asleep unexpectedly but was happy he did. When he woke up a couple hours later he was ready to play his basketball game that night. Jayden went downstairs looked at the time and realized he had to get dressed for his game. Jayden ran upstairs got his uniform on and ran back down the stairs to find something to eat. He opened up his freezer and found chicken nuggets, pizza rolls, hot pockets, and mozzarella sticks. He couldn’t decide which one he wanted to eat so he had a little of everything.

Jayden’s mother usually got home between 5:30 or 5:45 at the latest and that gave Jayden time to get to the game early, stretch, and warm up with his team. Most of his games started at either 7o’clock or between 7:15 and 7:30 and when the referees get there and are ready to start. Jayden’s mother pulled into the driveway and yelled out the window “Jayden its time for your game! You have to be there in 15 minutes and the game is 20 minutes away!” Jayden ran out the house and closed the front door behind him as he jumped down the front stairs and into his mother’s car. He had on his orange and black team warm up shirt and pants with his name and number on both of them which the whole team had. The whole warm up shirt is black front and back with orange streaks on the arms. On the left chest of the shirt they had their name (first and last) and their number after the name, under the name they had their town name and team name, and under that in the middle or stomach area they had their logo which was a wizard in white and outlined in orange. On the back they had their last name and under it had their number in the middle of the lower back and it was enlarged.

Jayden jumped out of the car and into the gym and there he saw his team warming up. He put down his Gatorade and went to go stretch with his team. The team they were playing didn’t have one win and if Jayden’s team won they got a bye in the playoffs. The whole team was 100% sure that they were going to win so then the team just didn’t try during warm ups and were fooling around. When the referee whistle was blown both team starters came out on the floor and was ready to start the game. The hawks came ready to play and tried to win and meanwhile Jayden and his team thought it was a joke. At the end of the first quarter the score was 4-16 and the Hawks were up. The Wizards missed almost every shot they took and missed about two lay ups which they almost never did. The Wizards became a little less playful and more serious about the game. The second quarter came and the Wizards were ready to take the lead and never give it back. At the end of the first half the Wizards came back 18-23 but the Hawks were still up but the lead was only up to five and not twelve like the end of the first quarter. The Wizards came out and started doing the warm ups seriously after the prep talk from their coach Woodson. At the end of the third quarter the score was 40-40 the score was all tied up and going into the fourth quarter. The Wizards went on a 10 point rally to put the game away for the win.

Jayden went home and went to sleep because he played the whole entire game and didn’t get a rest except for after quarters and halftime. His team’s bye was the next day and after that day he had a game and if his team wins that game they will go to the championship game and play for a trophy on the Miami University basketball court.

The next day Jayden and his team went to the game of the Bulldogs and the Sharks to scout because Jayden’s team was going to play the winner of the game. The Bulldogs won the game off of a buzzer beater from half court! The next day came and the Wizards were so hyped for the game that everything they did they did it with excitement. During warm ups everything that the Wizards shot in the hoop if it was off the backboard or a swish it went in. The tip off was thrown and the game started. The Bulldogs won the tip off and began with the ball and right from the beginning the Wizard’s defense went on lock down for the rest of the game. The wizards just dominated the Bulldogs they showed no mercy and wanted to show everyone there that the Wizards were the best team in the tournament! The Wizards beat the Bulldogs by over 30 points and rested their starters for the whole fourth quarter!

The Wizards were going to miss a day of school to rest for the championship game at 8 o’clock. It was time for the grand finale! The Wizards vs. Hawks at the University of Miami in Florida for the 7th grade championship! Some of the basketball players from Miami University are going to play a pick up game at halftime for entertainment. A couple of local high school basketball coaches will be there to see those kids talent and may recruit them to play with them. The high school that Jayden wants to go to the coach was going to watch the game and his parents were going to introduce Jayden to the Green Brook high school basketball coach. Jayden knew like everything about Green Brook’s basketball program he went to almost every home game and even some away games. The last couple of years the basketball program has been nationally ranked and produced some Division 1 players that have gone to play professionally!

All Jayden did on Friday was sleep, watch TV, eat protein, drink protein shakes, and watch basketball, which he could do for everyday of his life and practice basketball when he got the chance too. Jayden took a nap around one o’clock and woke up around five o’clock. He went downstairs made a protein shake and started watching the basketball that he recorded using DVR. After the game was over Jayden went upstairs got on his uniform and then put his warm up on over his uniform. He woke up his father and then waited for his father to get ready and he had to put on regular clothes, brush his teeth, and to fully wake up to drive Jayden to his game. After Jayden’s father dropped off Jayden at the gym he went home got on his Wizards clothes and drive back to the game at Miami University.

The Wizards warm up was a little distracted by the huge stadium and weren’t serious about their warm ups as they usually are. The ball was thrown up by the referee for the opening tip off and that meant that the game has started. The Wizards won the tip off and started off with the ball. Jayden dribbled the ball up court and tried to put his best move on his opponent and his defender stayed right with him and right then Jayden knew he was playing against a great player and it’s going to be hard to score and make plays off the dribble and that’s what Jayden usually did. Jayden is the best defender on his team and he faced the best kid the point guard who guarded him. Its was a great match up against each other because they both had quick feet, good ball handling and control, and excellent defense.

At the end of the 1st quarter the score was tied a 20 – 20. Jayden thought of something that could help him get past his defender and then dish it to someone else for a better shot. He yelled out “Green 1! Green 1! ” which was the name for a pick and roll and Jayden thought that the pick would help him have more space to do more things to help his team. Jayden stole the pass; speed dribbled down the floor and went up for a lay up when his defender fouled him from behind and the ball went in the basketball. Jayden got up and became pumped up that he made the basket and made a 3 point play when he swished the foul shot he got from the foul. Jayden made another basket before the half ended and it put the Wizards up by 6 with the score 40 – 46. At the start of the 3rd quarter Jayden stole another pass and was all by himself and he went up, got fouled, made the lay up, and came down on his ankle the wrong way. He got up, tried to stand and fell back right on his butt. Jayden’s dad and coach Woodson carried Jayden off the court. The referees allowed another teammate to shoot Jayden’s foul shot because the injury was so serious. One of his teammates father’s was a doctor so he came down from the stands and went to check out Jayden. He made Jayden take off his sock and his shoe and his ankle was swollen. His ankle was black and blue and the doctor thought it might be a fractured ankle or broken. He had his ankle elevated and also had an ice pack on it. The 3rd quarter ended and the score was tied up at 62 going into the last quarter of the championship game. In the 4th quarter both teams went back and forth scoring everytime they had possession. With one minute and thirty second left in a tie game, Jayden told the doctor to wrap up his ankle so he can go back on the court and win a championship. Jayden put his sock and shoe back on and headed to the score table to check in the game. The Hawks had possession when Jayden checked into the game. The Hawks wasted out some time on the clock before calling a time out with thirty-five seconds left to go in the game. The Hawks drew up a play in the time out and they used it to score, they were ahead by two points. The Wizards passed the ball in and the pass got stolen by the Hawks. Mr. Woodson yelled out “Foul! Foul! Foul!” Jayden did just that. The Hawks had to pass the ball in from half court with five seconds left and they tried to pass it in the middle of the court where the logo is and then Jayden came from across the court to steal the pass. Jayden sprinted down the court speed dribbling all by himself and he goes up for a lay up, Jayden lets the ball softly hit the top of the square on the backboard into the basket and as soon as the ball hits the backboard he hears the buzzer go off “Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!” and all of the sudden Jayden gets hit from behind. The referee yells “Foul on the Hawks. The basket counts, one foul shot.” In a tied championship game, no time left, one foul shot, Jayden has a chance to win the game or send it to overtime. Jayden is on the foul line all by himself with one referee who fed him the ball and every player is behind the half court line. It’s a complete dead silence except when Jayden takes his dribbles for his foul line routine. Jayden is starting to let go of the ball when the scoreboard goes crazy making loud noises and flickering lights, and turning on and off really quick. The referees talked it over because Jayden let the ball toward the basket and they decided to give Jayden another shot. Jayden takes two dribbles, take a deep breathe, takes three dribbles, takes a deep breathe, spins the ball back to him, bends his knees low, takes a deep breathe, and shoots the ball and that is Jayden’s foul line routine. Jayden did his routine, the ball hits the front part of the rim and then hits the backboard and then goes back on the rim and it is spinning around the rim. Jayden went on his knees closed his eyes and then he hears the crowd going crazy. The Wizards pick up Jayden and carry him around the court like he was a king. Since his shot won the championship he got to take the trophy and hold it up in front of everyone. Jayden’s dad took a picture of Jayden holding the trophy. Jayden’s dad enlarged the picture and got a frame and hung it in the middle of Jayden’s room. Jayden won the championship for the Wizards! Now Jayden has a memory that he will never ever forget!