She might have a point. Lifting my whistle, I give it a sharp blow. “Everyone over here!” Following Allie’s advice, I announce, “We’re going to play the boys against the girls.”
The girls cheer while the boys glare at them like they’re fungus on the bathroom wall.
“They don’t stand a chance against us!” Alfonse DeMarco declares heatedly.
I watch as Allie walks over to the girls. As they instinctively huddle around her, she tells them, “Don’t pay any attention to them. They’re not that good.”
“What?!” This from Kenny James. “We’re good! We just don’t want to play with girls.”
“You’re eight hundred and thirtieth in the state, Kenny,” I remind him.
“You ladies are great, even without a coach,” Allie tells her potential new flock.
“We’re not really a team,” Leah says. “There are only seven of us, so all we do is play three on three.”
“You don’t need a coach to be a team,” Allie says. “You just need to practice, and it looks like you’re doing that.”
A short brunette name Klea raises her hand. “Do you play basketball?”
“I did in high school,” Allie tells her.
“Were you any good?” another girl wants to know.
“Fourteenth in the state.”
Leah claps her hands enthusiastically. “That’s amazing!”
When Allie smiles, her face becomes carefree and unguarded. She’s positively stunning in a way that I have not noticed before. “We worked hard,” she says. “But we had a lot of fun.”
“Our boys’ team is practically the worst in Wisconsin,” grumbles one of the girls. “I don’t understand why they get a team, and we don’t.”
Several of the guys start to protest, but they don’t gather much steam. After all, there’s no fighting the truth of rank.
Allie leads the girls to the other side of the court, all the while chatting quietly enough not to be overheard.
Jake Fenton, who plays shooting guard, vehemently declares, “I’m not playing against a bunch of girls. This is the boys’ team so we should scrimmage against ourselves.”
I shake my head. “We’ve been playing with the girls and so far you’re more impressive with them. Quite honestly, I’d like to see if they wipe the floor with you.”
“You think they will?” Decan demands heatedly.
“At this point,” I tell him, “I’m pretty sure they can.”
That seems to fire the guys up enough that when I pick the five starters, they take to the court like pillaging conquerors. Allie has chosen Leah to tip off against her brother and once again, when Iblow the whistle to start the game, Leah reaches the ball first. She taps it in the direction of Madeline who carries it down the court with ease.
Madeline passes it to the point guard, a position played by sophomore Peyton Hangler. Peyton effortlessly shoots a three-pointer and scores. The girls cheer while the boys’ complaints fill the air. They yell things like, “We can’t play offense without running them over!” and “If I knocked into her she’d break in two!”
“Liar!” Peyton retaliates. “I would have gotten that basket even if you didtryto block me.” Emphasis on the word “try.”
I enjoy the next thirty minutes more than I’ve appreciated anything since coming back to Elk Lake. The boys finally play like their lives depend upon it. And if not their lives, at the very least their masculinity. The girls push back equally hard, and the competition is pure joy to watch.
In the last minute of the game, the score is tied fourteen to fourteen. Leah Flynn has the ball in the post, and she’s being guarded by her brother, Decan. She turns to the right to make her shot, but when her brother mirrors her, she ducks left and flips the ball up from directly beneath the basket. That’s not a shot most novices can make, so to even attempt it, I’m convinced Leah practices a lot.
The ball teeters on the rim for a split second before falling into the basket and winning the game for the girls. Their ensuing celebration is well-earned.
I call the boys over for a post-game huddle and I’m surprised when they aren’t immediately full of grievances. Embarrassment seems to be the stronger emotion at play.
Ashton, the varsity power forward, raises his hand and solemnly declares, “They deserved that win.”
