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“I know. I’m sorry,” Shay said. “Am I good to go?”
“You can go, yes. Sorry, again.”
Layne stood when Shay approached but kept her distance.
“Babe?”
“Negative. I’m good.” She smiled.
“Babe, huh?” Hilton noted as she came up behind Layne.
“Shut up,” Shay told her with a laugh.
“I won’t say anything.” Hilton shrugged a shoulder. “I’m all negative. Want to get out of here now?”
“Yes, please,” Shay replied.
She had a game to get ready for.
???
Dunbar was in the Sweet Sixteen, and when they played the number nine team, who had just beaten the number one team in their bracket, they probably should’ve been nervous or worried, but they weren’t. They had their game plan, and they’d played well so far. They went in with confidence, and in the fourth quarter, when they were up by one point, Layne stole a rogue pass, hit Shay with a pass of her own, and Shay made a layup, putting them up by three.
They’d win the game by that many points, moving on to the Elite Eight.
CHAPTER 34
They had only one day between the Sweet Sixteen game and their Elite Eight game, which would be against the number two team in the bracket, who was coming off a major win where they’d dominated the other team and had won by twenty-one points. Dunbar had won their recent game, but not by twenty-one points, and Layne couldn’t say they’d ever dominated. They’d won by three points, and at times, they’d been down by as many as twelve points. With their day off, Coach had wanted a light practice and film. They’d kept things easy on the court, running some plays, taking some shots, trying to keep themselves loose. Film had been more intense as Coach had stood by the screen and stopped, reviewed, and started the film over and over and over again, first focusing on their own game and what they’d done right and wrong, and then, focusing on their new opponent’s last game. She more tore apart their previous opponent than walked them through what their new competition in the Elite Eight had done so well.
By the time they were done, Layne had pages and pages of notes. She would hand-draw plays, writing down the numbers of the players and using lines and arrows to show where they would go, end up, catch the ball, and where they’d shoot from. The coaching staff at Dunbar was small, and sometimes, they didn’t have time between games to put all of that together for them, so Layne had taken it upon herself to do it either for the whole team or just for her ever since she’d first gotten to Dunbar as a freshman.
“So, Forty-Two swings out here?” Shay asked on their video chat later.
“Yeah, and ends up back at the top of the key after the pick. They ran this play at least a dozen times,” Layne replied.
She’d shared her notes with everyone, but Shay was the only person to request they go over them together. Layne wasn’t sure if it was because Shay just wanted to talk to her or if she really wanted to go over them, but so far, in their hour-long conversation, they’d only talked about this, which was fine with Layne because they’d agreed there would be no pressure on their relationship until after the season. Yes, they were together, but they’d give each other the space to put basketball first until they’d played their last game at Dunbar.
“Their whole scheme runs through their center, who’s a thousand feet tall. She’s six-five, so close enough. Hilton isn’t six-five, but she’s got better hands.”
“Sometimes. Other times, she fouls with those hands,” Shay pointed out.
“Yeah, but six-five here bobbles the ball. If Hilton can have some discipline, she won’t have to reach or go for a block and get called. Their guards are great, too, obviously. They’re number two for a reason. But they’re also number two because a lot of teams struggled this year. They have one guard out due to COVID.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“So, they’ll have to adjust to losing a starter, too. We have a chance, Shay.”
“I know,” Shay replied on a sigh, and her eyes met Layne’s on the screen. “I know we do. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far. And I know some people will later comment that this was a COVID year, so some lesser-known teams made it further due to that. Just like if we win tomorrow, someone’s going to say it’s because they lost that guard and we had our usual starters, but I don’t care. In every game, there are injuries. A starter is out of a game with an ankle injury, knee, shoulder, a cold, or anything else. That’s sports, you know? All that matters is the team that gets the win gets to move on.”
“Agreed,” Layne replied. “But you’re biting your bottom lip right now, so I can tell you’re still worried.”
“I keep thinking about Shane Ames.”
“The person they mixed your test up with? How did they even do that?”
“Shane Ames is on Maryland’s team. She’s a freshman, which is why we didn’t know the name: she hasn’t played. And Maryland isn’t on our side of the bracket. They lost their Sweet Sixteen game, so they’re out now, but I just keep thinking about how close it was.”
“You being sick, or out of the tournament?”
