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“Hey, Amos,” Coach greeted.
“Coach,” she said.
“Get rest tonight. I mean it. Full eight hours.”
“I will,” she replied and closed the door behind her.
She considered waiting until Coach went into her room before texting Layne to ask if later could be now, but they’d had a long flight. A late dinner would also be delivered soon, and they couldn’t eat that together as they talked because they’d have to take their masks off, so she decided to get unpacked instead since they’d be there for a while – or, at least, she hoped – and watch more film before sleep.
CHAPTER 32
As a twelve seed, they had an uphill battle: they would start by playing against a five seed in their section of the bracket. Winning as a twelve was possible, but that had only happened twice, and no twelve seed had ever gone beyond the Sweet Sixteen in the women’s tournament. If they got a win today, that would be big and would move them from one of sixty-four to being one of thirty-two teams left. It would also be the first win for Dunbar in an NCAA tournament for either their women’s or men’s team, who’d still yet to even make the tournament.
Layne wasn’t nervous. A strange calm had come over her that morning. As she’d eaten breakfast in her room, she had this thought hit her: they were going to win. She didn’t know how she knew that. She just felt it. If they all played how they’d been playing, even in that last loss, they were going to win this one. Layne had studied their competition thoroughly, as had all of the players, so she knew they had a good chance of using their speed to combat the other team’s size, and Dunbar’s three-point shooting could balance out the inside shots their competitor was known for. They just had to hit the shots they took.
Layne lined up by the bench as the starters were called and jogged out to the court. She wished there were fans here for the team’s benefit, but all they really needed was to bring home the win. The fans helped, but they could do it without them. She took her seat on the bench, and Coach nodded at her. Layne stood up and hurried over right before tip-off.
“How are you feeling today? Honest answer only, Stoll,” Coach said.
“Fine, Coach,” she replied.
“You’ve been practicing well. I might need you today. I’m using the regular rotation, but I want you to sit near me, okay? Tell me what you see if I ask.”
“Okay,” Layne said and took the empty seat that had, apparently, been meant for her.
Hilton secured the tip and passed out to Shay, who brought the ball up. They’d practiced a special play if they won the tip, so Shay pushed the ball up quickly, passed it off, took the pick, rolled off of it, and got the pass back in time to have an open three, which she hit. Layne yelled and applauded. They were up by three. This was part of the plan, and if Shay could keep making those shots all night, they’d win.
When the second quarter ended, Dunbar was down by one, but they’d hit two threes in under a minute, so they had the momentum. The only reason they were down was because of two fouls on Hilton that probably weren’t really fouls, and the other team had made their free throws. Dunbar had missed two out of the six they’d taken. Shay hadn’t been fouled on a shot yet, but if she were, Layne knew she’d make hers because she was always so good under that kind of pressure.
“I want tighter defense on that center, Hilton,” Coach said in the locker room.
“I had two fouls called in, like, a minute,” Hilton argued.
“It’s a new half. You only have two now. Tighter. You get a third, I’ll pull you, but keep your feet planted and take a charge when that guard runs on you. Don’t shift over when you don’t have to.”
“Yes, Coach,” Hilton replied and took a drink of her water.
“We’re in this, ladies. We’ve got them right where we want them. They’re up by one, feeling good but not great because they gave up big threes, but they’re still confident they’re not going out early for a five seed. We’re going to make them regret thinking that. Shay?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re going to get double-teamed.”
“Yeah,” she said.
“More picks,” Coach instructed. “And run to get there. Layne?”
“Yeah?” Layne asked.
“You’re going to start the second half for Ledger. I want you to confuse them. Take a few, make a few, draw the double away from Shay.”
“Okay. Yeah,” Layne replied.
Shay looked over at her and smiled.
“What have you seen?” Coach asked Layne.
“Thirty-two overcommits, so there are easy passes into Hilton. If she can get them back out quickly instead of trying to get around her defender, we can get a good look.”
