Chap9: J?

-March Madness, 2nd Round

South Carolina Gamecocks vs. UCLA Bruins

The crowd was electric. The tension was thick. This wasn't just about advancing in the tournament; this was personal. Jackson Ellis stood at midcourt, smirking like he already won.

"Look who it is. You ready to finally take this L, Pres?"

"We'll see about that." I told him arrogantly.

"Man, that was a year ago." He responds as wanting to justify himself.

Then, the ball went up, and the game was on.

-First Half 

Ellis came out hot, hitting his first two jumpers and barking after each one. Powell, meanwhile, was a problem. He was slashing to the rim, finishing through contact, and locking up on defense.

I caught the ball in the post, felt a smaller defender on my back, and went to work. One dribble, spin, bucket. Next possession, Asher found me on a fast break—two-hand slam.

"We just getting started, J." I tell Jackson.

"Who do you call J?"

UCLA ran a fast-paced offense, but Asher controlled the tempo. Every time they tried to speed us up, he slowed it down, calling plays and feeding me inside.

Powell hit a transition three, then forced a turnover, leading to an Ellis dunk. Score: 28-22, UCLA up.

"Y'all better wake up." Norman Powell with confidence.

I looked at Asher—we both knew what time it was.

Next trip down, I called for the ball. Backed Ellis down. Spin. Step-through. And-one. I stared him down as I walked to the line.

"Yeah, you like that"

The half ended 44-40, UCLA up, but this was far from over.

-Second Half

Ellis and Powell kept attacking. Powell posterized our center Tyler with a vicious dunk.

I got a mismatch on a switch—Powell on me. I backed him down, faked one way, turned the other, and hit a tough fadeaway. Next trip, Asher and I ran the pick-and-roll to perfection, leading to a floater.

Score: 58-56, South Carolina up.

Asher was in his bag. UCLA tried to trap him—bad move. He found Lucas on a cut, easy dunk.

Then, he hit a deep three.

With five minutes left, we were up 72-68, but Powell and Ellis weren't done. Powell hit a corner three, then Ellis got a steal and a fast-break layup.

Score: 72-73.

-Final Two Minutes 

With 1:30 left, we were up 78-76. Ellis drove inside, but I met him at the rim—blocked his shot.

"Ain't no wa—" Shocked he said.

"Way." I cut it

Powell grabbed the loose ball, but Asher stripped it. Fast break—he threw a lob to me. Alley-oop. Crowd went wild.

Ellis tried to answer, but bricked a three. Powell grabbed the rebound, kicked it back, but I closed out just in time—contest. Miss.

We secured the board, and UCLA had to foul. Game over.

Final Score: South Carolina 83 - UCLA 81.

I finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists. Asher had 11 points, 6 assists. Powell dropped 22 points, 7 rebounds. Ellis? 15 points, 2 rebounds, and an L to go with it.

-Postgame

Walking off the court, Ellis was heated.

"Man, this ain't over." Ellis annoyed tells me.

"It never is. But the result stays the same." I told him trying to get into his head.

He prefers not to answer and leaves. But when he leaves I tell him "I hope your family didn't watch, it was on national TV, you know."

"yeah,yeah, tss that's it" He said.

Powell dapped me up. "Respect. Y'all earned that one."

"On to the sweet 16" Tyler says.

Later that evening... I received a ton of messages from my family, my friends, all that good stuff. Days went by...We managed to beat FGCU (Florida Gulf Coast University). In the elite 8 round, we faced Michigan, and that was maybe, the hardest match of my career. We won by just 1 point. They had players like Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Caris LeVert on their team, so it was no easy task.

-Flashback, Elite 8

We faced Michigan. I knew it was going to be a battle. They had some good players. Everyone knew this game would be tight. The energy in the locker room before the game was electric—everyone was focused, and we knew that every detail would count.

In the locker room, before the game

"They're good, but so are we." Lucas speaks.

"Yes, honestly it will do it guys." Another one of my teammates marcus says."It's all about mindset."

The game started fast. Michigan was everything we expected: quick, aggressive, and insanely talented.

Trey Burke was running the show, his passes were on point, and his deep threes kept putting us under pressure. Tim Hardaway Jr. was scoring in all sorts of ways, and Caris LeVert was a nightmare on the fast break.

But we held strong. We took some hits, but every time, we responded. With just under two minutes left, the score was 85-83 in their favor. I had the ball. The noise in the arena was deafening.

Me, looking at my teammates "Never, I lose there"

I made my way to the basket, feeling the defense collapse on me, but I saw one of my teammates open on the wing. I passed him the ball. It was a three-pointer. Marcus shoots... and it goes in. We're ahead, 86-85.

But Michigan wasn't backing down. They had one last chance with 5 seconds left on the clock. Trey Burke dribbled down the court for the final shot… but I was there, just in time, to block it. The buzzer sounded. We won, barely, 86-85.

-End of the Flashback

Now, the next step was the Final Four.

Our opponents? Syracuse, but that didn't matter to me. I've been from New York for just over a year, otherwise I was Canadian...even if that's no longer the case. 

The buzz around the game was huge. Everyone was talking about Syracuse. But we weren't worried. We had faced some of the toughest teams already.

Short, we are only one step away from being in the championship final, so believe me that we do not intend to lose this game.