Demien locked his phone and set it face-down on the bench beside him, and he pulled off his socks and shirt before standing to grab a towel from the stack near the showers, and his body felt the accumulated strain of forty-eight minutes spread across regulation and extra time—not injury exactly, but the specific soreness that comes from muscles working at capacity for extended periods.
Gasperini appeared in the doorway and the room's volume dropped immediately to near silence, and players who were standing moved slightly closer while those sitting straightened their posture because even after victories the coach's presence commanded attention.
He didn't smile or acknowledge the result with celebration, and instead he stood at the center of the room with his hands in his pockets while his eyes scanned the faces around him.
