Noah stepped up to meet Derick the moment he crossed the screen and decided to try one of the defensive tricks he looted from Neil's memory.
A guard on the opposing team blocked one of Noah's teammates to give Derick a free path.
But for a brief moment Derick wouldn't see Noah, which allowed him to jump out from the other side of the screen and reach for the ball.
But Derick wasn't surprised, he stretched out his long hand and pushed the ball forward past Noah's hand.
The bulky forward was much faster than he looked, but Noah was much quicker, cutting him off and lowering a hand to discourage a crossover. However, Derick had a neat bag of tricks to draw from.
He bumped into Noah's chest as they reached the baseline and loaded up for a shot. Noah, worried about the shot, stepped up and raised his left hand, but it was just a fake.
Derick didn't pick up the ball, instead, he bounced once more and spun, leaving Noah behind.
Okay that was pretty smart.
Noah groaned and scanned the court quickly; Derick had just beaten him and created an advantage. Someone would be free for a pass.
He immediately found one of the freshmen tryouts running towards the free-throw line, and Leeroy trying to get a position against Josh.
Noah immediately ran towards the free throw line to cut off the pass.
But Derick didn't need it. He met McCain, their center, under the basket and immediately jumped.
McCain met him in the air but took a heavy bump from Derick's shoulder and was pushed back, giving Derick a chance to score with a right layup.
When the two men landed, Derick smacked McCain and Noah on the shoulder. "You guys are too light."
Before running back to his side of the court. Noah watched him before turning to McCain and apologizing.
"I should have stayed and contested the shot with you."
"Nah, good read," McCain brushed off, picking up the ball and making the inbound pass to Josh. "Just try to pressure him more off the screen and stay on your feet."
Noah nodded before running to the other side of the court. Their defensive setup was far different from Noah's team. Leeroy's team played man defense.
This type of defense meant they would each only follow one player exclusively. This allowed Leeroy to guard Josh exclusively and Derick to match against McCain.
It's kind of advantageous to us. If Josh is as good as Cam said, then he could beat Leeroy one on one, or even use a screen to attack Derick. Then we still have McCain, who's the only actual center on the court.
He found a spot in the corner and waited. They sent a freshman tryout to guard him, not expecting much trouble, but the freshman kept watching the ball.
Noah would be able to get free with a good back cut.
As he expected, McCain let Josh work alone at the top of the three-point line, directing all the tryouts on their team to open space. He took a look at Noah, surprised at his good position, and gave him a slight nod.
He's going to pass if I make a good cut for sure. Now I just need a smart way to attack the basket once I get the ball.
He could use a floater; it was one of the shots that Neil had mastered, and from this position, if he got five feet from the basket, he could make it. He took a small breath and relaxed.
The first thing he had to do was make the freshman guarding him think he wasn't going to do anything. Josh was still sizing Leeroy up now; the moment he drove—
Josh exploded from his position, surprising everyone. With a quick feint right, he crossed over left and began charging down the center court towards the basket.
The freshman guarding Noah turned immediately and stepped away to reach for the ball as Josh entered the paint.
This was his chance.
Derick on the other side was trying to screen out McCain and get in a position to at least contest Josh when he went for the layup.
Leeroy was gnashing his teeth and running towards McCain to help switch when Derick went for the contest.
So Noah ran towards the basket
Only at the last second did any of them see Noah. He was free, right at the basket, so quick he got there before Josh.
For a second Noah thought this was bad because Derick would attack if Josh passed the ball to him.
But then he felt the strength in his legs, the way the wind whooshed past his ears. And a crazy idea hit him.
He jumped, trusting Josh for a moment. The quiet boy hadn't seemed too interested in him, and his eyes were locked onto McCain and Derick. He might have not seen—
Once again, Josh moved so quickly. Without even looking directly at him, Josh threw a lob to Noah, who tracked the ball through the air, his supernaturally enhanced vision easily allowing him to catch the ball.
Derick stopped blocking McCain and rushed towards Noah to block him, but he was too late.
Noah slammed down the dunk a bit softly, controlling his strength, but the rim still shook loudly.
He dropped lightly, head down, looking at his legs. That felt unreal, like he was floating for a long time. He raised his head when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
It was McCain with his same sour look, but there was something shining in his black eyes.
"Head up, try out. It's time to play defense."
They both ran back to their side of the gym. Noah caught the cheers of the other teams on the sidelines and he glimpsed Coach Lester watching. Cam gave him an overly emphatic clap.
The other two freshmen on the team gave him thumbs up, while Josh, the person that assisted him, barely glanced at him. They all got into defensive positions, and he started to wonder what Josh was even thinking.
Did I offend him last year during tryouts? He threw me the lob without hesitation, so he seems cool. Maybe it's just not my business.
He left his mind and focused on defense. Derick was bringing the ball up the court again for his team.
"Shouldn't someone pressure him?" he asked McCain while still looking ahead.
McCain actually answered, which surprised him a bit. "Derick will beat them, but I'll think of something. Get ready, use that bounce to force him to pass the ball, lil bro."
Already calling me lil bro? I haven't even joined the team yet.
Noah chuckled and stared forward, stepping forward when he saw a screen being set for Derick. But they were changing things up.
Derick turned and threw a bullet at Leeroy, who was running towards the basket and caught it like it was nothing. Josh was on that side of the floor, so he stepped up to meet him, but the size difference was obvious.
With a full head of steam, Leeroy charged into Josh and sent him stumbling back. Then he rose up for a floater. McCain was blocking Derick so he couldn't help Josh.
The floater went in clean.
The opposing team went back, Leeroy chuckling under his breath and high-fiving Derick.
McCain picked up the ball and went outside for the inbound pass. "Don't worry about it, Josh, we'll let him have that one."
McCain turned to Noah as he came in. "What's your name, and can you shoot?"
Noah was a bit surprised; everyone's name was called out during the team separation. But he didn't hold it against the senior.
"My name's Noah, and yes I can."