The roar of the crowd was deafening inside the stadium as they watched the players warming up on the court before the next encounter finally begins.
"The crowd seems anxious, my friend," Jerry said, quickly giving the floor to Logan. "I believe it, Jerry; the people are anxious to see more basketball," Logan continued with a smile. "For those just arriving, the previous game ended with a tight victory for South Laurel against Landstown." As soon as he said that, the screens in the stadium began to show the best plays of the previous match so the public could see them.
"The match began with Landstown's clear dominance," Jerry narrated while the spectators kept their gaze fixed on the screens. "I believe it, until in the first minutes of the 4th quarter Reggie Williams had to leave the court due to injury." As soon as he said that, the screen clearly showed the moment the collision and the injury occurred.
"An unfortunate outcome for a great player," Jerry continued, showing Reggie's statistics for the entire first game on the screen. "A shame not to be able to see more of Williams' magic," Logan added with regret.
"That is how unpredictable basketball is," Jerry quickly replied, not letting the atmosphere inside the stadium drop. "But now another great game is coming," he quickly changed the subject, showing the 2 emblems of the 2 schools that are soon going to face each other.
"Christ the King Royals vs. Villa Angela-St. Joseph Vikings"
"Two teams, one from New York and another from Ohio; 2 teams, only one pass to the next round. Who will pass?" Jerry asked, generating expectation in the public.
"Personally, Jerry, I lean toward the Royals," Logan responded without any doubt, then began to explain his analysis.
"Since Joe Arbitello became the team's coach last year, he has created a great team, even winning the CHSAA in his first season as coach, which is no small feat," Logan finished informing about Coach Arbitello's achievements.
"And let's not forget their players: Barrows and Edwards are 2 of their most threatening players, along with a dominant center in the paint like Milka. The Royals are clearly one of the favorites to win the tournament," Jerry mentioned about the standout players to the audience, who remained anxious for the game to start.
"Now let's move on to talk about their opponents, the Vikings." As soon as Logan mentioned the other team, the screen changed, moving from the gold and maroon logo of the Royals to show a giant red 'V' of the other team.
"Hailing from Ohio, they have had a somewhat irregular record, finishing 5th in their division last season," Logan began to explain the information they had at their disposal about the St. Joseph team.
"Known for a fast offense with defensive intensity, causing rivals to miss shots under the command of Dave Wojciechowski; they must not underestimate them," Jerry finished saying.
"Speaking of Wojciechowski, according to our information, this is his 10th season in charge of the team, meaning he has been at the helm of this program for 10 years," Logan continued explaining, checking the information on his sheet.
"That means it will be a confrontation between coaches: one veteran, the other relatively new. Who will emerge victorious? Wojciechowski's experience or Arbitello's bold ideas?" Jerry finished with a question toward the public.
While they commented about the next game, a very different conversation was occurring in the stands.
"This atmosphere is something else," Paola couldn't help but notice once she was seated and her eyes watched the entire court with attention.
"It's a bit intimidating," Melissa said, shrinking slightly in her seat at the noisy atmosphere of the crowd around her.
"Look, I think he's right there," Paola pointed in a direction on the court where a player was warming up on the court.
At that moment, a player could be seen in a brown and gold jersey with a ball, then jumping and throwing it toward the rim, causing it to go in cleanly.
"Yes, it's him," Melissa said with a smile upon seeing her baby on the court in front of all that crowd.
"Did you ever think he would make it this far?" Paola asked, surprised at how far her little nephew had managed to reach. She knew her nephew had lived obsessed with basketball since he was little, but she always believed it was a fad that over time he would leave behind like any other teenager, but seeing him now, she couldn't have been more wrong.
"I always believed in him," Melissa said with a motherly smile on her face, seeing her not-so-little-anymore baby in the middle of the court minutes before the game begins.
"I just hope nothing bad happens to him," Melissa added this time, worried upon remembering the injury the previous player suffered and how he left limping, being helped by his teammates.
"Don't worry, he's going to be fine," Paola reassured her, gently putting her hand over hers, trying to calm her nervous friend.
While that was happening, 2 men approached from the side toward both women who were talking to each other.
"Excuse me, is this occupied?" one of them asked in Paola's direction, who before she could respond, sat immediately by her side, followed by his friend next to Melissa.
"I'm Liam," he added quickly, giving a wide smile toward Paola, who simply gave him a blank look, clearly not interested.
"What brings a beautiful lady to a place like this?" Liam asked this time, trying to strike up a conversation.
"My nephew is playing on the court," Paola responded dryly, pointing toward the court at the player with the number 15 jersey.
"Oh, what a coincidence, my son plays on the other team," Liam replied, pointing to one of the players on the opposing team.
"Uhum," was Paola's dry response, followed by a dry laugh from Liam.
"You know, I have much better seats near the court; are you interested?" Liam asked. "And then maybe afterward we can go somewhere more private?" he finished saying while giving Paola a look from head to toe.
At that, Paola couldn't help but roll her eyes, and even more so upon noticing the obvious ring on the ring finger of the guy in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she also saw how uncomfortable her friend was in that situation, so deciding she had had enough of this, she was going to tell the two men in front of them a few truths.
But before she could even say anything, a throat-clearing sound interrupted the conversation of the 4, causing them to turn in the direction it came from.
Irritated by the interruption, Liam turned immediately toward where that clearing of the throat came from, ready to send flying the idiot who had interrupted him. Or that was the plan until his eyes finally caught the person in question, and he unconsciously swallowed saliva before the person in front of him.
It was a tall man, probably taller than him, with an intimidating gaze and a tight shirt that let his firm muscles be noticed along with tattoos; the subject had the expression of "Don't mess with me" written all over his face.
"Do-do you need something, friend?" Liam asked, stuttering slightly at first toward the person in front of him, who didn't stop staring at him.
"Everything okay?" Ignoring the man in front of him, Hector directed his attention immediately toward Paola, asking if he and his friend were making them uncomfortable.
"Everything fine, Hector," Paola said with a smile on her face while internally laughing at the reaction of the man at her side.
While Melissa, on the other hand, let out the air she had been holding in due to this uncomfortable situation with the 2 strangers who approached them.
Hector simply nodded at that, then fixed his gaze back on Liam, who tensed up unconsciously as soon as Hector's eyes landed on him.
"Is something wrong?" Liam couldn't help but ask upon seeing how Hector just kept staring fixedly at him.
"You're in my spot," Hector finally said, pointing to the place where Liam was sitting next to Paola.
"I'm sorry," Liam said quickly, standing up and moving away, giving Hector enough space to be able to sit in the place next to Paola.
Immediately after Liam, his friend stood up, following his friend. "I guess we'll see you around," was the last thing Liam said as he turned, followed by his friend, to go in the direction of their seats.
"Do you know them?" Hector questioned, not taking his eyes off the 2 subjects until he lost sight of them when they entered through one of the tunnels.
"Not at all," Melissa said quickly toward Hector.
"Just some idiots," was Paola's response toward the 2 subjects from a moment ago.
"Did they do something to you?" he asked this time with a more serious voice while preparing to stand up and look for those two idiots from before.
Before he could even get up from the seat, a hand was placed on his, preventing him from moving. "It's not necessary," Paola said quickly with a smile. "If they had tried anything, I can handle it," she finished saying with confidence in her voice, without taking her hand off Hector's.
While both did not take their eyes off each other, they forgot that Melissa was at their side, who was seeing their intertwined hands and how they did not take their eyes off each other.
"Eh… am I missing something?" she couldn't help but ask after a few seconds upon seeing how both seemed to be in their own world, forgetting she was right next to them.
Both coming out of their bubble, they pulled their hands away from each other quickly, as if electricity had passed through them, while their gazes went in any direction except toward Melissa, who was giving them an interrogative look.
"It's nothing," Paola said quickly, trying to escape the possible interrogation from her friend.
"Yep, nothing at all," followed Hector, who nodded his head quickly in a sign of confirmation.
"Uhum," was the only sound that came out of Melissa while she narrowed her eyes at the 2 of them, who were starting to get nervous under that gaze.
"We'll leave this for later," she said this time in Paola's direction, knowing she couldn't escape the interrogation from her friend.
"Fine," Paola said with a defeated voice, imagining the bombardment of questions that awaited her at night, while Hector put a hand on her shoulder in a sign of support.
"By the way, thanks for bringing us, Hector," Melissa said this time, addressing Hector and thanking him for having brought them to Binghamton.
"No problem," Hector said, waving it off with his hand. "The shop is closed for these days anyway, and I didn't have anything to do," he explained.
Originally, Paola and Melissa planned to take a bus to get here, but coincidentally Hector didn't have any plans for these days, so they organized and agreed for the 3 to go together in Hector's car.
After a 3-hour trip, they managed to arrive just in time to leave their things at a motel near the stadium, and then head here before Aaron's game began.
"It seems the game is about to start," Hector said, paying attention to the court where it could be seen how the players of both teams were heading toward their respective sides of the court to listen to their coaches' instructions.
"I hope everything goes well," Paola said, putting both hands together in a sign of prayer while her gaze did not move from the Royals' bench, where Aaron was crouching, listening to the coach's instructions with total concentration.
"Everything is going to be fine; Aaron is strong," Hector said with an air of confidence, fully trusting in Aaron's abilities and that his team will win.
"I hope so too," Melissa added, seeing how the players quickly entered the court, ready for the game to start.
"It's starting," Paola said, seeing the referee entering with the ball in his hands while both centers entered the circle, ready for the opening tip.
"PII!" With the sound of the whistle, the game had officially started while both centers jumped with all their might, going for the ball.
Authors thought's
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