Before this year, the Monarchs Basketball team had won seven West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) championships dating back to 1979, advancing to the State semifinals twice. Both of these times, in 2007 and 2008, they fell in the State title game.
If the Monarchs win this game, they will be able to accomplish what no Mitty Boys team had ever done, to be State Champions.
--Mitty Monarchsvs Summit Skyhawks--
The ball is tossed up in the air. Two players jumped for it and the game officially starts. Lucas is on the bench, just like the original owner of his body. He is mostly played as a 7th man this year but sometimes when one of the starting guards gets into foul trouble, turns the ball over several times or in a cold streak, he gets subbed in as a 6th man.
This is one of those times.
Things are not looking good for their team as the Skyhawks began the game with a 7-0 run. The Monarchs worked hard to get open shots but could not just make them.
As this was happening, Lucas was on a world of his own. At the first minute of the game, he was focused watching the players. But after the first basket from the Skyhawks, his gaze gravitated towards those who are in the cheering section of their opponents.
A girl caught his eye.
'So this is how Gigi Hadid used to look like when she was still a teenager.' He thought while remembering when the girl was named the International Model of the Year for 2016 in his past life. 'Golden blonde hair, probably 5'9 or 5'10, should be 15 or 16 years old right now. She looks beautiful and so full of life.'
"Lucas, the coach is calling you." Jason Anderson told him while tapping his shoulder. Jason is a senior who plays as a forward for their team.
This got his attention. He looked at the coach and saw a somewhat disappointed expression on the person's face. He stood up hurriedly and got closer to coach TK.
"Get your head in the game. Don't get distracted and lose focus." the coach said.
"Yes, coach." he replied.
"You're going in for Kyle. Get to your spots and try to make the open shots on offense. While on defense, be aggressive but do not overcommit and foul unnecessarily. Try to get the rebounds if they go your way."
"Got it, coach."
At the 4:36 minute-mark of the game, Lucas was substituted for Kyle Toth, a senior guard for the Monarchs.
Ding! Quest Triggered
Notification/s - 1
(Click the number to open)
Quest/s Info:
1. Be a Champion
- Help your team win and be a part of Archbishop Mitty Monarchs' history.
Quest Completion Rewards:
Free Attributes = 20
Defense = +5
Gold Badge (selection)
Luka Doncic step-back (signature shot)
SP = 1000
Quest Failure Penalties:
Overall = -3
Potential rank down = 2
Height (dormant for 1 year)
SP = back to 0
"Seems a bit harsh. Though on the flip side, the rewards are also great. Another reason for me not to let our team lose this game." Lucas murmured to himself.
The moment he stepped on the court, the first voice he heard was his mom's.
"Go Lucas! You'll do great, honey."
He raised his hand in acknowledgement. Thomas, his dad, gave a slight nod while his sister was waving enthusiastically at him.
As he went to his teammates, Aaron put an arm on his shoulders.
"When I make the drive, you'll get open. I'll pass you the ball, so you gotta make your shots." Aaron said.
"I know, I know. Just pass me the ball and I'll make it count."
"Damn, you got so much confidence in yourself today. Is it because of some girl from the stands? I saw you checking out someone from the fans on other side."
"Bro, she's a minor. I mean I wasn't checking her out. I just looked for a second."
Aaron looked at me weirdly and was about to respond but got cut off by our teammate.
"Hey Aaron, you go out for the inbound. Lucas, let's talk about girls later after winning the championship." Colin, their point guard, told him with a grin on the face.
The game resumed. Aaron passed the ball to Colin. The point guard surveyed the floor outside the three point line. He asks Aaron for a pick on his right side. Colin attacks immediately after the screen has been set. Aaron rolls and receives a bounce pass from Colin. An opponent from the left corner guarding Lucas moved inside to help defend Aaron's drive. After seeing this, Aaron passed the ball to the wide open Lucas.
Lucas knew the play that was about to happen and that the pass was going to him. So he positioned himself properly in the corner and waited. After he received the pass, Lucas didn't hesitate and shot the ball. The ball sailed through the air, went into the basket and hit nothing but net.
'The 6 points added to the 3-point attribute is really worth it.' He thought to himself.
"Good shot, man." Aaron said.
"Nice pass bro." Lucas replied and gave Aaron a high five.
He also pointed at their point guard in recognition for the good play which Colin responded with a smile and a thumbs-up.
Now the score is 7-3 and their team is finally on the board.
The Skyhawks inbounded the ball and their point guard carried it through the court. He then passed it to their star player who is a power forward named Dorian Cason.
Dorian positioned himself in the low post and back downs Brandon White, a senior forward for the Monarchs. Dorian turns and throws the ball for a hook shot. He thought he could score easily but another player suddenly appeared to block his shot. Aaron amazed everyone by pinning the ball in the backboard as it was going up.
After blocking the shot, he immediately passed the ball to Colin for a fast break. Aaron then bolted as fast as he can on the left side of the court. Lucas and Colin also stormed to the opposite side of the court. It's about to become a 3 on 2 advantage.
Aaron on the left and Lucas on the right. As Colin reached the top of the key he noticed that Lucas was being guarded closely, probably because of the 3-point basket earlier. He then looked to his left and that's when he saw Aaron sprinting from the wing.
This situation made him broke into a wide smile. Colin tossed the ball in the air without hesitation. Alarm bells went off on the defender's mind so he left Colin, rushed to the paint and jumped to try and intercept the lob. But he was a step too late. Aaron caught the ball on the left side of the rim and put the defender on a nasty tomahawk poster dunk. Instead of stopping the pass, he fouled Aaron in the process and the play was converted into an and-one.
Aaron flexed his arms after the vicious slam. Lucas and Colin roared and shouted while hurriedly running to him to celebrate. After bumping shoulders and dapping up with his teammates, Aaron lined up to the free throw line, shot the ball and missed. The score is now 7-5 with the Skyhawks still leading, but only by 2 points after the back-to-back baskets by the Monarchs.
The game continued and it was back and forth misses from both teams. Aaron made a putback shot from a Brandon White miss in the 2 minute-mark but Dorian Cason responded with a dunk on the other end. With 1:15 minutes left in the first quarter, Colin made a high arching floater and tied the game 9-9. Coach Steve Hickey of the Summit Skyhawks called for a timeout.
Game resumes but neither team scored. The last possession will most likely go to the Skyhawks as their point guard dribbles the ball with only 11 seconds left on the clock. Brent Younger, an agile forward for the Monarchs positioned on the right side corner of the court deliberately sag a couple of steps from the player he's guarding because he knows the ball will probably go to Dorian. Just as he predicted the opposing point guard passed the ball to Dorian who received it from the high post. Brent timed it perfectly and stole the ball just as Dorian turned to his left and was about to attack the basket.
Brent immediately pass the ball to Colin at the top of the key. Colin dribbled the ball and made his way to the opposing team's court in a hurry. When he reached the 3-point line, there's only seven seconds left on the clock. He wanted to throw a lob to Aaron for the second time but he saw that his teammate was heavily guarded.
Lucas decided to cut inside from the right wing and tried to sell to his defender that he was going for a backdoor play. Aaron saw this, so he ran from the left to the center of the paint because he thought Lucas was trying to drag an opponent away from the basket to free him up from the help defense.
The player guarding Lucas also thought this way so he got distracted which made him react a bit late when Lucas ran back and went to the right corner. Colin threw him the ball the exact moment he was about to reach the 3-point area. Lucas caught the ball easily with his "70 points" hands.
There is only 3 seconds left when he received the ball. He wanted to shoot it quickly but his defender recovered from being distracted earlier. The opponent ran and jumped immediately to block his shot.
So Lucas did what he and his friends from the previous life considered the coldest fake shot they'd ever seen. Ray Allen's fake pump against Danny Green in a Heat-Spurs game that he remembered from his past life. After making his defender fly by, he calmly shot the ball. The buzzer sounded as it flew in the air. He turned around after shooting the ball, like what Stephen Curry does before it goes in. The ball swished through the net. The guy looked at him with disbelief in the eyes but he just showed the "MJ shrug" and angered his opponent.
He jogged to their bench before it could turn into a fight. Colin, Brent and Brandon met him halfway and gave him high fives. Aaron tap the back of his head and praised him for the great play he did.