At first Isiah fell silent after hearing Donte speak. But a split second later and he started to laugh wildly "Hahaha! That was fucking hilarious, hahahaha!"

After he was done laughing the smile on his face disappeared so quickly that it would have made you question whether or not it was there in the first place.

​​

He glared at Donte "Don't get so full of yourself you little shit. You should know better than anyone else that your team's been riding Jaya's back like a fucking donkey.

County champs? Sure, maybe with that cold faced freak. But without him you guys are nothing more than a decent team with a few good players."

He then bumped him with his shoulder as he walked past him. Donte was left behind gripping his fist tightly as his whole body trembled slightly.

'He's right, Jaya isn't just the heart of the team. He's the brains and the spirit behind us. It's so obvious that even players from other teams see it.

So there's no way that the guys on our own team don't know. And yet... and yet...' Donte's expression got even fiercer as he thought back to what had happened just a little over an hour ago.

The image of the other seventh graders backing away despite the fact that Jason had taken it upon himself to stand up for Coach Swendel and the team infuriated Donte.

'I thought they were different because we were all part of the same team. But they're just the same as everyone else.'

As he was lost in his thoughts Kyle walked over and patted him on the shoulder "You good bro? Come on, the ref reviewed the footage and you need to shoot some free throws."

Donte nodded his head before moving to the free throw line. He quickly sank the first shot but the second shot was a bit too far to the left as it bounced off the rim.

His team was cheering him up and telling him not to mind but he couldn't help but be angry at himself.

For the first few possessions the game was fairly close as the rest of the starting lineup had to get used to playing without Jason.

But as the boys all got used to each other their superior talent began to create a gap between Jefferson and Nashton Academy.

At the end of the first quarter Jefferson had the lead with a score of 26 to 15. Some would have expected Jefferson to experience a huge drop off in terms of their offensive firepower since they were missing Jason.

But the biggest drop off for Jefferson actually came on the defensive end of the ball as they no longer had Jason to take command and lead their defense.

Kyle was still playing his role as a paint deterrent and rim protector but they were now more susceptible to backdoor cuts and shooters getting open off of screens.

Thankfully their superior offensive talent carried them as Danilo dominated out on the perimeter as well as down low on the block.

With his ability to knock down open jumpers as well as create his own scoring opportunities from the post Danilo became the focus of the offense in the first quarter.

While his brother Alex contributed by focusing his attention on defending Nashton Academy's best offensive player Isiah.

He did his best sticking with his defensive assignment and contesting all of his shots but he just didn't have the defensive stopping power that Jason had.

Although he was forced to take some tough shots Isiah showed why he was the star player of a team that managed to reach the county finals.

He hit tough shot after tough shot while also passing the ball to his open teammates on occasion. But it was clear that he wasn't a natural born play maker as his first instinct was to score the ball.

As the second quarter came to a start Jefferson made a small change in their lineup as they swapped out Donte for DJ.

While Nashton Academy took out Isiah and subbed him with one of their reserve players. In fact except for their starting Center they had subbed all of their starters with their reserves.

As the quarter went on it was clear that Nashton Academy had decided to trade offense for defense as their scoring took a hit.

But in return their defense experienced a small boost as they began to slow down Jefferson's offense.

On the sidelines Coach Swendel was biting his nail as he watched the game. He looked at his players and saw that their breathing was getting rough.

'Shit, they're already getting gassed. Well I guess that's to be expected. They've been playing for a quarter and a half straight.'

After a bit of miscommunication between the boys out on the court Jefferson allowed an easy layup off of a pick and roll. Coach Swendel signaled for a timeout.

With the boys gathered around him Coach Swendel clapped his hands "Good job out there guys. You guys are playing hard just keep it up.

For the last half of the quarter we'll have the starters take a break as we send out some of the reserve guys.

All you have to do is play some tough defense and try to keep Nashton from scoring as many buckets as possible.

Don't worry about offense. It's okay if we have to swing the ball a few extra times and reset the offense.

The main thing is slowing down Nashton Academy and giving the starters some rest. Understood?" All of the boys nodded before yelling out "Yes Coach!"

Coach Swendel gave a nod before turning to Donte "You're going to be the primary ball handler and main offensive weapon for this last half. You ready?"

Donte gripped his fist by his side 'Am I really ready to lead? I've always had Jaya or DJ with me whenever I've had to lead the second unit.'

Subconsciously he turned his head to where Jason was sitting. Jason smiled before raising his hand and giving a thumbs up.

Donte gulped 'I can do this. If he thinks I'm ready then I must be.' Donte nodded his head before looking Coach Swendel straight in the eyes "I'm ready Coach."

The clock buzzed indicating that the timeout was done. Jefferson sent out Donte at Point Guard, Vince at Power Forward, and Frank at Center.

The rest of the spots were given to some of the new seventh graders that joined the team at the same time as Donte, Frank, and Sam.

While Nashton Academy went back to their starting lineup as Isiah made his return to the court. It was now the opposing team's chance at offense as Jefferson got into position to play defense.

Since Alex was out of the game Donte became the new defender for Isiah since he was the best perimeter defender currently on the floor for Jefferson.

After getting hit with a hard screen Donte was forced to switch on to Nashton Academy's Big while Vince switched on to Isiah.

Isiah continued to drive to the basket as Vince trailed behind him. As he got close to the paint Isiah picked up his dribble.

Seeing this Vince loaded up as he prepared himself to block Isiah's shot. The two of them were in the air as Isiah raised the ball up in his right hand.

Vince swung his arm down in an attempt to block the shot. That was when Isiah brought the ball back down for the double clutch layup.

Isiah may have been able to see Vince in the corner of his vision but unfortunately what he couldn't see was Frank making his way over from the weak side.

Frank bent his knees before exploding off the floor using all the power in both of his legs. Coming from behind he pinned the ball to the backboard with both hands before coming back down with the ball in his possession.

He quickly passed the ball up the court to Donte who began to sprint down the floor for the fast break.

But before he could get far Isiah had caught up to him and began to press him with his defense. Seeing that he was being slowed down by a defender one of the seventh graders clapped his hands as he called for the ball.

Donte ignored him as he tried to get past Isiah. By the time he managed to cross half court the fast break opportunity was already gone as Nashton Academy had now set up for defense.

Donte called for a screen from Vince. He came out to the perimeter and set a screen on Donte's left. Donte began to drive in that direction forcing Isiah into Vince's screen.

As Donte drove toward the basket Vince flared out to the perimeter pulling the opposing Big with him.

Before he could all the way to the paint Isiah and another one of Nashton Academy's defenders trapped him close to the baseline.

Isiah and his teammate pressured Donte with their double team. Donte struggled to find a passing route to get rid of the ball.

He looked out at Vince and saw that he was being denied by Nashton's Big while Frank was being fronted by his defender out in the paint.

That was when Donte heard a familiar voice calling out to him "Right here! I'm open!" Donte turned his head toward the corner but sneered when he saw who it was.

It was one of the seventh graders 'Like hell I would trust you, fucking piece of shit.' Seeing as how he was close to having the ball stripped away from him Donte threw a pass to Frank.

The pass was aimed up high in an attempt to get over the defender fronting Frank. But because of his bad position there wasn't much he could do as his defender stole the pass before he could catch it.

Nashton Academy then took advantage of the live ball turnover as they scored an another easy layup off of the fast break.

The seventh grader walked up to Donte "Bro, I was wide fucking open! Why the hell did you try to force the pass to Frank."

Donte snorted "Maybe there's a reason why you were so fucking open." The seventh grader furrowed his brows "What the fuck did you say!?"

The seventh grader grabbed Donte by the collar of his jersey. Luckily Vince was close by and was able to jump in quickly.

He made his way in between the two before separating them "Hey, it was one bad play. Let's chill out aight?"

The seventh grader reluctantly let go of Donte as the two walked away from each other without saying another word.

Despite what Vince had said that play wasn't just one bad play. Instead it would be the beginning of Jefferson's slide.

For the last half of the second quarter Jefferson would lose much of their lead as their team seemingly lost all of their chemistry.

One bad play followed another both on offense and defense. As the second quarter finally came to a close the score was now 40 to 32.

With the first half of the game done Jefferson made their way to the locker room. As soon as the doors were closed some of the seventh graders began to fire off their complaints.

"What the hell Donte!?" "Are you fucking blind bro!?" "If you want to play hero ball you need to make sure you're actually good enough to do it." "You ain't Jaya dude."

Donte threw his sports bottle at the wall "Shut the fuck up!" Everyone went silent. No one had ever seen Donte show so much emotion before.

Donte grit his teeth "You expect me to trust you pieces of shit after that fucking stunt you pulled before the game!?"

Donte pointed to the seventh grader that grabbed his jersey during the game "Who was the first one to pull up when you said that you was being fleeced by your neighborhood thug!?

Oh, you forgot how to talk huh? In case you forgot, it was fuckin Jaya!" He then pointed to another seventh grader.

"Who was the first one at Crest View High when you told us that your older sister was getting hit on by a creepy ass Senior? That was fuckin Jaya!"

Donte then scanned the room as he glared at all of the other seventh graders "Whenever you sad pieces of shit need something you quick as fuck to call Jaya.

But what did y'all do when he was stickin his neck out for us and for Coach Swendel?" The seventh graders all looked down as they couldn't say a thing.

Donte sneered as he took a seat in his chair "If you was one of those bozos who stepped back like a lil ass bitch then don't even bother saying anything.

Cause now I know who really a part of the team and who just dressin up and playin pretend."