Once Aaron and the rest of the Royals team saw how Maurice was taken off the court, they already guessed what was going to happen next.
"Friend," Omar was going to start saying toward Aaron, who simply turned quickly.
"Concentrate on the game," was the last thing Aaron said toward Omar and his teammates.
Aaron knew he didn't have time to worry about whatever was going to happen to Maurice; his only priority right now was the game that was taking place and that they were in the final minutes of the 3rd quarter.
53-37 current score.
"The Royals team is leading by an advantage of more than 10 points!" Jerry roared into the microphone, narrating the last moments that had happened in the match.
"I'll say, Jerry, but what worries me is the loss of Barrows after his foul against Albert," Logan explained, giving at the same time his own analysis of the situation that was happening on the court.
"You can say whatever you want about him, but we cannot deny his offensive power in the tactical scheme of the Royals and Coach Arbitello," Jerry followed, sharing his point of view of the situation.
"Last year he was the Mr. New York player and leader in points with an average of 21 points at the end of last season, leading the Royals to win the title," Logan finalized so that the eyes of all the spectators concentrated on what was happening on the court.
Taking advantage of the moment, the Vikings began to concentrate their game on the right sideline where Maurice used to be and the substitute had just entered the court without having fully warmed up at that moment.
At a certain moment of the game, Jeff was in possession of the ball in the middle of the court and, giving a quick look at the whole court, he immediately set his eyes on the right side of the court where the substitute forward of the Royals team was located.
"Perfect," Jeff thought while he raised his hand and made a signal with his fingers which was received by his teammates.
Quickly Jeff decided to run, leaving Corey briefly surprised at that and turning as fast as possible in an attempt to block his path in the direction of his hoop.
But Jeff, foreseeing that, quickly passed the ball toward Sidney, who then passed it toward Brooks under the post while he was blocked by Dominykas in the low post.
While both fought in the paint, neither noticed how Jeff quickly approached the perimeter of the hoop to then receive the ball from Brooks and, without interference, take a shot which entered the basket.
53-40 current score.
"And the Vikings shorten the distance!!" Jerry shouted into the microphone while the people who supported the Vikings shouted in celebration and support toward their team, hoping that their team managed to reduce the lead or even turn the game around.
After that, Coach Arbitello quickly requested a timeout while his players quickly approached him, ready to listen to the tactical arrangements the coach would have.
"Very well, boys, attention," the coach said quickly without wasting any second, knowing the little time they had to be able to maintain their lead and prevent the Vikings team from continuing to score.
"How are you, Dominykas?" the coach asked quickly toward his player, who was completely sweaty and with labored breathing, a clear sign of how exhausting this game had been for him.
"I can continue, coach," Dominykas said quickly, not willing to let the coach take him off the court in the final moments of the match.
"Don't force yourself; I will take you out for what remains of the game," the coach said, causing Dominykas's look to change immediately upon hearing that.
"Coach, I…" Dominykas began, but stopped talking the moment he saw the coach raising his hand in a clear sign that no matter what he said, the decision was already taken.
Knowing that nothing he said would make the coach change his mind, Dominykas wisely decided to remain silent and follow the coach's orders.
"Reed," was the next person Coach Arbitello addressed, who quickly focused on the boy sitting a few seats further down from Dominykas.
"Play as center for what remains of the game," was the first thing the coach said toward the boy, who simply nodded his head quickly, complying with the coach's order.
Without saying another word to him, he quickly turned toward Roland to give him orders and indications for the game, leaving Aaron to assimilate the news.
"Friend," Omar began to say excitedly toward his friend, but he kept the words to himself upon seeing the look of seriousness on his friend's face.
"I need your help," was the first thing Aaron said toward Omar while he brought his hand to his mouth and spoke in a low voice to his friend near his ear.
After Omar finished listening to what his friend had told him, he simply raised his thumb toward him. "Don't worry, I got it," he finished saying with an excited tone in his voice.
Once he finished talking to Omar, he immediately turned toward Corey and repeated the same indications he had told Omar seconds before.
"Will it work?" Corey couldn't help but question toward Aaron.
"You trust me," Aaron responded with security in his voice toward a Corey who was hesitant.
"If you say so," was the last thing he said with a shrug, knowing that either way they had a great lead on the scoreboard.
"Piii," the sound of the whistle was heard throughout the court, indicating that the timeout had ended and that the players should return to their respective sides of the court.
The reaction of the Vikings players was immediate upon seeing the changes the Royals had made in their timeout.
"No way," Brooks said to none of his teammates in particular upon seeing who had positioned himself in the center.
"Seriously, he can play center?" Sidney asked into the air, not knowing whether to believe what he was seeing.
"Concentrate!!" Jeff's voice quickly snapped each of his teammates out of their stupor. "It doesn't matter if he plays as center or not; we still have to cut a 10-point lead," he said in a grave tone, making seriousness return to his teammates' faces.
Focusing quickly, the Vikings team began to circulate the ball among themselves with quick passes with the objective of quickly going through the man-to-man marking of the Royals players.
Once past the fence and entering the perimeter, the ball was quickly received by Jeff, who quickly positioned himself in an orthodox shooting stance ready to shoot, but before that, Omar quickly planted himself in front of him, preventing him from shooting the ball.
"Tscht," clicking his tongue, Jeff quickly pulled the ball back toward him while he looked for a way to get over Omar or pass the ball.
But Omar, with his arms open and putting his body in front of Jeff, practically obstructed Jeff's shooting possibilities due to their height difference.
Without having possibilities for a clean shot, Jeff quickly passes it toward Brooks, who was in the center of the paint, who once with the ball turned and jumped as high as he could to do a dunk in front of the hoop.
Before the ball entered through the hoop, a hand struck against it, causing the ball to rebound and be quickly picked up by Roland, who turned quickly and ran toward the other side of the court.
Once Brooks was on the ground, he saw the back of player number 15 with the word Reed above the number, who without looking back simply moved up the court to follow the play along with his teammates.
That was something Aaron learned to do, and that is that knowing he physically couldn't compete against more physical centers than him, he could beat them by taking advantage of his high IQ to be able to tip the ball at the right moment to block a shot.
Roland, with the ball in possession, was quickly reached by the Vikings players, who retreated at the right moment to avoid leaving him an easy path, causing his run to stop briefly.
Without losing any second, Roland passed it quickly to Corey so he could organize the play while he sought to get open and manage to get a better space through which to score.
Corey moved up with the ball based on dribbles and quick moves until, once in the paint, he passed the ball behind him where Aaron was located.
Without any player marking him, Aaron calmly got into shooting position and jumped as high as he could and released the ball, which headed immediately toward the hoop, entering cleanly.
"Silence" was how the stadium was until the loud roars of the crowd broke it, causing the stadium to enter a state of ebullition.
56-40 current score.
"Incredible, incredible," Jerry kept saying into the microphone while Logan brought his hands to his head in a sign of incredulity at what he had just seen.
"I never thought I'd see something like this in a player who plays center; he launched a long-distance shot from outside the 3-point line," Logan narrated to the enthusiastic crowd that shared the same feeling as him.
"It's not just the fact that it's abnormal, but also the precision that such a shot entails, something not many players would dare to attempt; a boy of only 14 just did it," Logan quickly added.
On the other hand, in the stands where Melissa, Paola, and Hector were sitting:
"That's my son!" Melissa shouted with her hands over her mouth, letting herself be carried away by the emotion that was brewing inside the whole stadium.
"That's my nephew!" Paola shouted right after her, standing up as well and applauding loudly along with the din of the crowd.
After that shot, Aaron was quickly surrounded by his teammates who began to celebrate with him.
"Friend, you did it," Omar said frantically, still processing that shot his friend just launched against the hoop.
"I can't believe you pulled it off," was the only thing that came out of Corey's mouth.
While he remembered how a few seconds ago Aaron had shared that idea with both, to which Corey presented his doubts, which were erased as soon as he made that shot.
"Defense!" Aaron now shouted, heading quickly to his side of the court followed by his teammates.
Quickly the Vikings team made a long pass toward Jeff, who ran as fast as he could once he saw Aaron score, quickly seeking to score a point before the Royals team managed to defend their side of the court.
With long strides, Aaron quickly managed to reach Jeff, arriving to interrupt his run while his teammates quickly positioned themselves in defense.
Jeff quickly attempted to get open based on dribbles, but Aaron was not fooled and continued marking Jeff, who, seeing how he couldn't pass him, attempted a step-back, retreating quickly to jump and shoot, but Aaron managed to touch the ball with his fingers, making its trajectory deviate from its course and rebound, the rebound being captured by Omar, who quickly passed it to Aaron while running toward the Vikings' side of the court.
With the ball in his hand, Aaron quickly began to slow down the rhythm of the game while he headed toward the other court.
Calmly he continued advancing but was quickly marked by Brooks, who had to try to prevent another long-distance shot.
But Aaron didn't do that; instead, he continued advancing, running closely followed by Brooks, but once he entered the paint, his defensive pressure grew, being heavily marked.
In 그 situation, Aaron was with his back to the hoop, but without losing calm, he made a pass behind his back toward Omar, who had approached, to then jump and slam the ball into the hoop.
58-40 current score.
After that, the looks of bewilderment were immediate while Aaron headed back toward his side of the court.
"The show has just begun," Aaron thought with an excited smile on his face.
Authors thought's
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