"And here we are back with the second half of the match that will decide the champion of the national division," Logan said through the microphone, provoking cheers from the public in response.
"Don't even say it, Logan; the match so far has been very close, with both teams unwilling to throw in the towel yet," Jerry said quickly, generating more expectation for the spectators.
"For those who are just arriving, let me tell you that we are witnessing one of the closest games that have been played in these 3 days of the tournament, with both teams almost tied on the scoreboard, ending the first half with a score of 35-37 respectively," Jerry continued, roaring through his microphone, anxious for the most exciting second half.
"It seemed like the Kangaroos were going to take the trophy home, but everything changed when..." Logan continued until he was interrupted by his broadcasting partner who just shouted: "Aaron Reed!! Despite his injury, he showed why he is the revelation player in this tournament," Jerry shouted like a total fan, having been won over by the performances Aaron had put on throughout the tournament to date.
"You took the words right out of my mouth, my friend; Aaron is undoubtedly a player everyone will be talking about once this tournament ends, and who knows, maybe he'll even be the tournament MVP," Logan finished saying, returning his attention to the action taking place on the court.
Both teams wasted no time and returned to the fast pace of the game, where the sound of their shoes screeched against the hardwood of the court and the players ran from one corner to the other, fighting for possession of the ball.
"They are playing differently," was Aaron's first thought upon seeing how the Kangaroos team stopped retreating so much and began passing the ball faster, opting to control the ball for longer and finishing with passes inside the paint.
At one point, the Kangaroos' point guard managed to break free from Omar's marking and continued heading toward the other side of the court, where Brooks was seen entering the paint and starting to bother Aaron, who was under his team's hoop. "What is he doing?" he thought, puzzled, since that wasn't how the Kangaroos team had been playing in the first half.
Seeing Jerry getting unmarked again and heading toward the perimeter, the entire Royals team wasted no time and headed toward him, ready to surround him before he could shoot the ball against the hoop; but while everyone was doing that, Aaron was the only one who stayed glued to Brooks, sensing there was something else they hadn't seen.
And Aaron's feeling was not entirely wrong, since at that moment the Kangaroos' point guard, instead of passing the ball to Jerry, continued forward, advancing more and more until he approached the perimeter—something Aaron could not allow.
Immediately, he closed in on him to prevent him from launching a 3-point shot, getting in front of him and jumping the moment he saw him get into position to shoot; but it seems that was exactly what the point guard was looking for, because at that moment he took the opportunity to pass the ball to Ralph, who calmly slammed the ball against the hoop.
37-37, tied score.
"And the Kangaroos tie the score with a resounding dunk by Ralph Hobbs," Jerry said into the microphone.
"You have to give credit to Reed; seeing that the point guard was in the perfect position for a 3-point shot, anyone in his position would have opted to cover him, leaving Hobbs aside," Logan said, defending Aaron's action.
"I'm not saying otherwise, but after all, Reed was only one against two people who knew how to take advantage of the lead inside the paint and tie the score, leaving the game in suspense as to who the winner will be," Jerry finished saying.
Grabbing the ball quickly, Aaron wasted no time and passed it to Omar while shouting in the direction of the whole team, "Counter!" and immediately set off running toward the other side of the court.
Omar, seeing his friend, wasted no time and also began to head toward the other side of the court with the ball in hand, while the Kangaroos' players got into defensive position with individual marking; meanwhile, one approached Omar, causing him to stop briefly.
Passing the ball between his legs, Omar wasted no time and passed the ball to Maurice, who turned, getting rid of the player behind him, while another one, seeing that, approached in his direction to steal the ball; but Maurice, thanks to his superior strength, bumped slightly against him to continue advancing.
Reaching near the paint, Ralph immediately stood in front of him, imposing his height over Maurice's, who looked in all directions in search of a passing lane while the time on the possession clock ticked down every second.
"Here!" Aaron shouted, extending his hand, having unmarked himself enough to receive the ball quickly.
Scanning the court quickly and seeing that no one else was free, Maurice passed the ball to Aaron, who was immediately followed by the player who had previously marked him and by Ralph, who, seeing that he was very close to the paint, went in search of providing support to his teammate.
With the ball in his possession, Aaron wasted no time in heading straight toward the paint, being immediately intercepted by Ralph and the player behind him, causing him to be locked in a pincer move without an easy way out.
"You're trapped," Aaron heard Ralph say, who was trying to take the ball from his hands—hands that Aaron kept moving from one side to the other while his mind went a mile a minute looking for a possible solution, which he seemed to have found.
Flexing his knees slightly, Aaron jumped in what seemed to be a mid-range shot, being immediately followed by Ralph, who blocked the basket with his arms extended upward, blocking his shooting angle.
But Aaron didn't take a shot as most people would have expected him to; instead, taking advantage of his superior body control, he managed to adjust his position to make a pass to Corey, who was completely unmarked and who, upon receiving the ball, simply had to make a slight adjustment to shoot.
"Swish" was the clean sound the ball made as it went through the hoop.
37-40, current score.
As soon as Aaron saw the faces of Ralph and his teammates, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face while he retreated backward, saying, "Didn't see that coming, did you?" causing both players to shoot him a look of resentment.
"Don't just stand there, move!!" Jerry shouted in the direction of the two, who had stayed there still as statues; but the moment they heard Jerry's voice, they snapped out of their stupor, ready to get back into the game.
With ball possession this time, the Kangaroos wasted no time in moving up quickly with the ball while the Royals were already in defensive formation, knowing what to do.
This time they tried an approach through the edges, trusting their small forward/power forward who sought to take advantage of his physical lead to get closer toward the hoop; but since the paint was heavily protected, he eventually found himself hemmed in at the edge of the right corner of the court with Roland in front of him, blocking any possible escape route from that situation.
"Pass it!" Jerry shouted, having moved close enough to receive the pass from the power forward, who didn't hesitate to pass it to him, having no better option at that moment.
In possession of the ball, Jerry wasted no time and immediately got into position to shoot; but what he didn't count on was that Omar had also approached from a blind spot, placing himself right in front of him.
"Get off me," Jerry grunted, trying to get rid of Omar, who followed him no matter where Jerry tried to move.
Noticing that the possession time was running out and that he couldn't shake off the player in front of him, Jerry attempted a shot despite being uncomfortable with the pressure Omar was exerting.
Both jumped at the same time, with Omar raising his hands as much as he could in an attempt to interrupt Jerry's shot, which he managed to do; since his vision was blocked by Omar's hands, Jerry couldn't adjust his shot.
"Rebound!" someone had shouted, causing chaos inside the paint with all the players fighting to get the ball, the Kangaroos being the most desperate, not wanting the point difference to increase more than it already had.
But what none of the players saw was one who, despite his great height, slid like a ghost through all that crowd, with his eyes fixed on the ball and the way it had bounced off the rim, causing it to fly off right in the direction toward which he was approaching.
Jumping at the right moment, his large hands firmly secured the ball so that once his feet touched the ground, he shot off like an arrow being fired toward the other corner of the court at maximum speed, being followed frantically by the rest of the players, the gaze of the Kangaroos' players being one of complete desperation.
Once he is in the empty paint, he jumps with all his might, raising his right hand in which he firmly held the ball, and slams it hard against the opposing team's hoop, provoking the roar of the crowd inside the stadium.
"And Aaron Reed, with a spectacular solo run, finishes by slamming the ball with fury against the Kangaroos' hoop," Logan said excitedly.
"It's incredible!!!" Jerry roared immediately, expressing in words the emotions that everyone present was feeling at that moment.
"And we are not the only ones; look at how his teammates receive him," Logan continued saying, while on the court Aaron was surrounded by his teammates, who did not hesitate to hug him in a sign of complete excitement toward that dunk.
37-42, current score.
"Vamos mijo!!" a voice shouted in Spanish, causing the people around to pay attention to the woman who had her hands over her mouth and was shouting at the top of her lungs, clearly supporting the Royals team.
"Paola, please," Melissa said, slightly nervous as she saw how people began to look in her direction due to Paola's loud shouts.
"Come on, Melissa, did you see what he did?" Paola said, still excited to see her nephew in a solo performance running the whole court to finish by slamming the ball against the rival team's hoop.
"Yes, I saw it," Melissa said in a low voice, but with a proud smile on her face as she saw her son being surrounded by his teammates, who celebrated with him at the center of everyone.
Originally, Melissa had been worried that something bad could happen to him on the court, like in the last game when she saw him being knocked down and leaving the game holding his wrist; at that moment, she wanted to do nothing else but go down immediately to see her son.
And when Aaron had told her that he wanted to keep playing today's game, Melissa was completely furious, believing he was being unreasonable by not prioritizing his health over a simple game.
But it was the look he gave her and the passion with which he spoke about the game that let Melissa know that no matter what she said, Aaron was going to play this game regardless.
So Melissa did nothing but support his decision, even though inside she was a bundle of nerves imagining scenarios in which her son could get hurt more; but from how the game is going so far, it seems her son did keep his injury in mind, as he avoided by all means collisions or rough plays that would generate shoving, which deeply reassured Melissa.
Now what she was most concentrated on was the time remaining to be played, seeing that the 3rd quarter was about to end and that her son's team was only 8 minutes away from being crowned champions.
And she knew without a doubt that they would end up champions.
Authors thought's
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