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that had taken them all the way to the second round of the playoffs last year.

To make matters worse, the referees seemed to be living in the Pistols’ back pocket. Either that, or they were affected with a sort of selective blindness.

Half of the players on the Badgers were sporting some injury or other from vicious blocks and charges, and the Refs hadn’t seen a thing. Or if they had, the

Badgers were called for the foul. Barely through the first quarter, the first Badger had already fouled out, and several others were on their third.

One look at Dylan and Hodge knew they were in for it during the half. The coach was not amused, and she spent half her time pacing back and forth, and

the other half with her arms crossed over her chest, shooting dirty looks onto the court. Cat got caught in that laser-like glare and resolved not to look to

the sideline for the rest of the half for fear of being incinerated on the spot.

She took the inbounds pass and dribbled it to half court. Things were looking good until she bounced passed the ball to where Coles was supposed to be.

Instead, a hulking mass received the pass pretty as you please and rifled it off to her point guard. “Shit!” Cat yelled, backpedaling in an effort to keep up

with the Pistols’ point guard. It was a useless effort, and Cat flung her hands outward as the player she was guarding hit a three point shot with no effort

at all.

The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the half. The Badgers hustled off the court to their locker room. Cat looked up into the crowd. It was clear they

were disappointed by the fact that their team was now sixteen points behind, but she was relieved to see that they weren’t leaving en masse.

In the locker room, everyone took a seat on the long benches, wiping their necks and heads with towels as they waited for the appearance of their coach.

Cat looked around, seeing the dismal expressions on the faces of her teammates. It was as if they were awaiting execution.

A moment later, Dylan strode in, her face an angry mask. “Somebody want to explain to me exactly what was going on out there? I thought I came to coach

a basketball game, but obviously, I was mistaken”

Cat couldn’t even look at her coach. She figured it was in her best interest just to listen, because if she looked up and saw disappointment in Dylan’s face

it would kill her.

“Did you guys not get enough rest last night? You’re playing like crap. You’re letting a second rate team beat you on your own turf. I know you guys are

better than this. What’s the problem?”

No one was brave enough to answer so Dylan continued. “You’re playing like a high school team!” Her lancing gaze zeroed in on one particular player. “You

decided to join the WWF, Chaney? Jesus! They’re not scoring enough points on their own, so you decided to give them a couple for free??”

“You saw that charge, Coach!” the guard responded, nursing her rapidly blackening left eye. “Hell, everyone in the stands saw it!”

“And that gave you the right to make like Mike Tyson and clean her clock?”

“Damn straight,” Chaney agreed. “Bitch had it coming.”

“So, you thought it was worth a Technical.”

“Well…”

“Good answer, Chaney. Did your self-promotion to team thug come with a decrease in IQ?”

“C’mon, Coach. The refs are killing us out there!”

The rest of the team muttered their assent.

“Oh, so that’s it, huh?” Dylan asked, continuing to pace. “The refs are playing favorites, and you’ve decided to just give up. Is that the way we’re playing it

now?”

There was some muted grumbling, but no one had the guts to answer outright.

“Fine. Well then, hit the showers. I’ll go tell the refs that we’re forfeiting the game. Our fans don’t deserve the torture of a second half of this shit you call

playing.” She stared at them all. “Well? Go on. Get changed.”

As she turned, Cat’s voice broke the silence. “Coach….”

Dylan turned back, pinning Cat with her glare. “You have something to add, Catherine? You haven’t added much during the game.”

Cat flushed at the rebuke, but held her ground. “I know coach. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not playing worth a damn. But…I’m not ready to give up yet. I

think we can win. I know we can. I’m asking for another chance to prove ourselves.”

Dylan’s eyes narrowed in challenge. “And how do you intend to do that?”

Cat took in a deep breath as she thought about her answer. “Look. I know I’ve got the least amount of professional experience here, but I also know what

it’s like to go up against a team of bruisers whose only skill is intimidation. I’ve been through my share of those games in high school and college. We

probably all have.”

Most of the players nodded.

“I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I know that I’m playing the way I am because I’m frustrated. And I also know that that is exactly what they want.

It’s why they’re doing it. And I think that they think of us as some second rate loser team that they can just bowl over with their tactics and we’ll run home

with our tails tucked between our legs.” Her eyes scanned the team, seeing grudging agreement in most of their faces. She smiled a little. “Face it, the

Badgers haven’t always had the best reputation.” Her face became serious. “But we’re not those Badgers anymore. We’re a different team with a different

attitude, and I’m going to try my best to play with that attitude for the rest of this game.”

An assortment of cheers came from the ranks.

“I think that we’ll all play better if we accept these two basic facts. The referees are blind, and our opponents are bullies. Accept those facts, deal with

them, and move past them. If we stick to our own game plan and don’t let their tactics affect us, they’ll be the ones getting frustrated before long.”

Dylan looked on, keeping a smile of pride from creeping onto her face by determination alone. Before her eyes, Catherine was fully becoming the leader

Dylan had known she would be. It was a wonderful sight.

When one of the timekeepers stuck her head in the room and told Dylan that it was time to return to the court, the coach stepped back and allowed a much

more enthusiastic team stream past.

Only then did a smile fully bloom on her face.

Back on the court, Cat was pleased to see that most of the crowd had remained despite the team’s horrible effort, and she vowed right then and there if

there was any way to pull this game out, she was going to do it for her team mates, her coaches and the fans.

She took the time to offer words of encouragement to other members of her team, and was pleased with the intent, confident looks she in turn received.

The second half began. It was blistering from the start. The Pistols started in with their old tactics of slash and burn, and the Badgers did their best to

ignore them.

There was a new sense of purpose and determination in the Badgers, and it was manifesting itself rather quickly. With Cat firmly manning the helm, they

managed to close the gap down to two points in the first seven minutes, though Coles, their best forward, picked up two quick fouls and had to sit out the

rest of the game.

Anya, the Ukrainian walk on, took over. She was used to the more physical play from her days in the World Leagues, and she handled the attacks on her

with grace and flair, quickly scoring a sweet three-pointer on a no-look pass from Cat that finally put the Badgers up by a point.

The crowd was on their feet when their team took the lead. The energy was crackling through the arena like small bolts of lightening and Cat could feel the