Unknown - Driven_589066

Lightning lead to four points. Very impressive.”

“That was a very impressive pass, Ted. Not many women in the league have the arm strength to throw the ball that hard and that far down the court,

especially with such pinpoint perfection.”

“Could be why she’s the Goddess and the rest of us are just mere mortals, Lori…. Holloway takes the pass and hands it to Race. Race tosses a long cross

court pass to Stephenson who dishes it to Blevins. Blevins starts in, then steps back. Hodges is all over her like cheap perfume tonight. Looking…looking…she

dishes off to Holloway, back to Race who resets the play. Race fakes to Stephenson, then bounce passes to Toomey who’s in the paint. She lays it up…it

bounces off the rim, and back in again for two points. The luck of the Irish was with her on that one. The lead is back up to six with time slowly counting

down.

“Chaney takes the pass from Anya and hands it off to Hodges. Hodges dribbles freely down the court, setting up her play. She passes to Cooper at the top of

the key. Cooper turns and fires one over the heads of everyone, right into the hands of Lambert, who’s being extremely closely guarded by Stephenson.

There’s a little pushing and shoving. Lambert dribbles, nice crossover, moves to her left, off a nice pick by Chaney, who rolls back, takes the pass from

Lambert and shoots a midrange jumper that sails through for two and the lead, yet again, is back down to four.”

“Pick and roll, baby. Pick and roll. I’ll be doin that to you allll night, meat.”

“Go fuck your mother some more, bitch,” was Stephenson’s smart retort.

“Nah, she doesn’t scream for it like yo mama do, meat.”

“There’s some trash talking going on down there, Ted, between Chaney and Stephenson. Apparently, Chaney’s taken exception to the Enforcer’s treatment

of her teammate and coach. Lambert moves in and pulls Chaney away, settling her player down somewhat.”

“Stephenson flicks a lazy pass to Toomey, who puts it down on the ground and is pickpocketed by Hodges. Oh, what a beautiful move. She’s dribbling down

the court, tailed by Lambert and Chaney. Passes to Chaney, who dishes it off to Lambert who goes over the head of Stephenson for a JAM, ladies and

gentlemen! The first dunk of the season, and it comes in this semifinal match.”

“That was a thing of beauty, Ted, and the look on Stephenson’s face right now…well…if revenge is a dish best served cold, she just got a heapin’ helpin’ of

ice cubes shoved right down her shorts.”

“Stephenson isn’t very happy with events, Ted. She’s stalking after Lambert, who has her back turned and…oh! Stephenson gets absolutely bulldozed by

Chaney and Hodges! Lambert steps in again, grabbing the two guards by the back of their jerseys while Toomey and Holloway restrain Stephenson who

looks like she’s ready to do some serious damage right about now.”

“The officials have stepped in. Let’s see if they’re going to assess some technicals to these players. Fighting is very frowned upon in the league after last

year’s debacle that cost Myrna Hamilton her sight. No…looks like they’re just going to let play resume. I guess that was a warning shot over the bow, Lori.”

“Well, no fists were thrown, so I’m guessing they’re going by the letter of the law here, Ted. I’m not sure I like what that says about tonight’s officials,

though.”

“Look,” Dylan said, hands still full of jersey, “I appreciate what you’re both trying to do, but you need to let me handle this my own way, alright?”

“She’s tryin’ to kill you out there, Coach!” Chaney protested. “Motherfucker!”

“I understand that. But if either of you gets ejected, we are going to lose this game. So just keep your cool and let me handle Stephenson, alright?”

“How’s your knee?” Cat asked.

“My knee is fine,” Dylan replied through gritted teeth. “You’re the team captain, Cat. Start acting like one and not like a thug, alright?”

Cat blinked, stung by her lover’s words. “But—.”

“I’m serious, Cat. You let me worry about Stephenson. You worry about this team.”

“But you’re part of this team!”

“Yeah, I am. A small part.” She sighed. “Listen, Cat. I can handle her. She’s nothing but an overgrown bully who thinks she’s the top dog in the pen. You two

start acting like dogs, she’s gonna come after you. Let me handle this, alright?”

Dejected, both women nodded. “We gotcha, Coach,” Chaney said, eyeing her sneakers and looking oddly adolescent. “We’ll back off.”

“Alright, then. Let’s go play some ball.”

“Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s less than two minutes to go in the second half of play, and the Badgers, true to their name, have come out scrapping.

Stephenson’s intimidator tactics have been neutralized by Lambert, courtesy of several spectacular shots right over the big woman. Looks like the

intimidator has become the intimidated. Gathers is back in in her normal position as the Lightning, to pull this off, need all the firepower they can get.

Badgers ahead by three, and the Lightning have the ball.

“The Badgers have shifted into a one-three-one trap type defense whose sole purpose is to get the ball out of Blevins’ hands. Gathers inbounds to Race, who

heads for the paint, fakes a shot, fakes a pass, then moves in again, dodging and dipping her way through the larger bodies. She lays it up. It hits the front

part of the rim and bounces straight up. Lambert and Gathers go for the rebound. Lambert grabs it and uses her sharp elbows to clear out a space for

herself. She passes to Chaney, who loses the handle.

“Toomey picks it up and shoots from the key. Scores! The lead is now cut to one with…less than a minute to play. Perfect foul situation for the Lightning.”

“Yes, just don’t foul Hodges, who is the Badgers’ best free throw shooter at seventy eight percent from behind the line.”

“Lambert takes the ball out of bounds, guarded heavily by Gathers and Holloway. Race and Blevins are all over Hodges, and Chaney breaks free, wide open.

Lambert sees her, but can’t get the pass off.

“The ref is counting down the final seconds. Lambert lifts the ball, and throws it at the belly of Gathers. The ball bounces off of her and out of bounds. Good

play to keep possession by Lambert.”

“It was a gutsy call, Ted. Gathers could have easily caught that and scored the lead basket. Lambert was lucky that time.”

“There’s a switch behind the endline as now Toomey handles the ball. Chaney sets a pick for Hodge’s defender, springing the point guard, who catches the

pass with sure hands. Turning, she sees Lambert streaking down the sideline all alone, and as the clock begins to wind down, she launches an airball as hard

and as high as she can make it.

“The ball lands in Lambert’s hands at the apex of her jump and she JAMS it through. The perfect alley oop schoolyard play, but in this case, it worked to

perfection. The lead’s back up to three.

“The Lightning race back and get the ball. The seconds are ticking down. Gathers manages to get a pass off to Blevins who is immediately fouled by

Chaney.”

“A good call, Ted. The Badgers are just at their team limit, and Blevins can sometimes be inconsistent with her free-throws.”

“It’s a one and one situation, here as Blevins steps up to the line and receives the ball. She dribbles, looks, and shoots. The ball rattles around the rim, then

goes through, cutting the lead to two.

“Pretty much everybody in the house knows this is going to be a deliberate miss, Ted. It’ll be interesting to see what the Badgers have planned. Lambert