Emily

Mo called after supper. “We won the game you missed, but coach’s not happy. Anyway, we’re playing the semis at noon tomorrow. How did your singing go?” “Great. It was hell to get there in time, and I’m sure I smelled like a dirty locker room, but nobody seemed to mind. I knew I could count on you guys to have my back.” At breakfast her mother was laughing at a photograph in the Morris County Record “Look, Ems. You guys made the front page.” The picture was of the chorus. There she was, mouth open, sun glistening off her braces, her face shiny. She thought she looked terrible. She whispered, “Oh my God.” Her father said, “We need to put that in your scrapbook.” “Don’t you dare,” pleaded Emily. “I look awful.” “You look like you’re enjoying the singing,” said her mother. “I was, but look at my face. Tear it up.” “Not after all it took to get there,” said her father. Janet folded the paper and put it aside. “Pancakes sound good?” “Always,” replied Emily and John in unison. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN They were playing the team from Camden in the semifinal game. They were bigger than the Mauraders overall and very fast. As it turned out, they did not shoot well. The Mauraders patiently waited for good shots when they got the ball, and won the game going away. The finals drew a crowd of high school and college coaches. The Mauraders were playing a huge team from Flemington. Mo called them “amazons.” She said to Emily, “I watched them play for a few minutes yesterday. We’re gonna get bumped and thumped from start to finish. Make sure your bladder is empty.” Emily had laughed but took Mo’s advice. The game turned into a bruising battle in the lane and on the boards. As the shortest of the Mauraders’ “Bigs”, Emily was was playing a girl at least ten pounds heavier who kept trying to force her closer to the basket. Emily kept her hands away and used her hip to meet the bigger girl’s thrusts. The referees seemed to have no interest in penalizing either contestant. Rene and the other Mauraders’ “water bugs” had a distinct speed advantage. Often, they could beat the other team down the court for a layup when Mo or E got a clean rebound. At half time they were ahead by six, but E spent the whole ten minutes counting her bruises. She had ten hard won points for her pains. The Mauraders went into a zone defense with Mo and E on the back line, but the “amazons” tied the score early in the fourth quarter. Coach B got a time out. She said, “All right we have the ball and we’re going to keep it until we get an uncontested layup. We take no shots except an uncontested layup. Is that clear?” Rene dribbled down the center of the court, loosely guarded by an opponent. She stopped ten feet over the division line. Her guard backed off another three feet. After a few seconds their coach waved the guard forward. Rene was ready. She passed the ball to Roberta near the sideline, who was immediately double-teamed. Emily made herself available for a pass and whipped the ball to Rene in the corner. The big girl guarding Mo jumped out to guard her, and the guard passed to ball to Mo underneath. One uncontested layup in the bank. The “amazons” came down the court and forced a pass into the low post. Emily got a hand on the ball. Rene pounced on it. She eased the ball up the court as she had before. Emily yelled, “Watch the trap!” Sure enough, Renee’s guard tried to force her toward the sideline where two of her teammates waited just in the front court. Emily was free in the backcourt. Rene passed her the ball. She whipped it to Mo at the head of the key. The girl who contested the pass smacked Emily in the mouth as she followed through. Mo passed the ball to Roberta under the basket for another uncontested layup. Emily’s braces had torn up her lips when she got smacked. Blood rolled down her chin and dripped onto her uniform. A referee said, “You’ll have to leave the game to clean your shirt and stop the bleeding.” Coach B was furious. “My player gets smashed in the face, you don’t call a foul, and now you’re going to make her leave the game in this crisis? That’s bull.” The referee said, “Sorry we missed the foul, but she can’t play while she’s bleeding. It’s the rule. And you gotta change that shirt.” Meanwhile the gloved Montclair State trainer was wiping the blood off Emily’s face and stuffing her mouth with cotton rolls to prevent more. Emily's mouth hurt like hell and her eyes were still watering. Coach B grabbed one of their subs and said, “Your chance to contribute. Get out in the hall and change shirts with E. Fast!” They got it done while Coach gave the scorer Emily’s new number. In the last seconds of the timeout Coach B warned, “They'll use an organized press now, with one of their bigs guarding the basket. We’re up four with three minutes left. We’re faster than they are, but always need to move toward the ball. No lazy passes. No dribbling into traps. Take care of the ball and only shoot uncontested layups.” The “amazons” came down, got the ball inside, and took a short jump shot. The ball went in, and Emily was charged with a foul trying to block the shot. The four-point lead was suddenly one. The “amazons” did press. The Mauraders were quick enough and practiced enough to get the ball into the front court without difficulty, where they held the ball, but were closely guarded. An “amazon” guard got a hand on the ball, and it bounced off Rene’s foot. After a huge scramble, the officials called a held ball. The “amazons” had the throw-in. Again, they worked for an inside shot. Mo blocked it, but also fouled the shooter. The game clock showed one minute. The girl made the first shot to tie the score. Coach B asked for their last time out. She said only one word, “Rebound.” The player missed the second foul shot, but the shooter recovered the rebound. She took a jump shot. Emily leaped and blocked it. The ball hit the floor and Rene grabbed it. Coach B yelled, “Just run the offense.” They did, but the guards were tough, and the referees let them play. As the clock approached zero, they got the ball to Mo down on the block. She took a contested jump hook. The ball hit the backboard, then bounced off the rim. Emily leaped for the rebound. She pushed it back toward the hoop just before her arm was nearly torn off. She heard the whistle and the horn as she hit the floor and the cotton flew out of her mouth.