TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Chapter 1: The New Kid

  Chapter 2: Old Friend, New Problem

  Chapter 3: Season Opener

  Chapter 4: Hard Throw

  Chapter 5: Worn Out

  Chapter 6: Salty

  Chapter 7: In It To Win It

  Chapter 8: A Long Weekend

  Chapter 9: Blowing It Again

  Chapter 10: Not Just Teammates

  Chapter 11: Getting Over It

  Author Bio

  Illustrator Bio

  Glossary

  Discussion Questions

  Writing Prompts

  More About Youth Sports

  Explore More

  Copyright

  Back Cover

  Cover

  Title Page

  Table of Contents

  Start of Content

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  Back Cover

  CHAPTER 1

  THE NEW KID

  Ricky Lau didn’t fit in at Bader Ginsburg Middle School.

  All the kids at BGMS had gone to Warren Elementary for the last six years. Ricky, on the other hand, had gone to a charter school across town. All his old friends now went to Chisholm Middle School. That included his best friend, Anthony Duran.

  That first Monday back from Thanksgiving break was the longest day yet. Outside, it was cold and windy. A driving, frozen rain pelted the school window.

  Ricky had spent the long weekend hanging out with his old friends. But now he was back among the new faces at BGMS.

  It was also the first day of basketball practice. To Ricky, any day with something great waiting at the end felt longest of all.

  By the time the last bell rang, Ricky was sure this day had already been three times as long as a normal day. He grabbed his bag and hurried through the hall toward the gym.

  “Hey, Ricky,” said someone behind him.

  It was Davis Cree, another sixth-grader. Ricky knew Davis about as well as he knew the other kids at his new school. That is to say, not very well at all.

  “Hi,” Ricky replied.

  He wasn’t expecting Davis to say much more to him. To Ricky’s surprise, though, Davis began walking beside him.

  “Basketball practice starts today,” Davis said.

  “I know,” Ricky said. “That’s where I’m headed right now.”

  “Me too!” Davis said, excited. “I didn’t know you played basketball.”

  Ricky nodded.

  “Noah, Levi, and Jerome will be there too,” Davis said. “Do you know them?”

  “Um, maybe,” Ricky said. “I think Levi is in Social Studies with me?”

  “Oh, yeah!” Davis said. “With us, you mean. I’m in Mr. Handel’s class too.”

  “Right,” Ricky said. “I know.” But the truth was that he had forgotten. He couldn’t keep all of these new people straight.

  They reached the double doors to the gym. Davis pulled one open. A warm draft of air that smelled like sweat and rubber balls wafted into the hallway. About fifteen boys dribbled, shot layups, or just goofed around on the court.

  The coach, Mr. Grosso, stood alone in the corner looking at his tablet computer.

  “Hey, guys!” Davis called as he sprinted into the gym. He joined a few other boys. Ricky recognized Levi among them, but the others seemed to blend together. He didn’t know any of their names.

  Ricky stood just inside the door and watched the other boys until Coach Grosso blew his whistle.

  “Alright, everyone!” Coach Grosso boomed. “Gather round.”

  The boys formed a circle around the coach. Ricky stood in the back, just outside the circle. He felt that was where he belonged.

  CHAPTER 2

  OLD FRIEND, NEW PROBLEM

  After five days of basketball practice, Saturday finally rolled around. Ricky woke up excited to meet his old friend Anthony at the community center to play some ball.

  “Ready for some b-ball?” his mom asked Ricky over breakfast. They stood together in the kitchen. She was eating cold cereal while Ricky chomped on a granola bar.

  “Yup,” Ricky said. “It’ll be great to see Anthony again.”

  “You just saw him last weekend!” Mom said, laughing.

  Ricky shrugged. “It was a long week,” he said as he washed his breakfast down with a gulp of milk. “See ya!”

  “Have fun,” Mom said. “And be home by one for lunch, okay?”

  “Can I bring Anthony?” Ricky asked.

  “Of course,” Mom said with a smile.

  With his basketball under his arm, Ricky hurried out the apartment door.

  The community center was only two blocks away. Ricky dribbled his ball all the way. He reached the center, and there was Anthony. His friend saw him coming and opened the door for him. Ricky dribbled right on through.

  “He makes a fast break right through the defense!” Ricky said as he dribbled through the community center lobby toward the gym.

  Anthony sprinted past him.

  “Duran loses three defenders and is open under the hoop!” Anthony shouted.

  “Lau finds Duran in the key,” Ricky announced as he fired the ball to his friend.

  Anthony caught it and took a shot. “Duran’s layup kisses the backboard and …”

  “Drops in for two!” Ricky finished.

  The friends high-fived. Then Anthony snatched the ball. “Ready for some hoops?”

  Anthony dribbled through his legs and around his back.

  “You know it,” Ricky said.

  Ricky couldn’t do the fancy dribbling, but he could always shut it down when Anthony did. Ricky darted forward, faked to his left, and then knocked the ball from Anthony’s possession in mid-dribble.

  It went through Anthony’s legs. Ricky darted past him, took the ball into a fast break, and laid it up on the opposite basket.

  “Four to nothing!” he shouted.

  “That didn’t count!” Anthony protested, laughing. “We haven’t started yet!”

  Ricky smiled. It was good to have a best friend to play b-ball with.

  After a few half-court one-on-one games, the boys sat against the wall to rest.

  “Practice started last week,” Anthony said. “Too bad you won’t be a Chaser this year with me and Seb and Chet.”

  Anthony, Seb, and Chet were Ricky’s best friends from his old school. He was jealous that they’d get to be on a team together. It wasn’t fair that Ricky had had to move to a different school and find new friends.

  “I know,” Ricky said with a sigh. “It’s a bummer. I joined the Badgers. We had practice all week. I think—”

  “Wait, what?” Anthony said. “The Badgers? That’s the team at your new school?”

  “The Bader Ginsburg Badgers,” Ricky said with a confused look. “Why?”

  Anthony stood up quickly. “Because we’re playing you next week,” he said, his face cold.

  “Oh, nice!” Ricky said. “I haven’t seen the schedule yet. It’ll be fun to play with you—”

  “With?” Anthony spat. “You mean against!”

  “Well, yeah,” Ricky stammered. “I guess—”

  “I gotta go,” Anthony said, heading for the exit. “If the guys knew I was playing with our competition, they’d kick me off the team.”

  “Are you serious?” Ricky called after him. He jumped to his feet and stepped toward the door, but Anthony was already through it.

  “See ya at the game, Badger!” Anthony shouted. The doors to the gym slammed behind him.

  CHAPTER 3

  SEASON OPENER

  The first game of the season came too soon. Ricky sat on the bench in the home-team locker room before the game with his new team. Everyone wore the same red and yellow shorts and tank tops. They listened to Coach Grosso go over the playbook.

  Ricky was still shaken by what had happened with Anthony. Would his best friend really just shove him aside because of a silly middle school rivalry?

  “You alright, Lau?” Coach Grosso asked.

  “Um, yeah,” Ricky said. “I’m fine.”

  “Good,” Coach sa id. “We’re going to need your head in the game out there, because I’m starting you at shooting guard.”

  “Thanks, Coach,” Ricky said.

  The coach called out the other four starters. Soon, the ref on the court blew his whistle.

  “Let’s play some basketball!” the ref said.

  Ricky jogged onto the court. He glanced into the stands. He spotted his mom and dad. They were sitting with Anthony’s parents. The four of them chatted and laughed. They didn’t seem to realize that their kids were now rivals.

  Ricky watched as the Chisholm Chasers hustled to the court for the tip-off. Seb and Chet both smiled at Ricky and gave him a friendly nod. Anthony squinted at Ricky.

  “You guys are going down,” Anthony said. “This is gonna be a blowout.”

  Ricky shook his head.

  Davis was the Badgers’ starting center. He got lined up for the tip-off.

  “Not a chance, bro,” he said with a grin.

  “Not your bro,” Anthony replied.

  The ref blew his whistle and tossed the ball up. Davis—easily the tallest player on the Badgers—got a hand on the ball and knocked it back to Levi.

  The Badgers hustled up the court while the Chasers fell back.

  Levi stalled at the top of the key. Ricky sprinted across the key and posted up. Levi found him in the corner. Anthony stepped over to defend him.

  Ricky faked a pass to Noah and then took three steps across the three-point line. Anthony fell for the fake pass. Ricky put up a shot for a swish and the game’s first two points.

  “That’s your last basket,” Anthony muttered to him. “I promise.”

  Ricky tried to ignore him, but the words stung. He had played with Anthony against other people before, and he’d heard him talk smack. But he’d never been the target of it.

  Ricky jogged back on defense and looked for his parents in the stands. They were cheering and clapping for him. Anthony’s mom and dad were showing thumbs-down and booing, but it looked like they were mostly kidding around. Ricky wondered if the attitude ran in the Duran family.

  Anthony tried to get loose from Ricky. He spun and cut across the key, then rolled out for the top of the key.

  The Chasers point guard fed Anthony a long pass.

  Ricky stepped hard in front of Anthony. He grabbed the pass, dribbled it with two steps toward the center line, and fired the ball to Levi.

  Levi took it to the far hoop, undefended, for an easy two. After less than two minutes of play, the score was 4–0, Badgers.

  As Ricky’s teammates high-fived each other, Anthony jogged past him to set up the next Chasers play. As he did, he kicked his sneaker against the wood floor in frustration.

  When halftime came around, the score was 32–25, with the Badgers still ahead.

  Ricky followed the other Badgers into their locker room. The other boys fist-bumped and slapped each other on the back.

  Ricky looked across the court as the Chasers went into the visiting-team locker room. Some of them looked pretty down. Others didn’t seem to care at all that they were losing.

  Anthony, though, stared at the ground. As he walked through the open door to the locker room, he gave it a mighty thud of anger with his fist.

  CHAPTER 4

  HARD THROW

  “Everyone’s looking great out there today,” Coach Grosso said. The boys stood around him in the locker room. As usual, Ricky stood to the side, leaning on the row of lockers.

  “Let’s not lose steam as we head into the next half,” Coach said. “Jerome and Ricky,” the coach went on, “I like the power you’re showing under the basket. Keep it up.”

  “Thanks, Coach,” Jerome said.

  Ricky nodded. “Okay,” he said.

  The team jogged out for the second half. Ricky hustled to the bench to drop his towel and water bottle. Anthony grabbed his wrist.

  “Hey,” Anthony said.

  “What?” Ricky replied.

  “You know you just got lucky that half,” Anthony said. “I’m way better than you. This half you’re gonna choke.”

  Ricky shook him off and joined his teammates on the court.

  “What was that all about?” Levi asked.

  “Nothing,” Ricky said. “He’s my best friend. He was just, um, wishing me luck.”

  “Cool,” Levi said with a nod.

  The whistle blew, and the second half began.

  Ricky heard his coach’s kind words echo in his mind: “I like the power you’re showing under the basket. Keep it up.”

  As he stayed close to Anthony, the Badgers’ lead stretched into double digits. Ricky recognized frustration and sadness on his friend’s face.

  Early in the fourth quarter, Davis grabbed an offensive rebound. He ducked under a couple of defenders and found Ricky as he cut across the top of the key.

  Ricky caught the pass and dodged around Anthony for the hoop. But at the last moment, he dribbled the ball off his own foot. Anthony grabbed the bad bounce and drove up the court. He passed the ball to the Chaser’s point guard, who put up an easy layup. That cut the Badgers’ lead to eight points.

  Ricky didn’t mind. He was kind of glad his friend made a big play. He realized it would be pretty easy to cheer Anthony up. And wasn’t his best friend more important than a basketball game?

  On the next drive, Ricky took a pass in three-point range. He went for the jump shot, a little slower than usual. Anthony got a fingertip on it, sending it off course. The Chasers’ center grabbed the rebound.

  Ricky hurried back on defense, staying close to Anthony. Anthony took a pass and faked a jump shot.

  Ricky leapt straight up to block the shot, allowing Anthony to duck under him and put up a layup for two more. The Badgers’ lead was shrinking fast.

  “What’s the matter, Ricky?” Anthony teased. “Getting tired?”

  Ricky didn’t reply.

  Levi jogged past him and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Keep your head in the game.”

  But Ricky wasn’t worried. He was relieved that Anthony wasn’t so upset anymore.

  With two minutes left on the clock, the score was tied at 58. Coach Grosso called the team in for a quick meeting on the bench.

  Ricky was already on the bench. Coach had subbed him out. Ricky glanced from one teammate to the next. The boys looked determined, ready to keep fighting. But Ricky had a hard time caring.

  He glanced down court at the visitors’ bench. He could see Anthony, Seb, and Chet.

  “Ricky,” the coach said.

  Ricky snapped to attention.

  “I’m putting you back in,” said Coach Grosso. “You’re our best outside shot. Let’s see some of that first-half play, okay?”

  Ricky nodded and smiled. No one suspected he was playing poorly on purpose.

  Davis, sitting beside him on the bench, patted his shoulder. “You got this,” he said.

  Ricky was pretty sure he didn’t, and he was okay with that.

  The Badgers and Chasers exchanged baskets three times up and down the court. The score was 64 each.

  Until the last ten seconds, Ricky did a good job letting Anthony play tight defense. When Levi looked for him for a pass or when Davis got an offensive rebound, they’d look for Ricky. But each time, they found him too well defended.

  On their last drive, Levi took a shot from the foul line. It caught the rim like a brick and fell into Davis’ hands.

  Quickly, the tall center spun and found Ricky. Ricky put up his hands—a little too slowly. Anthony intercepted the pass. He took off down the court, Ricky close behind. But not close enough. Anthony laid it up for two points.

  The buzzer sounded, and the game was over. The Chasers had won by two—thanks to Ricky.

  CHAPTER 5

  WORN OUT

  The Badgers sat dejected in the locker room after the game.

  “It was a close one,” Coach Grosso said. “But it’s early in the season. We need to work on keeping our energy up through the second half. If we do, I don’t think any squad in the league will be able to stop us after today.”

  He put a foot on the bench and leaned in.

  “Alright, hands in, boys,” he said.

  Without enthusiasm, the Badgers stood in a circle and each put a hand in.

  “On three,” Coach said. “One-two-three—”

  “Badgers!” the whole team called out.

  Out in front of the school, after showers and changing, Davis grabbed Ricky as he headed to his car with his parents.

 

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