Thump, thump, thump. My heart was beating in my chest. I was anxious for the big game in 1 hour. It was the Junior Nationals for Basketball. We played the elite division, where only the best of the best even survive. Sweat was beating on my palms even before the game. So many thoughts rushed through my head as i sat in the front seat of our family SUV. We were driving from Cupertino to Sacramento, so it took awhile to get there, which is why we left 1 and a half hours ago. There was just a bit more left to our journey. We came early to get warmed up. It was almost 8:00, this meant no traffic. After all, it was just a Saturday. I just kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong, that was one of my flaws. While thinking about all these atrocious thoughts, I got interupted by a rough stop at the sports center. Around 100 courts were in this center. It took awhile to get used to all the noise, but I knew better than to let it get to my head. I walked into the court with a tough persona. Well, I tried to seem tough, but my sister always says I end up looking like an idiot... There was a mob of people walking every direction. The other smelled lots of sweat and weird stuff like that, but to me this was my home away from home. I strolled along to the directory to see where and who we were playing. Court 72 E, it was at the corner of the Sports Center. I increased my pace to a power walk, and my family was just at the food court, eating pretzels. I rushed to my designated court in the corner. In the distance I saw the empty court in the corner, with a sign dangling over. It read “Court 72 E”. I was surprised that none of my team-mates were there already. Our coach always tells us to be at least 1 hour early, and my coach is pretty intimidating. I guess there was more practicing time for me now! I laid my black Nike duffel bag on the cement outskirts of the hardwood basketball floor. I unzipped the bag and pull out my leather ball. It was brand new, so it had a sticky feel. That feeling when it has so much grip that it just feels amazing. The sensation rattled me for a moment. After I got back to my senses, I dribble the ball up and down, pounding and rattling the rims. The court had a hollow feel to it, but that didn’t bother me, it took a lot of effort to set up over 100 courts. At least, I think it should, I have never seen the prestigious moments of preparation to set up a court. I took a couple of shots, I had to get the feel of this new court and the new hoop. I didn’t really like the hoop, it rattled whenever I took a shot and eventually shook it out of the hoop. The backboard was a flimsy plastic, the overall feeling was just horrific. I shrugged it off, knowing that I would spend the next 2-3 hours on this court, both playing and warming up. I kept shooting jump-shots until I got used to all these different things. I finally saw my teammates coming down the long sports center warehouse, along with my coach. Now I could warm up with my teammates. My teammates were like family to me, so warming up was fun and helped me avoid unnerving. The time ‘till the game blazed by so fast, by the time I was actually tired, the game started. I got onto the floor, while I wiped the sweat off my forehead. It was tip-off time. I trotted along to my position, right next to the circle at the half court line. For the first time, I noticed the other team. As they walked on the floor, they got bigger and bigger. By the time they were all in their positions, they had towered us. These guys didn’t look like 7th graders... Our coach told us to ignore that, height doesn’t always mean skill. I guess that was true, but they still had the advantage. The referee blew his whistle and started the tip. We obviously lost it and they caught us off guard, resulting in an easy lay-up. Their speed was mesmerizing, I had never seen anybody run that fast. My teammate inbounded the ball to me. I jogged down court while I maintained a hard, pounding dribble. They were playing a zone, so none of them stepped up to give pressure. They just gave me an open 3-pointer, so I took it. I swished my first 3-pointer in the whole tournament. I’m not really and 3-point sensei, so I was baffled at how I shot. 7 minutes passed and I would be doing the same thing over, and over again. By the middle of the first half I had 21 points. The other team obviously considered me a threat. The early part of the second half the other team played more physically. I dribbled down court and one guy straight up socked me in the face, right after I passed. The referees weren’t even focusing on the whole game, just where the ball went. Now I could barely see because my eye swelled up. The next shot I took was a lay-up, their biggest player was guarding me, so I had to use my speed against his sluggishness. I went up for the lay-up, slipping through cracks in the defense, then suddenly I get tackled by their second biggest player. I fainted from the enormous blow to my chest. All that work for nationals, and I get tackled. This was really impacting, all I wanted was for my team to win... When I woke up I was in a hospital and my mom came in with flowers. She told me our team won the National Championships. I grabbed the flowers and smiled, knowing that my team did well. It turns out, the other team got a flagrant and that put us in the lead. The rest of the half my team just stalled, to keep the lead. Everything was left at a happy note. My coach dropped by the huge trophy we got, and I took a nap. Life was good.