Daren’s teammates blame him?
He forced himself to watch. A moment later, he jumped up in excitement when the Rangers intercepted a Demon pass. Guard Cris
Campbell banked in a jumper, and Daren cheered. The Ranger lead inched ahead to six points.
A moment later, Mac Gould, the Demon center, took a pass from Carl Mantell, spun away from Lou Bettman, and tried a soft jumper
from eight feet. Lou hit Mac’s arm as the shot went in. The ref called the foul on Lou, and Gould sank the foul shot. The
Ranger lead was cut to three with two minutes left.
Daren slapped his thigh with his luckytowel. What was going on with Lou? Had he forgotten how to play basketball? Didn’t he care anymore? Daren felt like running
in and shaking Lou by the shoulders, hard, and yelling at him to wake up. Maybe Daren had not had a very good game, but Lou
was totally messing up.
When the Rangers inbounded, the Demons tried to trap Lynn in the backcourt, swarming around him and waving their arms. Shawn
Howe came back to help, and Lynn bounced a pass to him. Shawn passed to Cris, who sank another jumper.
The Demons seemed rattled. Lynn intercepted the Demons’ inbound pass and laid it in to make the Ranger lead seven. Daren looked
at the clock and knew it was all over. The Rangers had the game in their pockets now.
At the final buzzer, the scoreboard read Rangers 52, Demons 45.
The teams headed for the locker rooms. The Demons looked unhappy, but the Rangers weren’t too cheerful, either. They knew
they hadn’t played anywhere near their best.
Daren felt bad about the technical and knew it might have cost his team the game. Just thinking about the events that had
led up to it made him hot under the collar. He might have had a good game if Carl Mantell hadn’t played dirty and if the ref
hadn’t needed glasses. It was really their fault he had lost his temper and been benched.
And what was up with that? He was sure that he could have made up for his mistake if the coach hadn’t benched him. Coach Michaels
should have given him another chance instead of making him look bad.
It just wasn’t fair.
2
T he first thing Daren saw in the visitors locker room was the Ranger team manager, Andy Higgins. Andy, with his usual geeky
grin, was clapping his hands, trading high fives with whoever was willing, and slapping players on the back. Didn’t he see
that the Rangers hadn’t played well today, even though they’d won?
Apparently, he didn’t. “All
right!”
he yelled. “Way to go! Rangers rule!” Andy was no athlete, but he loved basketball and hanging with the Rangers. Daren loved
basketball, too, but he doubted he’d spend
his
free time rattling around on an old school bus to away games just to hand out towels and drinks.
“Way to go, Dar!” Andy said, holding out his hand. Daren brushed by him, ignoring the hand. Andy looked hurt, but Daren was
too upset to care.
“Right, Andy,” called Lou Bettman, sitting by his locker. “Daren did great… for the
other
guys. Real smart, Daren, getting a
T
.”
Daren heard a couple of others muttering agreement with Lou and felt his temper heat up.
“Hey, Lou,” Daren said, sneering. “You want to talk about great games? You want to talk about
my
mistakes?
You
were a real all-star out there —
not
. You couldn’t find the basket with a road map, and you wouldn’t know what a rebound was if it bit you on the leg. Talk about
pathetic. You were the worst —”
Lou stood up quickly and walked away, almost falling over Andy, who was stooping to pick up towels. “Watch it!” he shouted.
“Look where you’re going!”
“S-sorry, Lou,” Andy mumbled as he edged away. “I didn’t… I mean, I wasn’t…”
“Hey, McCall! Don’t hassle Lou!” Shawn glared at Daren. “Maybe Lou didn’t have his shot working, but that doesn’t change the
fact that what you did was just
stupid
.”
Daren knew that Shawn was right. It
had
been stupid. But he
He forced himself to watch. A moment later, he jumped up in excitement when the Rangers intercepted a Demon pass. Guard Cris
Campbell banked in a jumper, and Daren cheered. The Ranger lead inched ahead to six points.
A moment later, Mac Gould, the Demon center, took a pass from Carl Mantell, spun away from Lou Bettman, and tried a soft jumper
from eight feet. Lou hit Mac’s arm as the shot went in. The ref called the foul on Lou, and Gould sank the foul shot. The
Ranger lead was cut to three with two minutes left.
Daren slapped his thigh with his luckytowel. What was going on with Lou? Had he forgotten how to play basketball? Didn’t he care anymore? Daren felt like running
in and shaking Lou by the shoulders, hard, and yelling at him to wake up. Maybe Daren had not had a very good game, but Lou
was totally messing up.
When the Rangers inbounded, the Demons tried to trap Lynn in the backcourt, swarming around him and waving their arms. Shawn
Howe came back to help, and Lynn bounced a pass to him. Shawn passed to Cris, who sank another jumper.
The Demons seemed rattled. Lynn intercepted the Demons’ inbound pass and laid it in to make the Ranger lead seven. Daren looked
at the clock and knew it was all over. The Rangers had the game in their pockets now.
At the final buzzer, the scoreboard read Rangers 52, Demons 45.
The teams headed for the locker rooms. The Demons looked unhappy, but the Rangers weren’t too cheerful, either. They knew
they hadn’t played anywhere near their best.
Daren felt bad about the technical and knew it might have cost his team the game. Just thinking about the events that had
led up to it made him hot under the collar. He might have had a good game if Carl Mantell hadn’t played dirty and if the ref
hadn’t needed glasses. It was really their fault he had lost his temper and been benched.
And what was up with that? He was sure that he could have made up for his mistake if the coach hadn’t benched him. Coach Michaels
should have given him another chance instead of making him look bad.
It just wasn’t fair.
2
T he first thing Daren saw in the visitors locker room was the Ranger team manager, Andy Higgins. Andy, with his usual geeky
grin, was clapping his hands, trading high fives with whoever was willing, and slapping players on the back. Didn’t he see
that the Rangers hadn’t played well today, even though they’d won?
Apparently, he didn’t. “All
right!”
he yelled. “Way to go! Rangers rule!” Andy was no athlete, but he loved basketball and hanging with the Rangers. Daren loved
basketball, too, but he doubted he’d spend
his
free time rattling around on an old school bus to away games just to hand out towels and drinks.
“Way to go, Dar!” Andy said, holding out his hand. Daren brushed by him, ignoring the hand. Andy looked hurt, but Daren was
too upset to care.
“Right, Andy,” called Lou Bettman, sitting by his locker. “Daren did great… for the
other
guys. Real smart, Daren, getting a
T
.”
Daren heard a couple of others muttering agreement with Lou and felt his temper heat up.
“Hey, Lou,” Daren said, sneering. “You want to talk about great games? You want to talk about
my
mistakes?
You
were a real all-star out there —
not
. You couldn’t find the basket with a road map, and you wouldn’t know what a rebound was if it bit you on the leg. Talk about
pathetic. You were the worst —”
Lou stood up quickly and walked away, almost falling over Andy, who was stooping to pick up towels. “Watch it!” he shouted.
“Look where you’re going!”
“S-sorry, Lou,” Andy mumbled as he edged away. “I didn’t… I mean, I wasn’t…”
“Hey, McCall! Don’t hassle Lou!” Shawn glared at Daren. “Maybe Lou didn’t have his shot working, but that doesn’t change the
fact that what you did was just
stupid
.”
Daren knew that Shawn was right. It
had
been stupid. But he
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