Chapter 19: New Varsity Basketball Coach

Smolder had come into Principal Sanders's office. She saw Principal Sanders working on her computer. Principal Sanders then saw Smolder coming in.

"Oh, hello there, Smolder," Principal Sanders said. "What brings you here?"

"Principal Sanders, have you found a replacement coach for the Varsity Basketball Team?" Smolder asked.

"Actually, I have," Principal Sanders said. "He should be in Coach Slammer's old office by now." She then saw the time. "Hey, shouldn't you be in Physics Class by now?"

"I'm on my way," Smolder said, walking out of the office to head to Physics Class.

During Free Period, the Varsity Basketball Team were all sitting on the bleachers, waiting for the new Basketball Coach. Then a black man in his late fifties came in. He was wearing a blue tracksuit jacket and matching pants, and a white t-shirt under the jacket.

"Afternoon," the man said. "I'm your new basketball coach. You can all call me Coach Malcolm. So, let's get to work." Then the basketball team got up and started doing some exercises. "Let's start with some laps around the court. Two laps, then we'll move onto layups."

The basketball team then started running around the court. Aaron, Paul and Kyle were taking it easy as they needed their stamina for practice.

At Freedom High School, the Summer Valley High School Varsity Basketball Team and the Cheerleaders were there at the gym. The Junior Varsity Basketball Game ended with the dragons winning with a score of 56-55. A very close game. Now it was up to the Varsity team to get the win.

"Alright, boys," Coach Malcolm said. "The Junior Varsity just gave us some legroom for another victory. Now, let's do what we talked about in practice." Then the Varsity Basketball Team started doing some layups.

The Cheerleaders were all cheering for their basketball teams. Smolder was in dragon form and in her cheerleading uniform as usual. As the Cheerleaders were doing their cheers, Marissa, Liam, Tony and Jessica were coming to sit in the bleachers behind the Summer Valley Basketball Team.

"Looks like we made it just in time," Liam said.

"Hopefully, this new coach is better than the last one," Marissa said. She then saw Aaron warming up with the rest of the Summer Valley High Dragons. "There's Aaron."

"Yeah, there he is," Liam said.

Then the referee blew his whistle. Then both teams went to their spots on the bleachers. Then Coach Malcolm said, "Alright, team. This is it. It's time we get some wins on the board. The first five get on out there. Kyle, you're tipping off."

"Got it, Coach," Kyle said.

"Alright, hands in!" Coach Malcolm said as he put his hand in. The team did the same. "Dragons on 3. One, two, three..."

"Dragons!" The team all said in unison. Then Aaron, Paul, Kyle and two more players got onto the court. Kyle got in the middle of the court with one of the opposing team members in front of him and the referee held the ball to the side. The referee nodded towards the two players. He then blew his whistle and threw the ball up. Kyle and the other player jumped up to get the ball. Kyle won the tip off and smacked the ball towards Aaron, who then threw it to the point guard. The point guard then ran towards the basket and did a layup, getting the ball into the basket.

"Yes!" Coach Malcolm said. "Way to go!"

It went right through the game and the Dragons were way ahead of the other team. The Dragons had 60 points while the Eagles had 48. There were ten seconds left on the clock and the dragons were stalling to wait out the time. As the final buzzer went off, the Dragons won.

Coach Malcolm walked over to the other coach and they shook hands. Coach Malcolm then said, "Good game, coach."

"Honestly, your team has done well after replacing that other coach," the Eagles's coach said. "Tiring out the team before a big game. That is not a good coach."

"Yeah, he deserved it," Coach Malcolm said. "See you again sometime." Then the teams started coming together in lines and giving each other fives as they were passing by.

Aaron met up with Smolder and his family at the door. Marissa then said, "Nice job, Aaron. You're doing very well."

"Yeah," Aaron said. "New coach, better results."

"Did you both get your homework done?" Marissa asked.

"I did half my homework on the way here in Aaron's truck," Smolder said. "I'm planning on doing the other half on the way home."

"I did my homework during the Junior Varsity Game," Aaron said.

"Alright," Marissa said. "Well, you two head home. Oh, and while you're on your way home, could you pick up some eggs and milk?"

"Sure, Aunt Marissa," Aaron said. "That'll give Smolder more time to complete her homework." Smolder nodded in agreement. Then they went over to the bathrooms to change into their normal attire.

A couple months have passed. So far, the Varsity Team have been on a winning streak. So far, they made it all the way to the State Finals. It was almost half-time and the Dragons were up against the Miami Senior High Stingarees. Aaron had the ball and saw that there were only twenty seconds left on the clock and the dragons were behind 42-50.

"Let's go!" Aaron said as he inbounded the ball. The point guard took the ball and started dribbling to the basket the dragons were supposed to score in. The point guard then threw the ball to Aaron, who then passed it to Paul. Aaron then ran closer to the basket as two people were all over Paul. Paul then tossed the ball towards Aaron, who caught it and did a layup, giving the Dragons another two points. Now the dragons were down by six as the buzzer went off.

It was now half-time and the Dragons went to the locker room. The entire team was tired after being overplayed by the team from Miami. Aaron, Paul and Kyle had their heads bowed. Then the coach came in.

"Hey, hey, don't lower your heads in defeat just yet," Coach Malcolm said. "We still have another sixteen minutes of game time." The team then looked at Coach Malcolm with concerned looks. "Okay, so we're down by six. But that's still a good thing. We have time to turn things around. What matters is having fun. And there are college scouts out there looking for quality members of the seniors to recruit for their colleges. Remember, have fun. And go out there and give it your all." The team then looked at each other, getting a whole new wind of determination. "Alright, hands in!" Coach Malcolm then reached his hand in and the rest of the team followed.

The Basketball Team made it back out of the locker room and started doing some drills for the rest of half-time. Aaron looked towards the bleachers to see Marissa, Liam, Tony and Jessica there. But to his surprise, there was also the Young 6, sans Smolder, and all in human form, sitting in the bleachers in front of Aaron's family.

"No way," Aaron said.

"Go get 'em, Aaron!" Gallus called out.

"You got this!" Sandbar called out.

"We all believe in you, Aaron!" Yona called out. That made Aaron smirk. Then the referee blew his whistle, making the teams go back to their seats.

"Okay, boys," Coach Malcolm said. "Sixteen minutes left on the board. You all give it your all and have fun." The team then nodded. "Alright, starting five get on out there. Then Aaron, Paul, Kyle and the two other seniors got out on the court. Aaron and the two seniors got up high in their defensive positions. The Stingarees came down quickly to make the next basket. The point guard passed the ball towards the left wing, but Aaron dashed through, stole the ball, and went towards the other side of the court. He then tossed the ball up to hit the backboard and the Senior Point Guard came in and slammed the ball into the basket.

"Oh, yeah, nice play!" Gallus shouted.

"Very nice!" Silverstream said.

"Aaron did good into giving up the ball for his teammate to make the shot," Ocellus said. "Good decision."

Time had passed to the last period and there were ten seconds left on the clock. The score was 82-81 with the Stingarees in the lead. The Stingarees were trying to go to make sure the dragons didn't get the win. But Aaron and the Dragons's Point Guard dashed through and Aaron stole the ball and passed it to his team's point guard.

The dragons's point guard was about to make the final shot, but he passed it to Aaron who jumped up to the basket and dunked it right before the buzzer went off. The audience cheered at that while the Coach for the Miami team covered his face in annoyance.

"Alright, Aaron!" the point guard said. Aaron came down and the two high fived each other. "We made it!"

"Good thing the state finals was on a Friday," Aaron said. "It's way too far for us to drive home."

"Which is why your Aunt Marissa had booked a hotel room for you, Smolder and the rest of your friends here in Miami," Coach Malcolm said. "You all have fun. The rest of us will go on the bus."

"Thanks, Coach," Aaron said. He then went over to where Marissa, Liam, Tony, Jessica and the Young 6 were.

"Nice finisher, Aaron," Gallus said, high-fiving Aaron.

"How did you all get here?" Aaron asked. "No way Marissa's car has room for all of you."

"I gave Liam my car keys this morning," Smolder said.

"And I packed your bags for an overnight trip," Marissa said. "We put them in the back of Smolder's Escape. Now, let's get to the hotel." Then they all headed out of there to get to the hotel.

At a hotel in Miami, Aaron, the Young 6, Marissa, Liam, Tony and Jessica were all sitting together at a bunch of tables brought together.

"This is a nice hotel," Gallus said. "And that was an awesome game, Aaron."

"Making the final shot with a slam dunk!" Silverstream said. "I'm still full of adrenaline about it!"

"That explains why you were sitting up and waving your talons around in your sleep last night," Smolder said.

"Well, everyone," Marissa said. "Get some food in you, then we'll head back up to our rooms and pack up. We got a long trip back to Orlando."

"Aaron, you have Gallus and Sandbar in your truck while Smolder has Ocellus, Silverstream and Yona in her car," Liam said. "You understand?"

"Yeah," Aaron said. "We understand, Uncle Liam." Then they all continued eating their food.

Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, at the Smithsonian, there were a pair of crowns on display at the Smithsonian Institution Building, which was a castle. The crowns were locked up in a glass case. A night guard was patrolling the castle with a flashlight in his left hand.

The guard then brought out his walkie-talkie in his right hand and said, "This is Lucas Cross reporting. The jeweled crowns are still in the display case."

"Good job, Cross," a man said on the walkie-talkie. "Those crowns cost over a billion dollars each. Make sure nobody gets them."

"You can count on me," Officer Cross said. He then walked away from the display case. But then, the crowns then went down like the Declaration of Independence did in National Treasure. That caught Officer Cross's attention. "What the hell?" He then ran back to the display case and brought out his walkie-talkie. "Um, did someone authorize the jeweled crowns to go down to the security room below?"

"No, why?" the man said from the walkie-talkie.

"We've been breached!" Officer Cross said. "The crowns have been taken down!"

Meanwhile, at the Lincoln Memorial, someone covered all in black; a black sweater, black pants, black shoes, black socks, a black ski mask and a pair of goggles covering the figure's face, has come out with a duffel bag. The figure then ran towards the nearest exit to get out of the Smithsonian Grounds as the alarms started going off.

Author's Note

Good news, the Summer Valley High Dragons have won the Basketball State Finals. The bad news, looks like two very valuable crowns have been stolen from the Smithsonian. Looks like it's... VOTING TIME!!

Okay, so the jeweled crowns will, accidentally, end up at Summer Valley High for Prom Night. And the thief responsible for the theft of the jeweled crowns will want to come back for them. The thief will pose as faculty to get their hands on the crown. You get to vote on what position the thief will pose as.

Option 1:
Librarian Assistant

Option 2:
Lunch Server

Option 3:
Substitute Teacher

Remember, only one vote per commenter, and the highest amount of votes will be the position of this thief. See you all next time.