Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason and the other boys all gathered around Danilo as they hyped him up and congratulated him on the amazing play.

They then got in to position as the referee gave Danilo the ball. After dribbling the ball once he wiped his right hand on his shorts before starting his shooting motion.

As the ball swished through the net the crowd around them cheered as they rained down a round of applause for Danilo.

This time Mt. Vernon's turn on offense was cut short as during one of their plays Jason managed to slither around the screen as he jumped into the passing lane and managed to intercept the pass meant for his defensive assignment.

As he tapped the ball away with the tip of his fingers Jason ran down the court as he tried to gain control of it.

The ball almost bounced out of bounds but Jason managed to gain control of it at just the last second.

In the periphery of his vision he saw that his defender was running toward him as he looked like he was hoping to trap him.

Unfortunately for him Jason slipped away just before they could make contact as he wrapped the ball around him and went for a behind the back dribble.

After getting around his defender Jason continued to sprint down the court as he tried to push the fast break.

With only one defender in the vicinity it was a two on one fast break as Alex trailed behind Jason. As they got closer the defender sank down in to the paint as he thought that Jason would go for a layup.

He took a gamble and ended up on the losing side as Jason stepped on the breaks and killed his speed before pulling up for the wide open mid range shot. 

The crowd all watched as the ball flew beautifully in a straight and high arc toward the basket. As they once again watched their team score they erupted into more cheers.

With three consecutive baskets Jefferson was on to a hot start as they lead with a score of 7 to 0. They had managed to keep Mt. Vernon scoreless for two possessions in a row.

- - -

With only ten seconds left in the 2nd quarter Jason signaled for his teammates to clear the floor. He then called for a screen from Danilo.

With Danilo setting the screen on Jason's right side he began driving in that direction as he forced his defender into the screen.

After having scored so many points in the first half Jason's gravity was heavy as he pulled both defenders' focus on to him.

But instead of continuing his drive to the right Jason switched directions with a quick crossover as he tried to split the defenders.

After pulling both of the defenders Jason for a bit Jason knew that the clock was running out 'I've pulled them far enough. Now should be the perfect time.'

With the ball in his right hand Jason threw a laser of a pass over his right shoulder without even taking his eyes off of the basket.

The pass took the defenders completely off guard as they had no chance to react whatsoever. Danilo, who had been popped to the three point line after the screen, was ten feet (3m) behind Jason.

In one fluid motion Danilo caught the ball before dipping it down slightly. He then brought it back up as he went in to his shooting motion.

The ball had just managed to leave his hand as the clock buzzed indicating that the first half had come to an end.

The crowd and opposing team both held their breathes as they watched the ball fly through the air. As the ball hit nothing but net the crowd all jumped to their feet as they began to cheer.

With the first half having officially ended Jefferson showed that they were on a completely different level compared to Mt. Vernon.

They dominated the game as they created an absurd lead of 55 to 13. Of which a majority of Mt. Vernon's points consisted of free throws.

This domineering performance was fueled by Jefferson's high tempo offense and suffocating defense.

By having so many different options in terms of scoring Jefferson was able to create good scoring opportunities early on in the shot clock which meant more possessions for them.

And their suffocating defense meant that Mt. Vernon's possessions were cut short. Not just that, by forcing live ball turn overs they were able to create multiple fast break opportunities.

This combination is what had lead to Jefferson being able to pull ahead very early on in the game. The boys were all in high spirits as they entered the locker room.

As they sat down they all began to chant Jason's name "JAYA! JAYA! JAYA!" Even though Jason hadn't played the entirety of the quarters he had already managed to score 22 points and record 8 assist. 

Kyle walked up to Jason and hanged his arm around his neck as he shook him around "That was crazy bro! You were popping off!"

Matt took a drink from his sports bottle before laughing "Forget popping off. He blew up! That was a nuke level performance Jaya."

Jason chuckled as he turned his attention to Matt "Says the guy who's shooting fifty percent from three. You put on a hell of a show too Matt."

Thanks to Jason and Danilo pulling a majority of the defenses' attention Matt was able to get even better looks by moving off the ball.

It was just impossible to guard the two of them while also locking down on the other players who were operating on the perimeter.

Vince let out a hearty and boisterous laugh "Man, is it just me or did Mt. Vernon drop off hard? I remember them putting up way more of a fight last year."

DJ looked at him with a bright smile on his face "Okay Mr. Flexalot. You might want to chill it with the cockiness bro.

It ain't that they got weaker. It's just that we got that much better compared to how we were last year.

Last season the only real offensive weapon that we had on the perimeter was Jason. Now we have Danilo who's a cheat code all on his own.

Not to mention that we've all made some crazy jumps in our game. Hell, even I managed to get a ankle breaker in haha!"

As all of the boys were reveling in the amazing performance that they had just managed to put on for the crowd Jason was silent as he thought to himself.

'It's already guaranteed that we'll whoop the fuck outta Mt. Vernon. The only question is what else can I do to piss off all of the anti Jefferson media outlets and online haters.'

After thinking for a few seconds an idea popped into Jason's head as a slightly sinister smiled crept on to his face

"Hey guys listen up. We're going to make some changes to our game plan for the second half. Here's what we'll do."

Jason then proceeded to explain his plan to all of the boys as they huddled around him. After Jason was done all of the boys and even Coach Swendel were looking at him with strange expressions on their faces.

Kyle asked "Are you sure about this Jaya?" Coach Swendel nodded his head in agreement with Kyle "You know that I trust you Jaya but I'm kind of with Kyle on this.

Your plan seems kind of... Overkill?" Jason laughed as he looked at Coach Swendel and the other players.

He smiled as he shrugged his shoulders "Hey, it's the media that wants to make us out to be villains. I'm just helping them out by giving them what they want.

Besides, it's not like we're going to break any rules."