‘Roper Rivalry is more than a game,’ I add matter-of-factly. As captain, the girls look up to me, and as much as a part of me wants to sit down and admit defeat after everything – everything my father’s family built – is now in pieces, we need to stay in this fight. ‘It’s probably our biggest battle of the year. And besides, we have a shot at the championship, I believe it. This is redemption. I don’t see us sitting here and taking the punches while the guys get to do what they like.’

Around the circle of desks, the girls nod, murmurs of agreement tossed about. ‘We’ll do whatever it takes to get there,’ Brianna promises.

‘We only have a week.’ Coach’s tone is warning, but I catch a hint of pride in her eyes. ‘Will you girls really be able to pull this together? No one’s making you hit the stadium and start repairing it yourself …’

She trails off as she looks around at the smirks on all our faces. The Roper Rivalry between Oklahoma City and San Antonio is the stuff of legends.

‘It’s time to close this season out right,’ says Jordan with a raised eyebrow. ‘According to the tables, if we beat San Antonio, one of the final two playoff spots is ours.’

She exchanges a grin with me, and I egg her on with a spirited, ‘And we certainly want that, don’t we?’

The girls whoop; slaps of desks all around. Storms can screw a lot of things up for us, but this season isn’t one of them. We’ve been there, and we’re not willing to repeat it.

Mrs Bradley sighs in exasperation when Colt holds up two more ugly ties. He looks as tired as she does. Both of them are justified. The options are hideous. They look like they came straight out of a 1990s movie, all weird shades of beige with accents in bright reds and greens, dated patterns, the works.

‘You can’t be serious.’

‘I didn’t realize I’d need ties here, Ma!’ Colt defends himself.

Fortunately, I’m just a bystander. I sit by with my bowl of eight p.m. cereal and watch the entire thing go down. I got lucky with my Rivalry outfit; I keep my formal wear with my dad’s sister – Tía Juana – down in Tulsa, and she sent the pantsuit up yesterday. Colt, on the other hand, seems to have left all his ties back in New Haven, which leaves his dad’s old relics, allegedly from Mr Bradley’s time as a medical resident back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.