They did another set of drills—five-man weave, set plays, running the court while passing back and forth—a lot of them the same ones Derek and Dave had practiced with Mr. Jeter.

Derek was in his element now, comfortable with the ball and accurate with his passes. He began to feel more confident again—but not enough to do any fist pumps. Not yet.

Groups four through six took their seats as the first three groups got up to do the second set of drills. After a further five-minute break for water and rest, the coaches lined all the boys up by position. Derek saw that there were eight other kids—including Sam—trying out for point guard. Yikes.

By contrast, there were only five kids vying for center, and Dave—lucky him—was one of them. The less competition, the better chance of making the team.

“We’re going to have some scrimmages now,” said Coach Nelson. “Two courts, four teams of twelve guys each. Everyone will get a turn, so be patient if you’re not in the starting lineup. It’s no reflection on how you’re doing so far.”

Derek and Dave wound up on opposing teams. “Good luck,” they told each other before heading to their separate benches. Both boys knew that how they did here would tell whether they made the cut or not.

Derek was second in line to play point guard for his team. By the time he entered the scrimmage, the score was 10–4 in Dave’s team’s favor. Derek quickly moved the ball up the court, drove to his left, and dished off to one of the forwards for an open bucket.

“Nice! Nice!” Coach Nelson yelled, applauding. Derek felt his heart swell with happiness. Coach had noticed him!

But in that very second, the point guard for the other team blew past Derek and sank an easy layup. Dang!

Derek wasted no time in making up for his mistake. He protected the ball, drawing a double-team, then dished off to the center and rolled toward the basket. The center hit him as he went airborne, and Derek sank the layup—left-handed!

Without a second’s pause, he ran back upcourt, just in time to foil a fast break by the other team. He dived at the other point guard from behind and knocked the ball away—straight to his own power forward!

Derek had skinned his right knee sliding on the polished wood floor. But he didn’t mind that it was smarting a little. He knew his effort wouldn’t go unnoticed.

Over the course of the next ten minutes, he sank another layup, had two more takeaways on defense, and took excellent care of the ball.

On the other hand, his shooting touch stayed cold—he wound up 1 for 5, and had two shots blocked—by Dave, of all people, who was putting in a really good showing on defense.