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The Shot

Game 4 of districts. The final game, the championship. I was a six foot two point guard

who just wanted to prove to those who doubted me that I should be where I am. 5 seconds left on

the clock, we’re down by two. A three pointer would win the game. I get the ball off the

inbound, and I pass it to Luke and he doesn’t have a shot. Five, four, three, he passes back to me,

and I am wide open. two, one, I shoot the ball and the buzzer went off. Like Michael Jordan once

said, “You miss 100% of the shots, you don’t take.” If you fear failure, you will never how it

feels to succeed and please the people around you.

Throughout the first few games of my freshman year of the basketball season, I was the

sixth man on the varsity team. I was only 14 at the time so I felt pretty out of place. Playing with

and against kids that are 3 to 4 years older than me. I was doing pretty well for myself coming

off the bench scoring eight points per game and four assists a game. That all changed when our

starting point guard, John Miller tore his ACL going for a layup. I knew I had to step up for our

team going into playoffs because we had only lost 2 games the whole season. We made it

through our first playoff games and won the Mid Penn Championship. We got to the final game

of districts, where a Hershey Basketball team hadn’t been in 25 years. I really felt the pressure,

and the fear of failure crept into my mind of failing those who have entrusted so much into me.

The championship game was at Central Dauphin High School only 25 minutes from us,

so our student showed out and the gym was packed. I could feel the heat of their bodies as soon

as I walked into the gym. The pressure felt like a 300-pound weight pushing on my chest. No

freshman in Hershey High School has started a district playoff game, so I was literally making

history. Our school gets called, I run out of the tunnel to a massive gym filled to the brim with
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family, friends, and students. Everyone goes wild and screaming our names. We do our layup

lines and go to the bench for introductions. They call my name, and chants of “He’s a freshman,

He’s a freshman.” Come ringing from behind me, and fear takes over my body like I was

stepping in sand. My mind wasn’t there, but right when the jump ball was tipped I focused in and

now it was game time.

It was a hard-fought game throughout three quarters and we only had eight minutes to

win the game. The start of the fourth quarter was not good. We went down by ten with two

minutes left. Throughout those two minutes we were forcing it to our best player. I was afraid to

take the wide-open shots in fear of missing and destroying our momentum. Our student section

was loud. The loudest I have ever heard it. I was trying to call plays but it felt like I had a

megaphone in my ear. The nerves of late game play were creeping in. At this point we were

down by four with only thirty seconds left on the clock. Our coach calls a timeout. He says, “We

have not run this play at all, but it is going to work.” Our team looks around at each other and all

of our eyes were wide open in shock. After the play was drawn up our captain Dylan Painter, my

best friend calls me over and he says, “you need to call the play at 20 seconds exactly.” I replied

with a confident “alright that’s what I thought it was. Dylan with reassurance in his eyes says,

“Don’t miss that pass, because if you do we’re screwed.” Knowing the pressure was on me I

replied with a reassuring “thanks for the support man.”

The clock hits 20 seconds and we start the play. Our power forward sets a back-door

screen on Dylan while I’m running a double screen at the top of the key. I see him wide open off

the screen and I throw the alley-oop from almost half court and Dylan all six foot eleven of him

catches the oop with one hand and throws down a thunderous dunk that could’ve been heard

from outside the gym. Our student section was so load and crazy I could the feel the ground
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vibrating and shaking like I was on roller coaster. There was an obvious time out from the other

team and we had to celebrate probably one of the craziest possessions I have ever seen. I call

Dylan over who had one the biggest smiles on his face. I say “Dude, what the hell was that? That

was one of the loudest dunks I have ever heard!” Dylan responds with “I have absolutely no idea

what just happened, but that shit was crazy.” Not knowing what I say other than “Did you feel

the ground the shaking?” He responds with craziness in his voice “Holy shit yeah, how could I

not.” Our coach sees us talking together away from the huddle and he screams “Isaac, Dylan get

over here now.”

With all this excitement, we knew that we needed a stop on defense and to make another

shot to either tie or win the game. We walk back out onto the court and hopes to get a steal and if

not we needed to foul. The other team passes the ball in and Chase our small forward jumps to

steal the ball. He tips it and I see the ball rolling away. I dive and slide for the ball and barely

stay in bounds. We call a quick timeout and we now have the ball for the chance to tie or to win

the game. Our coach is with our team and sets a perfect play. “Our first option is Luke on the

pass after the screen, our second option is Dylan off the back screen and our third option is

Chase in corner.” I butt in saying “Do we start the play right when the ball gets passed in?” My

coach answers with “Yes, and we don’t force a shot if it is not there. Do not shoot the ball, we

cannot afford a turnover.”

The final play of the game, and possibly our season. The ball gets passed in we run our

play, my first option was Luke and it looked like he would be open, and passed it, but as soon as

I was about to pass it I saw the defender on his back hip. He was shielded by the screen. I tried to

bring the ball back but it was too late. It made it to Luke but him and the defender fought for the

ball. He got the ball and looks around. I see the clock is running low with 2.5 seconds we need a
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shot. He looks directly at me and passes the ball. The last thing I wanted was the ball in my

hands at this moment in the game. My fear crept in when we locked eyes and I didn’t want the

ball, but it was coming towards me anyways. I get the ball with 1 second and I take the shot. It

was a high arching shot. It felt like I could’ve read a book for how long it was in the air. I saw it

going and in my head, I thought to myself. I missed it, I failed, I knew I shouldn’t have taken the

shot. I see the ball going, and it was so quiet I felt like I could hear the clock slowly ticking away

as I stood there awaiting defeat or sweet victory. I saw it creeping towards the basket like animal

hunting its food and it hit nothing but net. Swoosh. The arena explodes with screaming to the

point I couldn’t hear my own thoughts even though I couldn’t think of anything as I stood there

in shock like a dear in the headlights. As I look around I see the arena flooding with students and

my teammates running towards me I brace myself for impact as all 13 of my teammates hug me

and take me to the ground along with 300 of my fellow classmates running out to the court.

Everyone is yelling and taking videos while I am still in shock that I made it. My teammates pick

me up from the floor with all of the students around me yelling and wanting to celebrate with

me. I see my girlfriend and she gave me a hug and said, “You are won lucky little fucker”. The

police come to us in the middle of the court and escort us to the locker room and my best friend

Dylan comes running up to me and screams “You know what you just did right?” I answered

questionably “I hit the shot to win districts, right?” Dylan still screaming says “Yes, but its

bigger than that. You took the shot and you weren’t afraid of missing it and feeling all that pain

and heart ache that comes with. But don’t think about that. We won so, now its time we

celebrate!”

Being so young and having a lot of pressure on your back is going to be tough. I was

afraid. I didn’t want to disappoint my coach, teammates, friends, or fans. I was afraid to fail.
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Failing is apart of everyone’s life at some point. I lived with the fear of failure for a long time.

Not know how to react or cope with the situation at hand. Throughout the memoir and scenes, I

found myself looking at back at that experience and seeing how much it did for me. Being

shoved into the situation of its either you win or fail isn’t something that you want to be thrown

into. But I feel being thrown in their will no choice is how you conquer those fears. This memory

of the basketball game showed me that I wasn’t afraid, and I took the shot.