Athlete vs. Mathlete: Double Dribble by W. C. Mack Read Free Book Online Page A

used to his trademark cheer, but Russ hadn’t. His face turned bright red.
    Then he tripped over his shoelaces.
    â€œDouble knots,” I muttered for about the ten thousandth time since he’d started playing.
    So much for looking like returning superstars.
    Russ quickly retied his laces and I helped him back to his feet.
    â€œAre we ready?” the ref asked, and I could tell he wasn’t happy about the delay.
    â€œFor sure,” I told him, high-fiving Nate and Paul, then sizing up the sea of purple and orange in front of me.
    The ref blew his whistle, and it was go time!
    It felt really good to be back in the game, and the secondI got the ball, I took off for the net. But I got blocked so I passed to Nate, who was totally ready for it.
    Take that, Twinvaders!
    Teamwork had nothing to do with DNA.
    Nate took a shot, but the ball bounced off the rim.
    â€œGood try,” I said, as we ran back down the court. “We’ll get another chance.”
    And we did. Right after West Slope scored, we were heading back toward their net to answer their two points with two of our own.
    Paul passed me the ball, then I swerved around the guy guarding me and dribbled around another.
    I was in the zone, like we were filming a Nike commercial or something.
    I thought about the new guys and their smooth, perfect moves. I thought about those alley-oops and no-look passes.
    And that gave me an idea.
    The rest of the Pioneers and I were “in tune,” too, weren’t we? We had plenty of practices and games under our belts.
    And the winning streak was ours.
We
were the ones who’d earned it.
    I couldn’t wait for the crowd to see exactly how good we were, so I dribbled a second longer, then whipped the ball over to Russ. It was my first ever no-look pass, and I waited for the cheering to start.
    But I heard something else, instead.
    â€œ
Oof!
”
    I turned to see the ball bounce out of bounds while Russ rubbed his head and bent to pick up his glasses.
    Oops.
    No one was cheering. In fact, they were all just staring at me.
    â€œWhat was that?” Paul demanded.
    â€œA no-look pass?” I said, wincing. “Sorry, Russ.”
    â€œWhy no-look?” my brother asked, then shook his head, probably realizing he sounded like Tarzan. “I mean, why didn’t you look?”
    Because I thought it would be cool probably wasn’t the best answer.
    I glanced at the bench and saw the brothers shaking their heads while Coach Baxter’s mouth hung open.
    I looked back at Russ. “I thought you’d know it was coming.”
    â€œHow?”
    Duh. He was the one who brought up all the “in tune” stuff, not me.
    â€œMaybe give him a little heads-up next time,” Nate muttered. “Geez, Owen.”
    â€œAre you okay to play?” the ref asked.
    Russ nodded. “I’m fine.”
    West Slope had the ball, and the first thing they did after the whistle was score.
    From that moment on, it seemed like every move I madewas the wrong one. My passes were crummy, my shots were lame, and my dribbling was like … Russ’s.
    â€œI’m open!” I shouted, when he had the ball.
    The rest of the Pioneers could tell I was having a rough game, but Russ didn’t let that stop him. He passed it way too high, and when I jumped up to get it, I bumped into a West Slope player and landed hard on my tailbone.
    Just what I needed.
    I got back on my feet, knowing I had to get my head away from the Twinvaders and back in the game.
    But it was tough.
    Even when we made a good play—like when Paul stole the ball and passed to Nate, who was in the perfect position to score … and did—it just wasn’t the same as watching the Matthews twins play. Our moves didn’t have their wow factor.
    And I wanted the wow. Big-time.

Alternate Angles
    If the first game with the Matthews twins wasn’t enough of an eye-opener, my math class had me bug-eyed.
    Mr.