The capacity crowd was in a true frenzy. There were two squads on the floor, one in purple, and one in white. The emblem at center-court and the white and blue scattered throughout the 30,000+ seated arena suggested that the white team was hosting the event, and the unnatural buzz told even a casual spectator that this was no regular game.

As Justice practiced jump shots in his purple warm-ups, he continued to go through his mental progression. "Box out, hustle, play physical not stupid."

A teammate, several inches shorter than Justice jogged up to him. "Lets go big dog," he said. "Time for us to shine." Just then, an older man in an expensive suit motioned all of the players to the sideline, and they formed a semi-circle around him.

"Nothing is left to be said," the older man barked over the din of the crowd. Even in such close quarters, hearing him was a strain. "It's game seven, if you don't leave it on the floor, you have all summer to think about what might've been. You don't want that. Put these guys away in their house!" All of the purple-clad team's hands went into the center and they errupted in a single-syllable yell.

The stadium's lights then went down and the frenzied crowd became even louder. Music blared over the public address system, lights flashed, and an announcer took command over the arena.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TONIGHT'S GAME SEVEN EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINAL MATCH-UP IS BETWEEN THE CHARLOTTE CRUSADERS AND YOUR VERY OWN INDIANAPOLIS WILDCATS!" At the mention of the home team, the arena became deafening to the point where Justice had to cover his ears. "FIRST, THE STARTING LINE-UP FOR THE VISITING CRUSADERS." The stadium remained just as loud, but jeers and heckles replaced the screams of admiration. "AT POINT GUARD, FROM RUTGERS, MATT PIERCE. AT SHOOTING GUARD, FROM KANSAS, DANNY HASTINGS. AT SMALL FORWARD, FROM WASHINGTON, JULIUS WHITTIER. AT POWER FORWARD, FROM MICHIGAN STATE, KEVIN ERICKSON. AND AT CENTER, FROM STARFLEET ACADEMY, JUSTICE MASSOLI." As each player was called, they streaked down the middle of a tunnel created by their teammates, hi-fiving one another and chest-bumping their fellow starters. The adrenaline rushed through Justice's veins as he knew that tip-off was just a few minutes away. It was time to change history. Time to make daddy proud.

Massoli
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