The fate of the team was hanging on a thread as time slowly expired. They were either going to win and hoist up the trophy, or head into the locker room in defeat. There was only a minute left, and Seulgi’s team was up by three points. A minute was a lot of time remaining, especially in basketball. The team that had possession of the ball could go for a two-for-one, or they could run out the clock if they had the lead. However, in this case, the opposing team had the ball, and Seulgi was sure as hell they were going to go for a quick two-for-one.

“The other team is obviously going for a two-for-one. So what I want to do is run a press. This way it will run down the time and they won’t be able to go for a two-for-one at all,” Coach Kim announced to the team.

They were currently in a timeout and their coach was running through the final game plan as he drew on the whiteboard. Seulgi was drenched in sweat as it trailed down her face, playing nearly the whole game took a toll on her. However, it was going to be worth it the moment the final buzzer goes off and they hoist up the trophy. She glanced over at the other team and saw the number she hated the most, 43, worn by none other than Irene Bae.

One could say that Irene was her rival. Every time they played each other, Seulgi was always irked by that stupid smirk Irene gave her when she would cross her up or make a three. In return, Seulgi would make sure that she was super aggressive when guarding Irene. Today was no different, Seulgi managed to keep Irene to a mere 8 points when she would usually average 20 points. Not to boost her ego or anything, but she was doing a damn good job on defense.

The buzzer went off, indicating the timeout was over as Seulgi and her teammates stepped back on the court. Taking their places to set up a press, a simple 1-2-1-1 full-court press with Krystal guarding the inbound pass Seulgi and Wendy in the backcourt free throw line, Moonbyul near half court, and Lisa in the frontcourt. In response to Seulgi’s team running up a press, Irene’s team went for a press break with Solar inbounding the ball, Irene and Jennie in the backcourt, and Yeri and Joy near the half-court.

Seulgi was zoned in, she positioned herself right in between Irene and the baseline in an attempt to prevent Irene from getting the inbound pass. Seulgi reached down to clean the soles of her shoe, a little habit she does while playing to get some grip on the court. Oh, she had grip alright, shuffling her feet back and forth, emitting squeaks from the traction between the court and her shoe.

“You’re gonna need all that grip you can get when I cross you up and shoot a three right in your face.” Irene taunted.

“You’re talking a lot of for someone who’s down.”

“Oh, how foolish of you to think that you’ll be winning. There’s still a lot of time left, and I’ll make sure I’m the one that shoots the game-winner right in your face.”

Seulgi was just about to say something as the referee blew his whistle. The game started again the moment he passed the ball to Solar. Seulgi quickly reacted and placed one hand on Irene’s hip and the other in the air to prevent her from getting the inbound pass. Krystal was waving her arms back and forth to block Solar’s vision. While Wendy was playing impeccable defense on Jennie, preventing her from getting any light of day. Irene quickly got a screen from Jennie, and that was where all hell went loose. Seulgi was a step behind Irene who got the ball and immediately took off, and the press was broken just like that.

.

Seulgi’s team was caught slacking, and Irene’s team took advantage of that. Irene sprinted up the court and made it look like she was going to drive to the basket, drawing in the defense, but quickly kicked it out to Yeri as she spotted up for a wide-open corner 3. The ball found its way to the bottom of the basket as a resounding swish echoed, tied game, Seulgi glanced at Irene and saw that stupid smirk she hated so much. The crowd roared with excitement, there were 40 seconds left on the clock, and it was Seulgi’s turn to bring the ball up.

As expected, Irene’s team was running a press, and Irene was playing defense on Seulgi, which made it hard for the latter to get the inbound pass from Moonbyul. Moonbyul managed to get it to Wendy, but she immediately got double-teamed by Jennie and Yeri. Time was winding down and they couldn’t afford to waste a possession. Seulgi lowkey pushed off Irene in an attempt to make space and get the pass from Wendy, which she did as she brought the ball up the court.

“TRIANGLE!” Seulgi shouted the play to her teammates but was drowned out by the thunderous crowd.

“TRIANGLE!” Irene mocked Seulgi as she guarded her. Irene’s team was playing man-to-man defense now, each player guarding their own man, making it nearly impossible to run the play. It was time she took matters into her own hands, time was winding down and the best thing was for her to have an iso play and drive to the basket. Seulgi waved her hand in the air, signaling her teammates that she was going to do an iso and they should get out of her way.

Seulgi hit a crossover jab step causing Irene to slightly stumble a bit, making the crowd roar before driving to the basket for a reverse layup attempt. The ball bounced around the rim before coming right out and into Joy’s hand as she went up for the rebound who passed it to Irene.

. There goes her chance to get her team in the lead.