The moment Jace crossed half court with that look in his eyes, something in the air changed. Darius felt it before he understood it. The way Jace's dribble became rhythmic, almost meditative. The way his shoulders relaxed even though the game was on the line. The way everything about him seemed to slow down while the rest of the world kept spinning at full speed.
The Hustle System activated, its text appearing sharp and urgent in Darius's vision.
WARNING: OPPONENT HAS ENTERED HEIGHTENED MENTAL STATE
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: "THE ZONE"
Description: Extreme focus state where athlete operates at peak efficiency. All external distractions eliminated. Time perception altered. Success rate significantly elevated across all basketball actions.
Darius's chest tightened. He knew what this was. He'd seen it before.
Khalil, he thought, remembering that game against the Titans. How Khalil had entered this same state and become completely unstoppable for five straight minutes. How nothing Bayview tried had worked. How every shot went in, every defensive read was perfect, every movement was exactly right.
And now Jace had found it too.
Jace dribbled at the top of the key, his eyes on the basket but somehow seeing everything. Darius pressured him, hands active, feet moving, doing everything he'd trained to do all week.
It didn't matter.
Jace drove right, his first step explosive but controlled. Darius stayed with him, his defensive positioning perfect. Jace crossed back left, and Darius recovered without losing balance. Then Jace stopped suddenly at eighteen feet and rose up.
The shot was contested. Darius's hand was right there.
Swish.
Riverside 106, Bayview 103.
Three-point game. Two minutes left.
Jace jogged back, and Darius could see it clearly now. His teammate Terrell saw it too. He'd been playing with Jace long enough to recognize that look. The one Jace got when he was training alone in the gym, when nothing existed except him and the basketball and the pursuit of perfection.
Terrell turned to Brandon as they ran back. "He's in it now. We already won."
Brandon looked at Jace's face and nodded slowly. Yeah. They'd already won.
Darius brought the ball up, his mind racing. He couldn't let Jace's zone affect him. Couldn't let the psychological weight of it make him hesitate. He attacked hard, driving into the paint and kicking to Daren in the corner.
Daren shot quickly. The ball went in.
Riverside 106, Bayview 105.
One-point game. One minute fifty seconds left.
But Jace came right back. He crossed half court and immediately went into his pull-up jumper, the same spot he'd been hitting all game. Darius closed out hard, jumping high, contesting perfectly.
The ball went in anyway.
Riverside 108, Bayview 105.
Darius pushed the pace, attacking before Riverside could set. He got into the paint and finished with a floater over DeAndre's contest.
Riverside 108, Bayview 107.
One minute thirty seconds left.
Jace brought it back, and this time he didn't even dribble much. Just three bounces at the top of the key, then a step-back three-pointer with Darius draped all over him.
Nothing but net.
Riverside 111, Bayview 107.
Four-point game. One minute fifteen seconds left.
Darius's legs were screaming now. His lungs burned with every breath. His body wasn't conditioned for this level of intensity for this long. But he couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop.
He brought it up and drove hard, finishing through contact from two defenders.
And one. He made the free throw.
Riverside 111, Bayview 110.
One-point game. Fifty-five seconds left.
Jace came down and ran a pick and roll with Brandon. When Darius fought through the screen, Jace made a split-second decision and passed to Brandon rolling to the rim. Brandon caught it and finished with a dunk.
Riverside 113, Bayview 110.
Forty seconds left.
Darius pushed again, his body running on pure will now. He got into the paint and kicked to Daren, who shot a three-pointer.
Good.
Riverside 113, Bayview 113.
Tie game. Thirty seconds left.
The arena was absolute chaos. Nobody was sitting. Nobody was quiet. This was what basketball was supposed to be.
Jace brought the ball up slowly now, letting the clock run down. Twenty seconds. Fifteen seconds. His team cleared out, giving him space to work.
Darius crouched low, his legs trembling slightly from exhaustion but his mind still sharp. This was it. This possession would decide everything.
Jace started his move with twelve seconds on the clock. He drove right, and Darius stayed with him. He crossed back left, and Darius recovered. Then Jace did something unexpected. He drove all the way to the baseline, drawing Eli's help defense.
Instead of shooting, Jace kicked it to Terrell in the corner.
Terrell caught it with six seconds left. He rose up, his form perfect, his confidence absolute.
Daren closed out as hard as he could, but Terrell had the space.
The shot went up.
The ball rotated through the air as the clock hit four seconds, three seconds, two seconds.
Swish.
Riverside 116, Bayview 113.
Three-point game. Three seconds left.
The Riverside bench exploded. Players were already running onto the court before the referee could wave them back. Terrell was jumping into Jace's arms, screaming with joy.
But Bayview still had three seconds. Still had one more chance.
Coach Anderson called timeout.
In the huddle, his voice was hoarse but clear. "Darius, you're taking the shot. We're going to inbound to you at half court, screen for you at the three-point line, and you're shooting it. Trust your training."
Darius nodded, his chest heaving, his jersey completely soaked through.
They broke the huddle and took their positions. Eli inbounded the ball to Darius at half court. Darius caught it, took two hard dribbles, and rose up from thirty feet as the buzzer sounded.
The shot had perfect rotation, perfect arc. It looked good all the way.
It hit the back of the rim and bounced out.
Final Score: Riverside 116, Bayview 113.
The game was over.
Riverside's players stormed the court, celebrating like they'd just won the championship. Jace was in the middle of it all, his teammates jumping on him, the crowd going absolutely wild.
Bayview's players stood frozen for a moment, the weight of the loss settling over them. Darius bent over, hands on his knees, staring at the floor. They'd come so close. So impossibly close.
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Jace stood there, his face showing something between respect and genuine appreciation. He extended his hand.
"That was the best game I've played all tournament," Jace said, and his voice carried none of the casual dismissiveness from the bathroom. This was real. Honest. "You pushed me harder than anyone else has. Made me go to places I haven't had to go all season."
Darius straightened up and took his hand, shaking it firmly. "You're the best I've faced."
"Nah," Jace said, a small smile on his face. "We're both the best. That's why that game was what it was." He paused. "What's your name? Your real name?"
"Darius. Darius Kingsley."
"Darius," Jace repeated, like he was committing it to memory. "I won't forget it. And hey, you got more years in this league, right? We'll do this again."
"Count on it."
They broke the handshake, and Jace jogged back to his celebrating teammates. Darius watched him go, then looked around at his own team. Daren was sitting on the bench, his head in his hands. Eli was standing at half court, staring at the scoreboard. Marcus and the rest of the guys were scattered around, processing the loss in their own ways.
Coach Anderson walked over and put his arm around Darius's shoulders. "You left everything out there. That's all I can ask."
"We were right there, Coach. We almost had it."
"Almost only counts in horseshoes," Coach said, then smiled slightly. "But what you did tonight? Coming back from eighteen down against the best team in the tournament? That's something to be proud of. You showed everyone in this building who Darius Kingsley is."
Darius nodded, but the loss still burned. It would burn for a while.
As they walked to the locker room, Malik caught up to him. "Yo, that was crazy. You went toe-to-toe with Jace Carter and didn't back down."
"We still lost."
"Yeah, but..." Malik searched for the right words. "You proved something today. To him. To everyone watching. To yourself."
Darius didn't respond, but as they entered the locker room and he sat down at his locker, he replayed the game in his mind. The comeback. The battle with Jace. The moment when the best player in the tournament had to enter the zone just to put them away.
They'd lost. But they'd made Riverside earn every single point in that second half.
And Jace Carter, who'd walked past him in the bathroom like he was nobody, now knew his name.
That had to count for something.
Even if it didn't change what the scoreboard said.