Chapter 70 Going to New Ways 6
After a few more days pa.s.sed, the day of the final arrived, the place of the compet.i.tion was still the same, but now it was full of people, they also had several cameras and trailers for the TV people and the guests.
Many reporters from the city were there as well, Jake stayed close to his mother and since it was still a long time before the games started, he stayed for a while just watching, Clara and Tiffany had a meeting today so they could not watch the final, but they said they trusted on Jake and just leave like that.
Jake wore a sports s.h.i.+rt with the company brand and the s.h.i.+rt with the advertis.e.m.e.nt below, was to make more impact at the time of the match, Eva had also brought several drinks from Tiffany"s company to drink and also enjoy and do promotion.
All other finalists had already arrived just Jake was not there, the crowd was also more interested in the older ones, the 17-year-old even had dunks in yesterday"s game, so it seemed like a more exciting game.
David was also there among the finalists and had noticed Jake, but he was not interested either in the final game because he knew he would win, he just felt sorry for the other finalist at the age of 12 who looked excited and anxious.
He had already lost, but still did not know was what David thought, it was impossible that Jake who had won him lose to someone who was much weaker than him, his opponent who already knew David from before instead seemed calmer and already had accepted defeat.
In fact, David was also upset about Jake"s att.i.tude of being a wolf in lambskin, he just challenged Jake too because he thought he was weaker by what he saw in the games if Jake had shown his shots from 3 before him or would try.
In fact Jake did not do that on purpose, in the games of the school league he even hid some of his abilities to catch opponents by surprise, but there was just not to humiliate the opponents, he was already winning every game almost 10 points difference, if he also gives 3 shots nor would he match.
After a while, he saw that the organizers were calling the players to start the finals, and Jake finally left close to his mother after giving her a kiss and a hug in it, took off his blouse and went to the other finalists as he arrived At last near the time Jake started drawing attention.
And what also caught the attention was his s.h.i.+rt with the mark of the two companies, who had s.h.i.+rts with sponsors.h.i.+p so far were the two finalists of 17 years and the other with 16, but Jake seemed to have only 12 and also had the trust of some company and were still two companies.
Eric who had come after receiving the call from Clara also took some photos when Jake appeared, his interview with Jake ended up increasing his fame and was well received by the public in the newspaper.
Despite hearing complaints from her publisher for making ads without charge, this time Clara promised to make up the paper after this interview, after all, Clara"s company got good sales thanks to the interview, the people of Miami liked to see that a young man from their city was the best state in basketball games.
Now Jake was challenging young street basketballers in New York who was known for his open courts, if he won it too should be a success, but what caught Eric"s attention was Jake"s s.h.i.+rt that now had two companies, he would she remembered being just one before.
It seems that Jake also won with his interview, it was good because if the player got on well with the reporters his fame usually increased rapidly.
After a while, the finals started and two 11-year-olds went to the court, but it was not known whether it was the lack of skills or the pressure of the public and the cameras the youngsters were doing a bad game.
It took almost two minutes and several attempts for one of the two to make the first point, so the game seemed to be played so bad that the two were and it took almost 15 minutes for the game to end, the organizers must have regretted taking the time restriction maximum.
When the game ended did not get the applause expected from the audience, you"re kidding, was lucky that they did not boo because they were playing children and waited for applause?
It was soon followed by an unscrupulous reporter interview as promised with the young man breathless for playing 15 minutes, then he received a medal and the trophy and only then received some applause, then he took a picture and left.
So the expectation of the final game that Jake would play now was almost zero, everyone did not think a year would make such a big difference in experience, and they were partially correct because Jake"s opponent was shaking when the camera filmed him, it was a tournament which was being filmed and parts of it would be broadcast on television.
This was in stark contrast to Jake who looked completely calm and his s.h.i.+rt with sponsors.h.i.+ps, many even began to think that the companies on the s.h.i.+rt were small markets or stores in the city.
To tell the truth Jake also did not expect the nervousness to affect both the younger players, he was even with feathers of his opponent who was shaking and wanted to say a few words to calm him down and say to focus on the game but could not.
He would have to give the best to play well and thus bring more attention to his sponsors and if he would calm the young man and then end him in the game he would appear hypocritical in doing so.
So Jake and David who was watching this and laughing outside just made a silent prayer for their opponent"s suffering, the game started with the possession of Jake"s opponent, but he was strangely walking the ball up.
So Jake just waited for a little and stole the ball from his opponent, then made a comeback in it and ran to the basket to score the first point.
The young man who was very nervous was called Kirk and he was really nervous with the big public and the cameras, he was even calmer before starting the tournament, but after seeing the shameful game of the two players only 1 year younger and the He was even more nervous.
So the game started and he distracted lost possession of the ball, and saw his opponent who seemed calm make the first point easily, then his opponent just picked up the ball and started another attack and took step back and gave a 3-point shot who cheered the cheer that started to cheer and just then Kirk calmed down and realized that this was the final and the 2000 dollar prize he wanted to win was starting to get further apart.
Jake also noticed after making the third point that his opponent began to calm down, that was better, if he did 10 to zero with a nervous opponent would not attract the attention of the public as much as gain from a stronger opponent.
So Jake started another attack and Kirk started to put pressure and defend, as he was warmer Jake made a feint and after a hesitation made the crossover and pa.s.sed through Kirk on the left, Kirk tried to recover more Jake was fast and had already given the shot to make 1 more point.
So Kirk had to acknowledge that his opponent was much better than he expected, but he could not give up like that and tried again to press Jake, Jake just ran into the basket and then stopped, when Kirk also stopped Jake ran to the left and then when Kirk turned to defend his left side Jake made a spin as he saw LeBron James do it several times and then just did the layup to score another point.
The play was so fast that Kirk only knew that Jake had made another point and did not even know what happened, after being in shock for a moment the crowd began to scream, cheer and cheer crazily, who filmed was very happy with the discovery and those who had turned off the camera because they did not expect anything were repentant.
In the crowd, Eric had a big smile on his face because as he expected a lot from Jake he always took pictures of his marked points, and took the picture of that basket that would be the cover of his interview.
Jake liked to make sure the move he had rehea.r.s.ed for a while, but he thought it was a shame he could not finish with a dunk, that would be perfect.
Kirk who did not know what was happening just rushed Jake and the referee to restart the match soon, Jake got the ball and now more confident began to make some typical street basketball throws to cheer the crowd as well and go through Kirk, so after to make the seventh point Jake made a hesitation again and a step back to take another shot out and make 2 more points.
Kirk had accepted his defeat and was annoyed by the crowd that was screaming all around Jake did, now he just wanted to make a point to not lose from zero, Jake started the attack and after making some feints that did not work with concentrated Kirk and took another step back.
Kirk stepped up to try to stop Jake from taking the shot from outside but ended up taking the ball under his legs and was pa.s.sed, he struggled to reach Jake who had run into the basket and when he got close he saw Jake stopping and doing a hesitation , then Jake makes a cross jab followed by another hesitation and ending with a quick crossover and pa.s.sing through Kirk, Kirk who took three dribbles in a row and was a bit tired ended up with his back to the ground as he watched Jake close the game and win the final.