Johnny Long Legs (6 page)

Mr. Reese didn't want him and Jim to leave right away though. Not until after the new year. “Stay with us till then,” he insisted.
“In the meantime, you can look for an apartment.”

“Two extra mouths to feed for a few days means nothing,” added Mrs. Reese.

Johnny saw the warm look on Jim's face. He knew that Jim wanted his father to accept the invitation.

“Okay,” Mr. Sain agreed finally. “We'll stay. Thanks very much. You people have been most kind to Jim and me. Come on, Jim.
We'll look for an apartment.” He smiled. “See you tonight, Mr. Reese.”

“Hollis is my first name,” said Mr. Reese. “Call me Hollis.”

Mr. Sain put out his hand and Mr. Reese took it. “And mine is Jim, the same as my son's,” said Mr. Sain.

During Christmas vacation Johnny did as much jumping as he could. On Sunday, the day before school started again, Toby made
a new chalk mark where the tips of Johnny's fingers touched the boards after he had
jumped. Then he measured it with a foot ruler.

“Look!” he exclaimed. “A gain of seven inches from the first time!”

Johnny grinned. “I'm getting there,” he said.

Jim was there, too. He jumped and Toby made a chalk mark where his fingers had touched. It was exactly two inches below Johnny's.

“I guess you are getting there,” exclaimed Jim. “But maybe on a basketball court it'll be different.”

“We'll see about that. Won't we, Johnny?” said Toby, his eyes glinting with pride.

Johnny smiled. Toby sure was for him every bit of the way.

On January 4 the White Cats played the Red Foxes. The Cats had beaten the Foxes twice. They had confidence in beating them
again. The game was at the school gym.
Since it started at 6:30 Dad could attend. Mom and Grandpa came with him. It was the first game that Grandpa had come to see.
Mr. Sain had found an apartment and he and Jim had left that morning.

The Red Foxes' red satin uniforms, the face of a fox painted on the front of the jerseys, looked as if they had just come
out of their boxes. They were a colorful contrast to the Cats' white.

Johnny started at the left forward position, playing opposite Butch Hendricks, the Red Foxes' leading scorer. Butch wore glasses
and was tall and thin as a reed. At right forward was Huck Stevens. Toby and Cotton played the guard positions and Rick Davis
center.

The referee blew his whistle as he tossed the ball up between Rick and Tom Case, the Foxes' center, and the game was on. Tom
outjumped Rick and tapped the ball to a
teammate. The Fox dribbled it toward the White Cats basket, then stopped as Toby popped in front of him. The Red Fox player
tossed the ball to another Fox coming up behind him. The Fox dribbled to the corner, aimed at the basket, and shot. In for
two points.

Toby took out the ball and tossed it to Johnny. Johnny dribbled across the center line, bounced the ball to Huck. Huck made
a fast break for the basket, stopped inches in front of it, leaped, and shot the ball in a slow arc. In.

Seconds later the ball was again close to the White Cats basket. The Red Foxes tossed it back and forth, waiting for the chance
to make a break and shoot. Then, as if he couldn't wait any longer, a Red Fox took a shot. The ball struck the backboard,
then the rim, and bounced off.

Johnny and two Red Fox men, including
Tom Case, scrambled for the ball. Johnny and Tom came down with the ball clutched in their hands.

“Jump!” yelled the ref.

The boys faced each other.

The referee tossed up the ball. The boys leaped. Johnny gave his legs all the spring he could. His hands went up beyond Tom's.
He tapped the ball!

“That-a-way, Johnny!” a voice cried in the stands. Mr. Sain's voice!

Cotton caught the tap and dribbled down-court. A Red Fox swooped in from behind him, tried to steal the ball. Smack! His hand
struck Cotton's. The whistle shrilled.

“One shot!” said the ref.

Cotton took his time at the foul line. He bounced the ball twice, then looked at the basket and shot. The ball arced gracefully
and sank in without touching the rim.

The seconds ticked away on the big clock
above the lighted, red-figured scoreboard. When the first four minutes of the first quarter had passed, the score was tied,
7 to 7.

The Red Foxes broke it, scoring a long shot from the center line. The shot was made by Butch Hendricks, Johnny's man.

The Red Foxes widened their lead. Butch scored again and again, each shot from behind the foul line or from a corner. Johnny
couldn't stop him.

In the second quarter Butch tried his long shots again. The first one missed. A Red Fox took the ball off the boards and passed
it back to Butch. Butch's second try also failed. Again a Red Fox got the rebound. This time he dribbled toward the center
line, away from the crowd under the basket. He passed to a teammate going in. The teammate passed to Butch. Like a cat Johnny
pounced on the ball at the same time Butch did.
Then both he and Butch had it, each fighting for its possession.

Shreeek!
Jump ball.

Again Johnny gave his legs all the spring he possibly could. Up… up he went past Butch's hand and tapped the ball to Huck.
Huck took it, dribbled toward the center line, and passed to Nat Newton, who had gone in for Toby. Nat dribbled a bit and
passed to Johnny running in fast toward the basket. Johnny caught the ball and leaped high. A beautiful layup!

“Nice play, Johnny!” yelled Mr. Sain.

Johnny turned, brushed the sweat off his brow, and ran back upcourt.
Wonder what he'd say if I outjumped Jim,
he thought.
Would he still call me Johnny Long Legs?

T
he half ended with the Red Foxes leading, 31 to 24.

“Do more shooting this second half, Johnny,” said Coach Dates, standing with one foot on a bench in the locker room. “Try
more layups.” He grinned. “You've come a long way with your jumping. And you've improved your pivoting, too. Goes to show
what steady practice will do. And determination.”

Johnny sat with his elbows on his knees. Practice? Determination? No one except he and Toby knew how hard he had practiced
to improve his jumping and to pivot without dragging his foot across the floor.

The boys went upstairs to start the second half and Johnny did as the coach had advised. Whenever he saw his chance he drove
in for a layup. Sometimes he didn't make it, but most of the time he did. Cotton and Huck fed him the ball and sank a few
baskets themselves.

By the end of the third quarter they were trailing 49 to 48. The Red Foxes widened their lead by four points but gradually
the White Cats gained ground again. With a minute to go in the last quarter the Cats were leading by a very thin margin, 61
to 60.

Then Johnny fouled Butch, striking Butch's hand as he jumped for a layup.

“Two shots!” yelled the ref.

Butch made them both. 62-61, Red Foxes' favor.

Then, with fifteen seconds left, Johnny
got the ball and dribbled it to the corner. Fourteen seconds… thirteen… twelve… Johnny kept dribbling. Butch guarded him like
a hawk, trying desperately to keep him from making a fast break.

… Eleven seconds… ten… nine… eight…

“Shoot!” yelled a White Cats fan. “Shoot, Johnny!”

… Seven seconds… six… five…

Johnny broke past Butch, felt Butch's hand slide across his shoulders. He leaped and laid the ball against the boards. In!

The crowd went wild.

The Red Foxes took out the ball. A player shot a long one as the clock ticked off the last second. The ball struck the rim,
bounced off. The game was over. The White Cats won, 63 to 62.

Johnny was happy but not completely satisfied. When he got home he checked over
the schedule. The next game against the Hornets was on January 18, the last game of the season for both teams.

The White Cats trimmed the Leopards on Thursday, and lost by a wide margin, 68 to 52, on Tuesday to the Swordtails, who were
leading the league. On the thirteenth the White Cats beat the Astro Jets, 57 to 49.

At last came the game with the Hornets. Among the fans that filled the stands were Mom and Dad, Grandpa, and, of course, Mr.
Sain.

Johnny started, playing opposite Jim. Both grinned at each other as they shook hands. Then the grins disappeared. They were
opponents again.

The ball went up between the centers. Rick tapped it to Johnny. Jim tried to take it from him, but Johnny pivoted around on
his right foot—doing it almost perfectly now—
then dribbled toward the Hornets basket. Jim dashed in front of him and Johnny passed to Toby in the corner. Toby shot. A
hit!

The Hornets took out the ball and moved it swiftly upcourt. A pass to Jim. Johnny tried to intercept it, slipped, and fell.
Jim broke for the White Cats basket. He leaped. A perfect layup.

Johnny got up and hustled downcourt. Cotton was bringing the ball down, dribbling cautiously, running slowly. Johnny trotted
to the corner, circled in front of Jim. Cotton shot the ball to him. Johnny caught it and in one motion snapped a shot. The
ball struck the rim, bounced high, and came down.

Johnny bolted in for the rebound. Alongside of him was Jim. They both leaped, their arms stretched high for the ball. Johnny
put all the spring he could into his jump.

He soared higher. He got the ball! He came down with it, jumped again, and shot. A basket!

“Nice shot, Johnny!” he heard his father yell. Then Grandpa, too.

Johnny squirted upcourt, thinking about that jump No one could call him “Lead-foot” now. Especially not Mr. Sain. He really
didn't mind “Johnny Long Legs” anymore. As a matter of fact, “Johnny Long Legs” didn't sound bad at all.

The Cats led at the end of the quarter, 13 to 10. Johnny had sunk two for four points. In the next quarter he sank three,
two layups and a corner shot. Toby dumped in two from a corner. Cotton was sinking them, too. They were hot.

The Hornets closed up the margin the first four minutes of the second half. Johnny came out, replaced by Stitch Buttons. Coach
Dates gave all the members a chance
to play, regardless of how far ahead or behind the White Cats were.

At the end of the third quarter the Cats led, 47 to 44. The Hornets were closing up the gap fast.

The game was an important one. If the Hornets won they would clinch second place and the White Cats would finish up in third.
If the White Cats won the two teams would be tied for second. They would have to play off for second place.
We have to win,
thought Johnny.

The fourth quarter started with the White Cats taking out the ball. Johnny caught the throw-in from Toby and passed to Huck.
Huck dribbled a bit. Suddenly a Hornet swooped in, swiped the ball from him, and dribbled all the way downcourt. Up and in.
It was Jim Sain.

“Nice play, Jim!” yelled a familiar voice.

47 to 46.

Again Toby took out the ball. And again Johnny caught it and dribbled upcourt. Instantly Jim was after the ball and Johnny
knew that from now on till the end of the game Jim was going to be one fast-moving, fighting basketball player.

Suddenly Jim got his hands on the ball. He tried desperately to yank it out of Johnny's hands but Johnny hung on.

Jump ball.

The ball went up. The boys leaped as high as they could. Again Johnny soared higher. He tapped the ball to Cotton. Cotton
dribbled it upcourt and passed to Toby in the corner. Toby took a set and missed. Johnny, Rick, and Jim sprang for the rebound.

Again Johnny caught it. He leaped, arcing the ball. A basket! 49 to 46.

The fans were jubilant. “Come on, Johnny Long Legs!” shouted two familiar voices, Dad's and Grandpa's. “Sock it to 'em, boy!”

Johnny smiled.

The minutes ticked rapidly away. Both teams scored again and again. There was one minute left when Jim took a shot from near
the center line and made it! 59 to 58, the Cats still leading.

The White Cats took out the ball and dribbled it carefully upcourt. Huck had it, passed to Johnny. Jim bolted in and tried
to snatch it from him. Johnny pivoted away and broke for the basket. He shot. A miss!

He, Rick, and Jim went up for the rebound. Rick got it, shot, missed. This time Jim caught it and started to dribble away,
but Johnny clamped his hand on the ball.

Jump ball.

Again Johnny outjumped Jim. Huck caught the tap and passed to Toby. A Hornet stole it from him, passed to another Hornet.
The Hornet passed to Jim. Jim dribbled it hastily downcourt, Johnny after him. Johnny burst in
between Jim and the basket and Jim stopped dead. He was in the keyhole. He shot. A hit.

Three seconds later the game was over. The Hornets won it, 60 to 59.

The Hornets swung their arms around each other, yelling and jumping happily. They yelled for the White Cats: “One! Two! Three!
Hooray! White Cats!” Then they shook hands with the losers and ran down to the locker room. All except Jim, who was standing
beside Johnny and Toby, watching their best-loved fans advancing toward them.

They all started to talk at once, shaking the boys' hands and saying how good a game it was.

“You really have come a long way, Johnny,” said Mr. Sain, a happy glint in his eyes. He looked much different now than he
had a couple of weeks ago. He had a new hat
and his clothes were cleaned and pressed. “I remember when Jim outjumped you every time. Now you spring up past him like nobody's
business. What did you do? Put wings on your feet?”

“I just practiced,” replied Johnny, smiling.

“I want to apologize, Johnny,” continued Mr. Sain in a quiet voice. “I'm sorry for calling you `Leadfoot' and other silly
names. You certainly aren't a leadfoot anymore. Anyway, I'm one of those fans who yell 'Kill the umpire!' at baseball games.
I really don't mean anything by it.”

“That's okay, Mr. Sain,” said Johnny.

“Call him Johnny Long Legs,” said Toby. “He doesn't mind that one bit anymore.”

Everyone laughed.

Jim tapped Johnny on the shoulder. “Come on, Johnny Long Legs,” he said, grinning. “Let's shower up and go home.”