The gym, like pretty much the rest of the campus, was deserted when we got there.  It was the same small, isolated gym where Ashley and I had our earlier confrontation.  

"Ok," Ashley said grabbing one of the balls off the rack and bouncing it a few times to check the air pressure.  "You wanna do half court, two points behind the three point line, one point for everything inside?”

The question made me fully grasp what was about to go down.  This would be the first time Ashley and I squared off one-on-one.  In a team setting, I knew I was a better point guard, mostly because I worked with my team and didn’t try to showboat like Ashley.  But one-on-one, man-on-man, I wasn’t sure how I’d stack up against her.   I couldn’t hold back the nervousness that surfaced at this uncertainty.  Losing was not an option.  I would never hear the end of it.

"Ok, sounds good," I said, hoping she didn’t notice my sudden tension.  "But so we’re not out here all day, 11 points wins. Plus, make it, take it."

"Cool," she said smirking. " And just to show you I’m a good sport, you get ball first."

She passed me the ball, still looking at me with that same arrogant little expression that is so typically Ashley.   But for once I benefitted from it.  Her cocky sense of confidence  actually started to stifle my nervousness; determination took its its place.  Ashley clearly didn’t think I could beat her, so I was going to teach her a lesson on the downfalls of overconfidence.

We both walked to the top of the three-point line. I took a few deep breaths to ready myself, before checking the ball.  Now, the game was on.

Ashley instantly rushed towards me.  She guarded me close as I hustled to dribble passed her on both the left and right. 

"Come on, Spence.  Don’t tell me that’s all you got," she said, looking smug.

The remark gave me the motivation I needed.  I faked right, pretending I was about to make a drive for the basket from that side.  As soon as I saw Ashley shift to cut me off, I crossed over and blew passed her on the left, and made an easy jump shot.