When Jessie and Violet walked into the sports center the next day, Tom Hooper was up on his ladder painting the ceiling.
“Hi, Tom,” Tipper called out. “Looks as if you’re almost done. How are you?”
Tom didn’t answer, so Tipper and the Aldens kept walking down the hall.
“Hey, wait!” Tom called after them. “I just remembered something. Frank gave me a note for you, Tipper.”
Everyone turned around. Tom came down from his ladder. He searched the pocket of his painter’s pants. “Now, what did I do with it?”
“Do with what?” Jessie asked.
“Frank’s piece of paper . . . mmm . . . let me see.” Tom emptied his pockets but found nothing. Finally he picked up a piece of paper from the floor. “Whew. It fell out of my pocket. Frank says this is very important. Sorry, I almost forgot.” He handed Tipper a paint-splattered, wrinkled note.
Tipper read it aloud.
Dear Tipper,
The Blue Stars’ coach just came down with the flu. Since the Fast Breakers team has two coaches, you and Courtney, I have assigned Courtney to coach the Blue Stars until the championship game.
Frank Fowler
“Looks as if it’s just us Fast Breakers chickens,” Tipper told the girls.
Violet and Jessie looked at each other. They didn’t mind this new change of plans at all. They knew one thing: Practice with Tipper alone would be a lot more fun from now on.
All their other teammates, except one, cheered when Tipper announced that she was now the Fast Breakers’ only coach. Only Patsy Cutter seemed to mind. She loved Tipper, but she also loved having two coaches to give her lots of attention.
All through practice Patsy followed Tipper around and begged for extra help. But that wasn’t Tipper’s way of doing things.
“Sorry, Patsy,” Tipper repeated. “I know you want me to work with you on the power drill again, but that’s a one-player drill. Today we’re only doing team drills. Now that Courtney’s with the Blue Stars, I have to work more with our whole team.”
“But . . . but . . .” Patsy protested. “If the really good players don’t get special drills, we might not be the best like you.”
Tipper put her arm around Patsy’s shoulders. “Being the best player means helping the team to be the best.”
Patsy sighed. She couldn’t help it. She wanted Tipper Nettleton to herself. But Patsy didn’t have any choice. She lined up behind the other Fast Breakers. It was time for a team drill.
The Fast Breakers practiced for an hour. Then the lights flickered on and off. The girls stopped playing.
“Time for the Blue Stars’ practice,” Courtney yelled across the gym. Her hand was still on the light switch. “It’s two o’clock.”
Patsy, Violet, Jessie, and some of the other girls went over to say hello to their old coach.
“I wish we still had two coaches,” Patsy complained to Courtney. “I need special help. We only have one coach now. I can’t work on my power drill or the wall drill.”
“That’s the way it goes,” Courtney said, none too friendly to the Fast Breakers now. “Tell your teammates to move along. The Blue Stars have to practice now.”
Right up to the playoffs, Courtney treated the Fast Breakers like strangers. If their practice ran over just a few seconds, she complained.
“Don’t mind Courtney,” Tipper told the Fast Breakers. “Some coaches are tough like that. They want everyone to be afraid of their team. That’s the way Courtney’s old Warwick High School team played. We were terrified of them. In the end, they won some games, and we won some others. It’s two different ways of coaching.”
“We like your way,” Violet said.
Patsy Cutter wasn’t so sure. “I like your way, too, Tipper. But don’t you think it’s a good idea to build up some players the other team is afraid of?” she asked. “You know — make some of us so awesome, the other team gets nervous?”
Tipper laughed. “Do you have anybody in mind?”
Patsy finally laughed, too. “Well, if you change your mind, I can be pretty scary.”
Tipper Nettleton laughed. “I don’t want scary players, just good ones like you who work as a team.”
When the day of the championship game arrived, the Aldens were excited, but also a little nervous.
At breakfast that morning, Violet pushed her scrambled eggs around her plate, unable to eat them. “I can’t believe we’re going to play in front of all those people,” she said. “I’m so nervous. I almost wish Patsy and Jessie and the other best players would play the whole game.”
“Hush!” Tipper said. “Put that thought from your mind, Violet. I know what will make you feel better. Let’s do a quick workout in back. When you see how well you practice, your confidence will bounce right back. Come on now.”
Out in back, Violet tried out everything Tipper had taught her. Tipper helped her guard and pass and dribble and shoot until she was playing smoothly.
“You’re right,” Violet told Tipper when they finally stopped. “Now I know I can play against anyone, even the Blue Stars.”
“Especially the Blue Stars,” Tipper said before she and Violet went inside.
Jessie looked at the clock. “Only an hour and a half. What will we do until then?”
“Let’s head over to the sports center to pick up our uniforms and basketball sneakers,” Tipper suggested. “We have to take our things over to the Greenfield High gym before our game there.”
“Good idea,” Jessie said. “I’m too fidgety to stay home.”
On the way over, Tipper helped the girls relax with some quiet music. “It’s important to work yourselves hard, but it’s also good to get your mind calm before a big game. That’s what I always do.”
But that wasn’t what Courtney Post did with the Blue Stars. When Tipper and the Aldens walked into the sports center, Courtney was supervising some last-minute practice with two of her players. “Harder! Dribble it harder!” she yelled. “You don’t want everybody to think you’re the Blue Marshmallows, do you? Don’t be afraid to look a little mean. It throws everybody off guard.”
“They look scary,” Violet whispered, starting to lose a little of her confidence.
“No, not scary, miserable,” Jessie said.
Courtney noticed Tipper and the Aldens standing there.
“The office is unlocked,” Courtney shouted at Tipper. “I sent my team’s things over to the Greenfield High School gym with Frank. He’s going to be the referee. We’re leaving for the high school in a minute. Make sure you get your players there on time, too. You don’t want to forfeit the game!”
“Ugh!” Tipper said with a groan after Courtney left. “Now, why did Courtney have to go and say that? I’m totally confident about everybody’s playing. What I don’t like much is getting everything ready — the equipment, the paperwork, the scoring sheets. I wish the sports center was ready so we could play the game here.”
Violet patted Tipper’s arm. “Don’t worry. Jessie can help. She’s always super-organized. She even lines up her slippers in one direction next to her bed every night.”
Jessie laughed. “I thought everyone did that!”
The girls followed Tipper into the office. The room was still a little messy, with construction equipment cluttering up the small area.
“Can you get both duffel bags from the closet?” Tipper asked Jessie and Violet. “The uniforms and sneakers are in the bags. Oh, and grab a couple basketballs, just in case. You never know. I’ll get the stopwatch and the papers we need for the game.”
Jessie opened the closet door. “Did you mean this closet, Tipper?” she said. “There are only a couple of ladders and a bunch of paint cans in here.”
Tipper came over. “Oh, no! The duffel bags were right here when we finished practice last night. I even put a name tag on each of them so no one would take them by mistake. I didn’t want the team bags to get mixed up with anybody else’s things.”
“We’ll go find Tom or Courtney,” Jessie told Tipper.
“Tom? Tom?” Jessie called out. But the only answer she heard was the sound of her own voice echoing back.
Violet ran to the lobby. She looked out the front doors. “Oh, no, Courtney just left.”
Tipper and the Aldens were alone in the empty building.
“What should we do?” Jessie asked.
Tipper checked her watch. “Let’s split up and check every unlocked room and closet in this building. Maybe the painters moved our bags somewhere else.”
The girls split up. They raced through the dark halls. Most of the rooms and closets were locked.
When Violet and Jessie met Tipper in the lobby again, they were all empty-handed.
“All I can guess is that Tom or Frank took our duffel bags to the high school gym earlier,” Tipper said, checking her watch again. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed. We’d better get a move on. The game starts in about forty-five minutes.”
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