Disclaimer: I found the attached image at the following site:  http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/19/this-painting-of-george-washington-dunking-on-dictators-is-breathtaking/. This picture fit too perfectly for my drama to pass up! Kudos to painter Aaron Needham.

By Steven Dexheimer

Skip: All right, now it’s time to play ball. Lincoln and Washington get into position at half court as the referee brings out the ball.

Larry: Look at the intensity in Washington and Lincoln’s face.

Skip: George looks about ready to grind his false teeth into dust. The referee tosses the ball up…and Lincoln tips the ball to Grant. Grant drives his way forward to the three-point line and is heavily guarded by Adams and Madison. He passes the ball over Madison to Lee who shoots…and gets the basket. The Warriors draw first blood and take a 2-0 lead.

Larry: The Fathers tried the double team on Grant early, but they sent their two shortest players to do it, so it’s back to the drawing board for that plan.

Skip: Adams has the ball now and tosses it into play to Jefferson. Jefferson patiently moves up the court, looking for an open teammate. “Stonewall” Jackson is sticking close to him, his left arm raised. This would not be an unusual gesture, except that Jackson keeps his left arm raised throughout the entire game.

Larry: He told me that he does it to keep his blood balanced.

Skip: Yes, in fact Jackson does a number of quirky things for good luck. Oh, Jefferson has just ducked under Jackson and is driving up the court. He has an open lane to the basket. He goes up for the lay-up, and wow! Sherman came out of nowhere and stuffed Jefferson hard. He just laid him flat.

Larry: Jefferson went up for an easy shot, but Sherman broke away from Patrick Henry, leapt up and got a hand squarely on the ball and possibly more than that as the ref blows the whistle and signals a foul. Sherman can’t believe it. He thought it was a fair stop.

Skip: Meanwhile, Jefferson gets his two shots at the line. The first one is up…and good. As I said before, Jefferson is an all-round player. He is very good at just about every point of the game. He makes the second shot, and it is in. The Fathers have tied up. But wait, the ref has blown the whistle again, and is pointing to Sherman. Apparently, during the rebound on the second shot, Sherman completely flattened Madison on his way to get the ball. Now Madison will get his two shots.

Larry: Sherman better pace himself, or he’ll be out of the game before the first quarter ends.

Skip: Madison has made his first shot and missed, and now he tosses the second one. It wasn’t a pretty shot, but it went in. The Fathers lead 3-2. This time Grant picks up the rebound and works his way out from under the basket. He feints a pass to Jackson, then goes to Lincoln who takes the ball out past mid-court. Washington is guarding him close as “Honest Abe” looks for an open man. He tosses the ball to Jackson, who quickly whips it to Lee who is at the three-point line. He shoots and…it’s off the rim. Sherman recovers it and shovels it off to Grant. Grant tries to put up the shot and it’s slapped away by Jefferson. The ball is loose. Lee and Henry make a mad dash for it. It’s recovered by Lee who passes it off to Jackson. Jackson shoots from inside the three-point line, and it’s in. Warriors regain the lead 4-3…

(Some time later)

Skip: Two minutes left in the second quarter— the Warriors holding on to a slim lead: 47-44. Both teams have been looking great so far, but neither side really dominating the other in this game.

Larry: The Warriors, who were a bit shaky in the beginning, have improved as the game has gone on. Sherman hasn’t committed a foul since the beginning of the first quarter, and Grant is having a fabulous game. Between the two, they have picked up just about every rebound made.

Skip: Grant seems to be holding strong, but I have seen him go to his water bottle quite bit this game, especially in this quarter. During the last time out, he was really chugging away. What do you make of that, Larry?

Larry: I have noticed that too. He made be just dehydrated, but with the amount he has seemed to drink, I can’t see how.

Skip: The Fathers have the ball now with 1:45 on the clock. Patrick Henry has the ball, Sherman guarding him close. Henry is slowly making his way down the court, looking for the open man. Jefferson comes around behind Henry and Henry feeds the ball off to the quiet red-head who starts to drive toward the basket with Jackson at his heels. Jefferson quickly passes behind him to Madison at the three-point line. Madison is wide open. He takes the shot-it’s good! A clean hop off the backboard and in it went. It’s a tie game now with time is running out in the first half. Lincoln takes the ball out of bounds and looks to put it in play. He passes it in to Sherman who is double-teamed by Jefferson and Madison. Sherman bounces it to Lee who quickly dumps it off to Jackson. The clock is winding down. Jackson flings it to the other end of the court. Grant, who has been left virtually unguarded, hustles for the ball. He comes up with it and goes up for the lay-up…and completely overshoots the basket! The ball goes into the stands as the clock runs out. Unbelievable!

Larry: Time was running out, but Grant had all the time he needed to make the easy lay-up. No one was there to guard him, but surprisingly, he muffed the play.

Skip: We are looking at the replay and it seems to me that Grant was caught off guard by the ball coming to him.

Larry: From the time he got the ball, Grant appeared to be a bit disoriented and not very focused. Maybe it’s exhaustion. He’s been playing very hard this game.

Skip: If it is, then halftime couldn’t have come at a better time for Grant, as both teams head for the locker room with the game tied at 47.