Against All Odds The Team’s Guard Is Out; The Sub Is Short; Can The Players Pull Victory Out Of All This?

Coach Gerald Kennedy huddled close with his players. As he spoke, he held his hand out palm up, as if the key to the basketball game rested in it.

Kennedy’s team, The Spokane Burners, was losing.

In the 12-year-old and younger bracket, the Burners were being burned by the outside shooting of the Raptors during a Sunday morning Hoopfest game.

What happened over the next 20 minutes was Hoopfest drama at its hoopiest, a show of where the rawest passions of basketball lie - with the kids.

The Burners were an unlikely team. Their coach had never played in this, the world’s largest three-on-three tournament. Kennedy played basketball in high school but admitted, “Baseball is really my sport.”

The players were “actually rejects from other teams,” he said.

And the team’s guard, Kennedy’s 12-year-old son, Gerald - who shares his dad’s first name - was on the sideline recovering from a broken foot. In his place was his little brother, 9-year-old Brandon, wearing red jersey No. 1.

Though a basketball shorter than the 12-year-olds running around him, Brandon fired a game-winning shot on Saturday, qualifying the team to tangle with the Raptors on Sunday.

Under a gray sky, cheerless as the asphalt, the Burners were not off to a good start Sunday morning.

Led by coach Bob Delaney, Raptors Hank Anderson, Justin Seier, Nick Stewart and Matt Delaney were flying away with the game. The winner of the match would go to the semifinals Sunday afternoon.

Ten minutes into the game, the Raptors were ahead 11-9. Twins Brett and Bradd Miller and Brian Seidel of the Burners couldn’t hold their gray-shirted opponents.

“They are not in the game; they are not working together,” said the younger Gerald as he watched his team fall behind two points, then four.

He wanted to play “so bad,” but wishes wouldn’t mend a broken foot.

Coach Kennedy told his team to be patient, to calm down, to look for the open man. The huddle broke.

They played; they passed; they stayed behind.

With five minutes left, the score was 17-15, Raptors’ advantage. The younger Gerald is on the sidelines punching the air, jumping up and down. His sister Jennifer and mother Rene’ stand, too. During the game, Kennedy had stood and squatted on the sidelines. Now he is on his knees.

Basket. Foul on Burners. Foul on Raptors. Score: 18-18.

Nine-year-old Brandon leaves his dad’s side. After winning the game on Saturday, he didn’t play much Sunday. He zigzags through the crowd chanting, “Excuse me, excuse me.”

He runs to the timer’s table, then back to his dad with the report: One minute left.

One of the twins, Brett Miller, gets the ball. He’s outside. He shoots. The last seconds of the game vanish.

Kennedy stands. His right hand taps his chest, trying to restart his heart. He hollers a couple of times. “Whew” is one of the first intelligible things from his lips.

Brett made the shot.

Burners win.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos