There was nowhere safe to pass. The shot clock wound down and Orchard forced a turnover. Two minutes later, South Dock was down seven to one. Ward called timeout and drew a simple action that began with Zora at the elbow. Imani sat beside Mina as she came off the floor.

“You’re looking at their hands.” Imani whispered. “Look at their feet.” The trap can’t close until the back defender moves. Mina swallowed.

“I thought I could just get through.” “You can. Not by being faster than two people. Make one of them choose.” When the team returned, Mina waited for Orchard’s second defender to commit, then bounced a pass to Zora cutting toward the free throw line.

Zora found Marisol in the corner. The shot went in, and the South Dock bench stood as one. It was the team’s first field goal, a small breakthrough that did not require Imani to be on the court to matter. The lead grew anyway. Orchard hit a three at the buzzer to end the first quarter ahead by 10.

South Dock’s bench was quiet. The girls were trying not to look at the warm-up jacket folded beside Imani’s knees. Mercer crossed from the scorer’s table with a paper in his hand. For an instant, Imani’s heart leaped. He was only delivering the updated second half schedule.

Ward asked if there was progress on the roster verification. Mercer said the office was checking and hurried back before she could ask anything else. In the north corridor, Director Grant was dealing with a different sort of pressure. Mariner representative had asked whether the game would be declared a forfeit if South Dock used number 12. Grant had explained that the player was on a provisional hold and South Dock had complied.

The representative returned to the subject twice, each time with a staff member who seemed uncomfortable being there. Grant eventually said that no sponsor, parent, or participating school would decide the interpretation of the event’s own rules. the file would. It was not a grand speech. Nobody in the stands heard it. It mattered because Grant’s next decision would have to be one she could explain.

Ward phoned South Dock’s registrar, Mrs. Okafor, between quarters. The older woman knew Imani’s enrollment history because she had handled the move personally. She remembered the exact morning she emailed the packet, and she remembered attaching the signed form after checking the date in the school’s attendance system. “I’ve got the original message,” Okafor said over the speaker. “I want to send the complete thread, not a screenshot.