She passed to Harper, who scored from the corner. The margin stayed six. Imani began testing the lane without forcing a finish. On one possession, she went right, saw Brielle close hard, and passed back to Marisol. The open three missed.

Zora tipped the rebound out to Imani, who reset the play instead of crashing into traffic. South Dock eventually scored on a cut from Alana. On the next possession, Brielle drove straight through an opening created by two South Dock defenders who had called the same screen differently. Ward signaled the error from the sideline. One word, two meanings, four careless steps.

A good opponent needed no greater invitation. Imani gathered the team during a stoppage. “When I say switch, Mina takes the ball and I take the screener. When I say stay, we keep our own player. No guessing.”

Mina looked relieved. “I thought you wanted me on the screener.” “That’s on me. I didn’t call it early enough.” The adjustment kept the next two possessions clean.

Brielle missed a contested jumper. Zora rebounded and passed to Imani, who pushed down court and found Marisol cutting through the defense. South Dock scored. Their students rose with the kind of scream that made individual words impossible to distinguish. Mariner did not panic.

Harper used a scream to create an open jumper. Brielle found a teammate on a back door cut. A referee called a travel on Imani when she tried to turn out of a trap. And the call seemed harsh to South Dock’s bench. Ward asked for an explanation and accepted the official’s account.

They could not afford to spend the rest of the game arguing about one whistle. With the third quarter almost gone, Imani picked off a slow pass and began a fast break. Brielle sprinted back to meet her. The lane to Imani’s left looked open. She could hear the crowd urging her to attack.

Instead, she slowed and sent the ball to Zora trailing through the middle. Zora assisted scored and drew contact. Her free throw missed, but the two points mattered. They cut a five-point gap to three. The quarter ended with Mariner ahead 47 to 44.

South Dock hadn’t caught them. It had made them work for everything. Imani sat beside Zora and looked at the scoreboard without flinching. 12 minutes ago she might have mistaken a missed shot for a sign that Brielle had been right about her. Now she understood the more difficult truth.