“Nancy, this is Andy Hall . . .”

She shook the hand of a black youth with a narrow, baby-smooth face. He was the off-guard, she knew, Ned’s opposite number on the Wildcats’ starting lineup.

“. . . and Craig Watson . . .”

Tall, blond, and amazingly cute, Craig was the power forward, or “enforcer,” who did the work that made the others look good.

“. . . and our center, Howie Little.”

Nancy’s eyes traveled up . . . and up . . . and up . . . to the face of the tallest boy she had ever met. Howie Little was a towering seven-feet-one. He had deep black skin and sparkling eyes, which were full of humor.

“Hello down there,” he said, laughing. His voice was a deep bass, like the lowest notes on a church organ. “It’s kind of hard to tell from this distance, Ned, but it looks to me like you’ve got yourself one pretty girlfriend there.”

Everyone laughed, Nancy hardest of all. She liked Howie’s sense of humor.

“Where’s Mike?” Ned asked, looking around for his friend.

Craig pointed. “Over there. He’s still upset about what happened during the game, I guess.”

All eyes turned to a couple across the room. Nancy saw Mike O’Shea talking with a short, snub-nosed brunette. His girlfriend, probably. She looked as if she was trying to calm him down. It wasn’t working, however. As they watched, Mike pulled away from her and stalked out of the room.

“Mike takes those practical jokes kind of hard,” Ned explained to Nancy in a low voice. “Tonight, for instance, after the mascot’s costume was slashed he could barely dribble the ball.”

“Maybe he’s high-strung,” Nancy said.

“Strung out is more like it,” Andy drawled sourly.

“What do you mean?”

Ned shot Andy a warning look. “All he means is that Mike’s been feeling run-down, lately. We’ve all been feeling run-down! It’s been a long, tough season.”

Murmurs of agreement followed his remark, but Nancy caught an undercurrent of tension in the air. Were they upset over Mike’s poor performance in that night’s game, or was there more to it than that? And why was Ned covering up for him? That was very unusual!