Darius and Johntel both love basketball and are captains of their high school basketball teams. They didn’t know each other. _________, one Saturday night, they were forever linked in the minds of all who were present at a game between Darius's small town team and Johntel’s big city team.

Just hours before the game, Johntel’s mother died from cancer. Her sudden_________made Johntel very sad. So Johntel’s coach wanted to_________the game. But Johntel_________that the game should be played. So with_________hearts, his teammates prepared to play and hopefully win without him. _________, Johntel appeared in the gym mid-way through the first half.

Seeing him, Johntel’s coach called a time out, and players and fans_________the sad young man to offer love and_________. Johntel wanted to_________ but putting him in the game at that point would__________a technical foul (犯规) and two free throws for the opposing team.

The opposing team understood the__________and told the referees (裁判员) to let Johntel play and to__________the technical foul. The referees__________that a rule is a rule, and the free throws would have to be taken before the game could__________.

As the team captain, Darius__________to take the shots. The free throw line is 15 feet from the basket. However, Darius’s first shot traveled about 4 feet. His second shot__________traveled 2.

Immediately, Johntel and his teammates__________what Darius was doing. They stood up and applauded (鼓掌) for the gesture of sportsmanship as Darius walked back to his bench.

Johntel’s team won the game in the end. But as the two__________met after the game for pizza and sodas, __________on either side was too concerned with wins or losses. That would be one of the most__________games in their basketball careers.

Everybody wants what’s best for their kids, but nobody knows what that is. It might be succeeding, but it might be_________.

Many of us who played youth sports remember the defeats far more_________than the victories. You just don’t _________with teammates after a win like you do after a loss. That’s when you learn to express and accept empathy(共鸣). I’ve_________this as a member of the hockey(冰球) parent. In the course of this second career, I have_________a coach and cheer leader while watching my son promoted.

In his third season, his team_________lost over three straight games, won a gold medal and made a deep_________in the league. There was_________, happiness and boasting(自夸). He improved as a_________but didn’t much change as a person.

For that, you need to__________. The next year his team lost 40 of their first 50 games. For a time, I worried that these setbacks would__________his love of the game that he’d hate hockey and__________. But that didn’t happen. As__________as it got, the losing was clarifying. It__________the kids who were in it more for the__________than for the game. The losing separated__________players from “show ponies”. Besides, the kids were learning the game in a way only losing can__________, appreciating the__________of every position on the ice.

This new team had character and could never be counted out, no matter the__________. They had learned the most important__________: You can lose without being beaten.

As she waited at the edge of the ice for her music to start, Peggy took a quick look at her father standing nearby with a group of parents and teachers. He smiled at her. Then she _________ out at the audience, _________ to see her mother. These two, Albert and Doris Fleming, had driven all the way from California more than 2, 000 miles away, to see their _________ compete in this sports meet in Cleveland, Ohio.

The music _________ and Peggy moved onto the ice, letting the music _________ her along into her turns, and she began skating with much _________ in herself. The cold fear she always had in the _________ seconds before skating onto the ice was gone. She was feeling the movement of the _________ and letting it carry her. She skated _________, then did some jumps, a final turn and her performance was finished.

The crowd loved it and cheered as she __________ off the ice. “Nice job,” said one of the other __________. It was the remark that always came after a free-skating performance. But what should the __________ say? Standing beside her father, Peggy __________ for the scoring to be finished. On all sides were other young skaters, some waiting __________ alone, others with a parent. Shortly before 10 o’clock the results were announced. The new United States Women’s Figure Skating Champion was Peggy Fleming of Pasadena, __________.