Six years after experiencing what a boys’ state basketball championship did for her small prairie town on the Montana Hi-Line, Jamie Graham, fourteen years old, embarks on her own journey to bring that joy and excitement back to her town. Jim—Jamie’s dad and respected teacher and coach—coached the boys’ championship team and inspires her to choose the goal of winning State. Jim’s unwavering belief in Jamie provides her with confidence and motivation to persevere—no matter the obstacle.

When Jamie begins her high school basketball career as a freshman, Coach VanDyke pushes Jamie and her teammates to become the best players and team possible. She promises that practicing the discipline that high school athletics demands will teach them not only what it means to be good players, but good people and leaders who will contribute positively to the world.

Through her four-year high school journey, and together with her teammates, Jamie experiences the exhilaration of winning, the agony of defeat, and the complicated layers of love, friendship, and grief. She learns what it really takes to set and achieve goals, all while navigating adolescence and high school with its inevitable confusion, heartbreak, and the highs and lows that produce powerful life lessons.