The Forbes kids always were dreamers. They wrote down their goals on sticky notes, scribbled them in journals and typed them into notes apps. In their home outside of Sacramento, where their parents bolted a basketball hoop to the wall of the living room, they imagined themselves winning championships. They wove stories about arduous seasons and acted out games against opponents. There were even interviews at the end.
But even their most far-fetched childhood imaginings couldn’t predict that Mason, a forward for St. Mary’s, would be standing with the West Coast Conference trophy in his hands and a strand of the net tied in his championship hat next to his sister McKenzie, who two days earlier helped USC win its first Pac-12 tournament title since 2014.