After Peter leaves, the team loses to Twin Bridges. During the game, the referee ejects Tom for pushing another player after he saw the player elbowing Olaf aggressively. In the locker room, Sam applauds Tom for standing up for Olaf.

On the weekend, Sam goes on a hike with Diana. Diana and Sam lie on the ground and Diana shows him how to enjoy the nature around them. The next day, Mervin drives to the Garden Café in Manhattan. In the café, Lute hands the $100 bill over to Carl and everyone cheers. Mervin tells Carl that he wants to bet on the next game, and Mervin bets his car against the John Deere “D.”

Sam goes to the Painters’ house to see if Olaf is available to go over plays with him. Sam goes to the barn and sees Olaf and Mervin playing basketball with a makeshift hoop. Sam realizes that Mervin made Olaf a contraption that swivels with him but makes it impossible to move his pivot foot while he is shooting. Sam asks what they are doing, and Mervin explains that he made the contraption to help Olaf learn about traveling, and to prevent it from happening in the future. Sam likes the ingenuity, and Mervin tells Olaf that he can go with Sam to watch basketball for the rest of the evening. Sam asks Olaf if he told his parents about the game they won, but Olaf explains that he did not tell them because his father does not think he should play sports.

When Peter gets off the Greyhound bus, he runs through the town, trying to make it to the game. A car pulls over, and Maggie offers to drive him to the game. Maggie says that she used to live in Willow Creek. Peter thinks about Kathy, and he asks Maggie if she had a high school sweetheart. Maggie says that she did and that she loved him, but they never got married. Maggie drops him off, and Peter runs into the gym. He sees that the scoreboard says 49-37. The team loses by seven points, but they do not care because they know that they can win again with Peter. As Grandma Chapman drives Peter home, he tells her about Maggie. Peter explains that he found out that no one wants him back in Minnesota because Kathy is dating someone else and his mom has a new boyfriend. Grandma Chapman tells him that he does not have to worry because he is home now.

After the game, Sam and Diana sit at the Blue Willow together. Sam says that he never fell in love until he met Amy. After Amy died, he learned to live without companionship, but with Diana, he finally remembers what it is like to enjoy someone else’s company.

The team travels to Shield River Valley for a game against the Rebels. Olaf plays his best game and Willow Creek wins. Sam can hardly believe that they beat the Rebels on their home court. When they get back to Willow Creek, Sam asks Diana if she wants to spend the night together, but Diana seems reluctant. Sam gets in her car to talk with her in private. Diana tries to talk about the game, but Sam tells her that he misses her. They kiss, but a car drives into the parking lot. Sam struggles to drive away so that no one sees them. Grandma Chapman and Peter see them in their car and throw small firecrackers under the car as a prank.

The gossip in town spreads about Diana and Sam in the car together, so Diana avoids Sam. Peter confides in Grandma Chapman about his fear that no one else will ever love him again after Kathy. Grandma Chapman encourages him that he needs to persevere and, eventually, he will find the right person.

On Friday night, a blizzard hits the town and Tom does not show up for the game. Before the game starts, the referee reminds Sam that he must come up with at least one more player to begin the game or they must forfeit. A student named Scott volunteers to fill in and the game begins. After the tip-off, Sam calls Scott out and the game continues.

George does not let Tom take the car into town for the game until he finishes repainting the barn. Tom gets Patch, his Appaloosa, and decides to ride into town through the blizzard. Before long, Tom cannot see and he trusts Patch to find his way, knowing that he could freeze to death if they do not find shelter soon. Suddenly, Tom sees a figure in the snow leading a horse. Tom gets the person’s attention and discovers that it’s Amos, who guides Tom safely into town. Diana sees Amos and Tom trudging through the storm, and she rushes out to bring Tom inside while Amos ties up their horses. It is halftime, and the team cheers as Tom enters the locker room. Tom explains about George, and he takes a shower to warm up. The Broncs lose by three points. After the game, Grandma Chapman invites Tom and Amos to sleep at her house so they do not have to travel back through the bad weather.

The next day, the team drives to the Panther Country game. They lose the game, and Sam can feel the morale of the team sink. Over the next few weeks, Diana avoids Sam. He finally asks her out for dinner again and she agrees. Diana confesses that she worries that what they have is too good and she fears losing it. Sam tells her that he is afraid too, but that he wants to be in a relationship with her and see where it goes. Diana agrees to continue trying out their relationship, despite her fears.

Sam drives the team to Lima. Diana makes him pull over for roadkill, and the team watches as she moves the deer off the road out of respect. The Broncs lose the Lima game. That night, Diana tells Sam that Jessica died because of her. She explains that she was driving Jessica home when a raccoon ran in front of the car. Diana swerved to avoid it and lost control of the car, rolling off the side of the road. Jessica died in the accident. Sam holds Diana, finally understanding her fears of driving. Diana tells Sam that her husband Greg left her because he blamed her for Jessica’s death.

On Friday, everyone prepares for the Manhattan Christian game that will determine the fate of the John Deere “D” tractor. In the last 18 seconds of the game, Willow Creek ties the game and sends it into overtime. In the last 20 seconds of overtime, Olaf scores, and the buzzer goes off before Manhattan Christian can score again. The crowd erupts in cheers and Mervin picks Claire up and dances around, knowing that the John Deere “D” tractor is his again.

The team celebrates in the Blue Willow. Diana and Sam talk about how proud they are of the team. After the team goes home, Sam kisses Diana goodnight and feels optimistic for the first time in a long time about the possibility of winning more games.

A few days later, Diana and Sam discuss how the Broncs lost another game. Diana wonders if things are predetermined because some of the calls seemed like bad luck. Diana tells him that she loves that he told the boys to remember the friendship they have because they may never have another like it again.

Grandma Chapman sits at the Blue Willow talking to the locals about how there are only two games left in the season for the Broncs. Mervin speeds over to Manhattan for the first time in years. After his coffee, Mervin hooks up the tractor and drives it home.

At practice, Sam gives the team new jerseys that Andrew ordered for them. Then, they drive to Gardiner in their new uniforms. During the game, the referee ejects Sam from the game because he yells at the referee about the bad calls. Diana takes over coaching, but the Broncs make a bad pass at the end of the game and they lose.

Mervin tinkers with the John Deere “D” in the barn. As he works, Claire comes into the barn and tells him that she knows that Mervin has always loved Maggie. She tells him that Maggie is dying in the hospital, and she wants him to go and say goodbye to her. Mervin arrives at the hospital and pushes past Carl to speak to Maggie. Maggie tells Mervin that he gave up on her, and she wishes that he had married her anyway. She tells him that Carl raped her. After Mervin left her, she did not know what else to do except marry Carl, even though she never stopped loving Mervin. Mervin says that he never stopped loving her, but she says that his love was selfish because he never thought of her. Mervin leaves and he tells Carl that Maggie told him the truth and that he will never speak to him again.

Sam gets to the gym early, knowing that this will be their last game of the season. The fans arrive for the game, despite Willow Creek’s losing streak. Sally brings Denise, and Sam thanks them for coming. Despite their losing streak, Willow Creek wins. Later, Diana and Sam go to the Blue Willow to celebrate.

Diana overhears news about Maggie’s funeral, and it brings back memories of Jessica’s funeral. Diana asks Sam if they are out of the tournament if they lose to Twin Bridges. Sam says that Montana has a feature called the “challenge” where if the team that finishes second has not played the team that has finished third, then the third-place team can challenge the second-place team to have a chance at the championship. This comes from the fact that, due to the brackets, many second-place teams must win two games rather than three like the third-place team.

Unable to sleep, Sam wanders around at night, thinking of the plays. He sees something on Main Street and he realizes that Andrew is riding the tandem bicycle in laps. When Andrew stops, Sam and Andrew talk about the games. Andrew tells him that he came to Willow Creek with his girlfriend Sarah 25 years before and that they got in a big fight and left their bicycle behind. Afterward, Andrew fought in the Vietnam War, but when he came back, he could not find Sarah. Andrew married someone else, but when he got divorced, he came back to Willow Creek, hoping that someday Sarah may return too. Sam tells Andrew that he hopes that Sarah will come back for him.