The match between Ryonan High School and Kainan High School has also reached the preparation stage. Of these two teams, the one that attracts the most attention is of course the "King of Kainan" who has strongly suppressed many teams in Kanagawa for more than ten years.
As for Ryonan High School, although it made it to the semi-finals, it is not well-known in Kanagawa Prefecture. Although Uozumi Jun is two meters tall, he did not make good use of his height in his first year and did not become famous.
Among the senior players of Ryonan, there is no star player to bring popularity to the team. The powerful Sendoh Akira joined Ryonan High School this year. He played in Tokyo before and was not well-known in Kanagawa.
On the contrary, Shinomiya Tano, the MVP of junior high school who was admitted to Yokota Junior High School, had a good popularity. However, this popularity gradually faded in the previous game of Ryonan High School.
Ryonan High School's group didn't have any decent opponents. All of Ryonan's previous games were just a little bit of a draw. Although they had a perfect record like all the other top four teams, every game seemed unusually dull. Whether it was Sendoh Akira, Shinomiya Tano, or Uozumi Jun, none of them had any outstanding performances.
The impression given by Ryonan is that this team is very strong, but the individual abilities of the players do not seem to be outstanding. Only a small number of fans of Ryonan High School know that Ryonan has accumulated terrifying power.
"Those are the players from Hainan. It seems that there are no outstanding players." On the court, the players of Ryonan were doing layup warm-up. While waiting, Shimono looked at the opposite half of Hainan. A relaxed look appeared on his handsome face, and he said to Sendoh beside him.
"No? That No. 8, Maki Shinichi, didn't the coach say that guy is very strong?"
Sendoh Akira straightened his hair and raised his chin towards No. 8 Hainan who was dribbling the ball to warm up in the opposite half. At this time, Maki Shinichi was doing a back dribble to warm up in the court. Although his back was facing Ryonan, Sendoh Akira still recognized him.
Shinichi Maki is so easy to recognize. With his dark skin and hairstyle that is totally inconsistent with a teenager, Shinichi Maki looks extremely out of place standing among the players from Hainan.
"Maki Shinichi is 184cm tall, has a strong breakthrough ability, and his mid-range shot is pretty good. But the most praised thing is his strength."
"If it were someone else, they might not be able to handle him, but as for me... hehe."
Shinomiya Tano followed Sendoh Akira's gaze and looked at Maki Shinichi. He smiled and didn't say anything else, but his indifferent expression already explained what he was thinking at the moment.
"Don't take it lightly. Hainan has been able to dominate Kanagawa for so many years. There must be something behind it."
"I didn't want to get into trouble before I met those guys."
As Sendoh spoke, he turned his head and looked towards the stands, where the Shohoku players, wearing red and black uniforms, were sitting there, watching the game. The handsome boy sitting next to Coach Anzai seemed to have noticed Sendoh Akira's gaze and waved at him.
"Jinguji Budo... If we fight again, I will make him pay." Shinomiya Tianye glanced at the young man waving at him from the stands, quickly retracted his gaze, and then looked at the Hainan people, exuding a dangerous aura.
"You're right. We can't let the boat capsize in the ditch."
"In order to make those guys from Xiangbei more nervous, let's use this game to give them a lesson!"
Shinomiya Tano murmured, full of fighting spirit.
In front of the referee's seat, Ryonan's coach Tanaoka and Hainan's coach Takato shook hands with each other. When the two shook hands, there were faint sparks when their eyes met.
"Coach Gaotou, you guys in Hainan have to give your all in this game! Don't be easily defeated by us, Ryonan!" Coach Tiangang had a fake smile on his face, and his mouth didn't move much, but the provocative words came out naturally.
“Hehe… Hehe… Senior Tanaka, it seems like you have a lot of confidence in your players this year!”
"But I'm used to it. You're always confident every year, but you've never been able to beat us in Hainan."
"Forget about beating Hainan. Sometimes you Ryonan can't even make it to the semifinals, and you can't even get in front of Hainan."
When Coach Gaotou said this, Coach Tiangang's face had already become very ugly. At this time, he just suppressed the anger in his heart and did not explode.
"Ouyou~ Don't be angry, I don't mean to look down on you Ryonan, I just hope that this year, you Ryonan won't make our game too boring!"
Coach Takato's words made Coach Tiangang unable to hold back his anger any longer. He could not help but snort and said in a low voice:
"snort!"
"Don't worry, I will definitely let you Hainan fight. It's very interesting!"
Even when adults are angry, they are extremely restrained and can maintain basic decency. After saying this, Coach Tiangang let go of Coach Gaotou's hand, turned around, and walked towards his rest area.
"Hmph!" Coach Gaotou snorted, took a deep look at Tiangang's back as he left, and then returned to his rest area.
When the coaches of both teams returned to their rest areas, the players on the court had just finished warming up and returned to their rest areas. Sendoh Akira took out a lunch box from his backpack, opened it, took out a slice of lemon soaked in salt water, put it in his mouth and began to chew.
Salt water cannot completely remove the sour taste of lemon. The sour taste filled Sendoh's mouth, but Sendoh looked calm while chewing the lemon, as if he didn't taste the lemon. Shinomiya Tano sat on the bench, crossed his legs, and looked relaxed. The other people in Ryonan were doing their own things, chatting and laughing, and didn't take the upcoming game to heart at all.
Coach Tiangang returned to the rest area. He was already angry, but when he saw his players acting so careless, all his anger suddenly burst out.
"Listen carefully!"
"You guys, keep your skins tight!"
"You must win this match today no matter what! Not only must you win, but you must win with a big score!"
"If you can't teach those Hainan bastards a lesson today, I will teach you a lesson after the game is over."
"Did you understand everything?!"
Coach Tanaoka's voice was loud and full of anger when he spoke to the players. The players of Ryonan felt that they were intimidated, and their expressions became serious. Led by Yuzumi, they responded loudly.
However, Sendoh still had a calm expression on his face, and he comforted Coach Tiangang: "Well~ Coach, don't be nervous, we will play well in the game. You are the coach, you should be calm."
Coach Tiangang was already full of rage, and after reprimanding his players, he saw that Sendoh still looked indifferent, and he immediately became angry.
"Immortal!
road!
"A roar burst out from Coach Tanabe's mouth, and the strong sound waves made Sendoh subconsciously cover his ears. Just when Coach Tanabe was about to teach Sendoh a lesson, Shinomiya Tanano, who had been sitting in his seat, looked at the time and stood up from his seat.
"Okay, let's go in!" Shinomiya Tano came to Coach Takeoka, gently patted Coach Takeoka's shoulder with one hand, and said to the players with a serious expression.
Coach Tiangang suddenly felt someone patting his shoulder. He turned around and was about to scold, but suddenly he saw Shinomiya Tano beside him with a serious expression and fighting spirit in his eyes. The anger in his heart immediately dissipated and he smiled instead.
"Sure enough, Tian Ye is the one who gives me the least worry." Coach Tian Gang said to himself, very satisfied with Shi Gong Tian Ye's current state. Patting Shi Gong Tian Ye on the back, Coach Tian Gang said to everyone:
"There's only one way to play today!"
"That is, give the ball to Shinomiya Tano!"
"Ikegami, Uozumi, Sendoh, Tanabe, and... Uesugi."
"The five of you will be the starting lineup. Uekusa will take control of the ball. Once you enter the front court, pass it to Shinomiya Tano."
"Sendoh, go to the basket and help Yuzumi guard the rebounds! Did you hear me
”
When Coach Tanaoka was arranging Sendoh, the volume increased by an octave, making Sendoh feel his head buzzing.
The players named by Coach Tiangang began to walk onto the court. Soon, the players from Ryonan and Kainan took their positions in the center circle. The referee walked onto the court with a basketball in his hand. Coach Tiangang folded his hands in front of his chest, sat down on the bench, and looked toward the court.
“Beep!
!”
A whistle signaled the start of the game.
After getting into position, the referee looked left and right at the centers of the two teams standing on both sides of him, and threw the ball high into the air.
The player who jumped the ball for Ryonan was Yuzumi Jun, a sophomore, who was exactly two meters tall. The player who faced him was a third-year center from Hainan, who wore a No. 5 jersey and was about 198cm tall, not much shorter than Yuzumi.
With two loud shouts, the two jumped up almost at the same time. Hainan's center had great explosive power and was even better than Yuzumi in timing. He was the first to catch the basketball. The basketball flew towards Maki.
"Good shot!" Maki Shen took a step forward, took the ball into his arms, shouted and prepared to pass the ball forward. However, as soon as he had this thought, his eyes went dark. A Ryonan player wearing a blue No. 8 jersey blocked his way.
The man in front of Maki Shinichi had a handsome appearance, wheat-colored skin, and was estimated to be over 190cm tall. He had a strong body and was not inferior to Maki Shinichi at all.
"I heard that you are the strongest player in Hainan?!"
The moment Maki Shinichi got the ball, Shinomiya Tano blocked the opponent and asked, staring at Maki Shinichi with his eyes, like a fierce tiger waiting to eat its prey, with no intention of retreating at all.
"Um?!"
"Um!"
Maki Shinichi nodded slightly, but he had no intention of communicating with the other party. Without waiting for the other party to reply, he quickly dropped the ball and started the breakthrough. Maki Shinichi started very quickly, leaning sideways directly on Shigong Tianye.
Shinichi Maki had no intention of holding back at all. As soon as the game started, he went at full speed and poured tremendous power onto Shinomiya Tano.
"Bang!" Maki Shinichi leaned on Shigong Tianye's chest, and as soon as the two of them touched, a low muffled sound was heard. After the confrontation, Maki Shinichi's expression turned cold.
The No. 8 player of Ryonan in front of him, during the confrontation with him, not only did not lose his position, but even his steps were not disordered at all. He followed closely beside Maki Shinichi, with one hand raised horizontally, blocking Maki Shinichi's sight and also blocking his line of sight.
After Maki Shinichi took a few steps forward, Shinomiya Tano passed Maki Shinichi and intercepted him, forcing Maki Shinichi to stop the ball and pull back to readjust his dribbling rhythm.
"No breakthrough?! How is this possible?!"
Off the court, Coach Gaotou stood up from his seat immediately when he saw Maki Shinichi failed to break through, looking at Shinomiya Tano on the court with a look of shock on his face.
At the same time, there were bursts of exclamations from the stands of the stadium, as if it was a very big deal that Maki Shinichi was intercepted.
"Huh? Why are those people so surprised? What's there to be surprised about?!" Sakuragi Hanamichi didn't know Maki Shinichi nor Shinomiya Tano. When he heard the exclamations around him, he was confused.
Akagi Haruko covered her mouth with her hands, the look of surprise on her face still not fading, and she explained to Sakuragi Hanamichi: "The Hainan player holding the ball is called Maki Shinichi, Hainan's ace player. He has been a starter since he entered Hainan in his freshman year of high school."
"This guy is best at dribbling and breaking through. His strength is comparable to that of most centers. Therefore, in previous games, his breakthroughs were always successful. Maybe someone could steal the ball from the side or jump and block his layup."
"But it's the first time I've seen someone use his strength and speed to stop Maki Shinichi like that Ryonan No.8 did."
"Makinoshi is a heavy defender. Those who are stronger than him are not as fast as him, and those who can keep up with him are not as strong as him. Therefore, in the defender line, Makinoshi can be said to be invincible."
"but... .."
Akagi Haruko explained a lot, and Sakuragi Hanamichi also understood, and then looked at the court.
After receiving the ball near the center line, Maki Shinichi tried to break through several times in succession, but was blocked by Shinomiya Tano every time. It took 4 to 5 seconds for Maki Shinichi to move only a few meters, which was quite a distance away from Ryonan's three-point line, let alone breaking through Shinomiya Tano and getting to the basket.
The duel between Shinichi Maki and Shinomiya Tano caused exclamations from the audience. Some people seemed to recognize Shinomiya Tano as the former junior high school MVP. For a moment, the exclamations turned into excited cheers.
On the court, Shinomiya Tano was focused and could not hear any sound from the outside world. His eyes were fixed on Maki Shinichi's feet and he was looking at the basketball with his peripheral vision, appearing to be quite alert.
Maki Shenyi lowered his center of gravity and dribbled the ball, but for a moment, he couldn't find a good opportunity to break through the opponent.
"Amu!" As the offensive time passed, Hainan's center stood near the free throw line, with his back against Jun Yuzumi, and asked Maki Shinichi for the ball. The vice-captain of Hainan saw Maki Shinichi's predicament.
Shinichi Maki saw the position of his teammates out of the corner of his eye, quickly gathered the ball, took a step forward with his left foot, and quickly leaned against Shinomiya Tano with his left back. Then he grabbed the ball with his right hand, hit the ground, and passed the ball from the side of Shinomiya Tano.
Facing the defense of Shimoya Tano, even if it was just a simple pass, Maki Shinichi had to expend some physical energy to create some gaps before he could pass the ball.
"Snap!" The basketball was in hand, and the center of Hainan quickly turned around with the ball and faced the basket, making a shooting gesture. Yuzumi Jun quickly jumped, but the next second, the center of Hainan quickly collected the ball, dropped the ball from Yuzumi's side and broke through to the basket.
"We succeeded!" Hainan's bench cheered when they saw their center forward break away from the defense and break into the penalty area.
The center forward of Hainan also came to the basket, held the ball with both hands, jumped up and grabbed the ball and wanted to dunk. But at this moment, a figure suddenly jumped out from behind him, followed him into the air, and stretched out a hand from behind him, grabbing the basketball from top to bottom.
"How can you score so easily?!"
Sigong Tianye appeared behind the Hainan center, grabbed the basketball, and pressed the Hainan center down from the air. The Hainan center, who was holding the basketball tightly, was directly pulled to the ground by Sigong Tianye after landing. There was a loud bang, and the basketball finally slipped out of his hand and was caught by Sigong Tianye.
“ohhhhhh!
!
”
"This... What kind of strange power is this?! Daiki Maekawa from Hainan was pulled down by No. 8 with one hand?!"
"Shinomiya Tano! The number eight from Ryonan is the junior high school MVP Shinomiya Tano!"
The referee didn't blow the whistle. Shigong Tianye held the basketball in one hand, looked down at the center of Hainan who was lying beside him, and threw the ball to Uesugi. This look contained too many emotions. When Maekawa Daiki saw this scene, he was furious. He quickly got up, looked at Shigong Tianye gloomily, and started to defend.
Just an offense and defense, and the enthusiasm of the audience in the stadium was completely ignited.
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