A light rain started falling from the sky, dripping onto the ground, and the summer heat was dispelled by this little bit of coolness.
But even on such a rainy day, the road in front of the Kanagawa Prefectural Gymnasium was bustling with people. These people were basically spectators who came to the stadium to watch the game. Today's game was highly anticipated.
In the morning, there was a match between Xiangbei High School and Kainan High School. One team was Xiangbei, which had defeated the veteran powerhouse Shoyo High School by a large margin in the quarter-finals. The other team was Kainan High School, which had dominated Kanagawa Prefecture for more than a decade. Although Kainan's undefeated myth was ended by Ryonan High School a few days ago.
But no one went back to doubt the strength of Hainan High School.
Shohoku, a team that has not been prominent in previous county competitions, is now one of the most watched teams in Kanagawa Prefecture. Before the match between Ryonan High School and Kainan High School, Shohoku High School was seen as the team most likely to defeat Kainan.
"Today is the match between Xiangbei and Hainan, and I don't know who will win!"
"No matter who wins, they have already secured a spot by defeating Hainan's Ryonan High School."
"Haha, that's right! Wu Yuan's strength is too much worse. He can't be a match for Lingnan at all."
"If there really is a winner in this morning's match, it should go to Hainan High School."
"Hmm? Why? Shohoku isn't weak either."
"If I have to say why, it's because Xiangbei doesn't have a player who can play one against three. Ryonan has players like Shinomiya Tano who had a hard time in the first half. If Kainan hadn't given up in the second half, the outcome might have been uncertain."
"Eh~ Really? I feel like Shohoku is pretty good too, Mitsui Hisashi, and that No. 15 rookie Jinguji Budou. So far in the competition, Shohoku has been winning very easily."
At the entrance of the stadium, spectators were walking towards the stadium while talking to each other. Everyone was predicting the result of the match between Xiangbei and Hainan. Some supported Hainan High School, and some supported Xiangbei. The number of supporters of the two teams was about the same.
Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from the entrance of the stadium.
"The bets are placed! Whether you support Xiangbei or Hainan, words alone don't count!"
"A little gambling for fun~Everyone come and place your bets!"
At the gate of the gymnasium, Takamiya Nozomi stood in front of a small table, waving a small red flag and shouting, trying to attract the attention of passers-by. Beside him, Yohei, Danan and others were standing or squatting, leaning against the door and looking at Takamiya Nozomi with amusement on their faces.
It had been almost half an hour since they arrived at the stadium, and no one had come to place a bet with Gao Gongwang since he started shouting. The audience looked at Gao Gongwang like he was a lunatic. It was obvious that Gao Gongwang's plan to make a fortune had failed.
"Hey, Takamiya, close the stall. No one will come to place bets." Mito Yohei squatted in the corner, trying hard to suppress his smile, and shouted at Takamiya.
"Yeah, yeah, close the stall, close the stall. How could anyone come to place bets at a shabby stall like yours?"
"No one will believe you. Who knows if you will run away with the money? Hahaha!"
Yuji Ohkusu followed up on Mito Yohei's words and mocked loudly.
"What do you assholes know?"
"With so many viewers, there must be a few who like to gamble! My pocket money for next month depends on today!"
Gao Gongwang heard his friends making fun of him, turned his head and refuted loudly.
"Hahaha, you're dreaming!" Danan said sarcastically. His sarcasm made Gao Gong's face slightly red. Even someone as thick-skinned as him felt a little ashamed.
At this moment, a voice that Gao Gong wanted to hear in his dreams sounded in his ears.
"Hey, Boss, I want to place a bet of 10,000 on Hainan!"
Gao Gongwang turned around when he heard the voice. In front of his desk stood a young man, who was estimated to be over 180cm tall, with a middle-parted hairstyle and looked to be around 20 years old.
"Hey, hey, hello, you want to place a bet, right?"
"The odds between Xiangbei and Hainan are..."
Gao Gongwang pointed at the odds on the table and was about to explain when the young man stopped him.
"No need to tell me, I know."
As the young man spoke, he took out some banknotes from his wallet and placed them on Gao Gongwang's desk.
"Hey, Zhuxing, let's go." Just as the young man was talking to Gao Gong, a middle-aged man in a suit in the distance urged the young man. Hearing someone urging him, the young man slapped the table and said to Gao Gong: "After the game, I'll come here to get the money!"
It can be heard that the Hainan High School youth team is full of confidence in winning.
After the young man left, Yangping and the others all gathered around, looking down at the money on the table in a daze.
"This... where did this idiot come from?! He actually placed a bet?" Yohei muttered as he looked at the money on the table with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Hahahaha! I knew it. With so many people here, there must be someone with a gambling nature!"
"Let's go! I'll buy you a drink!"
Takamiya Nozomi happily packed up the table. From his appearance, he was very satisfied with making a deal. When Oonusu Kumaji and Noma heard that Takamiya wanted to buy them drinks, they cheered happily. Only Mito Yohei looked worried and seemed to have some concerns.
"Hey, Takamiya, do you want to spend it? If you lose, do you have the money to pay for it?"
Mito knew it was impossible to stop Takamiya Nozomi, so he scratched his head and asked in confusion.
"Hmm? Don't worry Yohei, he won't have a chance to get the money back."
"Because of Hainan, it's impossible to beat Xiangbei!"
Gao Gongwang waved his hands repeatedly, looking nonchalant. It wasn't that Gao Gong really had much confidence in Xiangbei, he just simply didn't want to return the money, so he was full of confidence in Xiangbei.
It's like some people buying stocks. They think a certain stock will go up, simply because they buy it and don't want to lose money.
Seeing Takamiya's happy look, Yohei did not dissuade him. It was only 10,000 yuan, and he could just clean up the mess later. After figuring it out, the group walked into the gym happily.
Shortly after Mito Yohei and others left, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Akagi Haruko also appeared at the door of the stadium. After looking around and seeing that Mito Yohei and others were nowhere to be found, Sakuragi's face was filled with anger, and then he walked into the stadium with Haruko.
...
"It's almost time, Mitsui-senpai, let's go in."
In the Xiangbei locker room, Miyagi Ryouta looked at the clock on the wall and then said to everyone, "As the participating team in today's game, Xiangbei has already arrived at the locker room and is waiting to enter."
"Coach Anxi hasn't come back yet, let's wait a little longer."
As soon as Mitsui Hisashi finished speaking, the door of the lounge was opened. Coach Anzai pushed the door open with Ayako and looked at the players in the room.
"Wow, very energetic."
"Let's go, we've received a notice, let's enter."
Coach Anxi's eyes swept over the players one by one, then he smiled with satisfaction and said to everyone, "Facing a strong school like Hainan, Xiangbei's players had not adjusted their condition completely in the past few days, but today, there is no problem in this regard."
A group of people walked along the player's tunnel towards the stadium. The slightly dim tunnel was not long, and the light at the end of the tunnel was getting closer and closer with the footsteps of several people.
Faintly, the players could still hear the noise in the stadium.
Walking out of the light and arriving at the entrance of the passage, the noisy noises from the stands suddenly turned into uniform cheers, causing the Xiangbei players who had just walked out of the passage to pause.
"Shobei! Shobei! Shobei!"
"Jinguji! Jinguji! Jinguji!"
The uniform cheers surged towards the crowd like a tsunami. Looking at the dense crowds of people in the stands cheering for Xiangbei, for a moment, these young players felt their blood boiling and they couldn't wait to get on the court.
Coach Anxi was also a little surprised. He hadn't heard such cheers for many years since he left the university campus. In the past, Xiangbei High School, which he was in charge of, did not have such popularity. Seeing a similar scene again, Coach Anxi couldn't help but feel nostalgic.
“That’s great!”
"Such cheers will become the norm for our Shohoku team in the next few years." Coach Anzai pushed his glasses and thought silently in his heart. He unconsciously turned his head and looked at Jinguji Budo at the end of the team.
At this moment, Wu Dao was also immersed in such cheers, feeling a little intoxicated.
He had seen such a scene in junior high school, but the cheers were for Mitsui Shou, not for him. Although he also played campus basketball before coming to this world, the campus basketball of that era and that place did not have such an atmosphere.
After that, his dream was cut short and he became a referee. Although he had seen such scenes before, the audience did not cheer for him. Sometimes the boos were much more than the cheers.
Strictly speaking, it was the first time for a player to stand on the court and receive so much cheers from the audience.
"I am more or less famous in the county." Wu Dao murmured, with a slight smile unconsciously appearing on his face.
"Of course. Everyone knows that you are the ace of Xiangbei High School!"
Miyagi Ryouta, who was standing in front of Budou, said with some dissatisfaction that the audience was cheering for Shohoku and Jinguji Budou, but not for him. Although Miyagi was proud that Shohoku had so many supporters, he was still a little unhappy that he personally had no fans.
"Haha, once we become national champions, everyone's name will be known."
Wu Dao knew Miyagi's mentality and comforted him.
"Hehe, that's it!" Miyagi Ryouta was not the kind of person who would dwell on trivial matters. He would not be depressed about such things. After listening to Wu Dao's words, his mentality adjusted immediately.
The Xiangbei players stopped for a while, and then entered the rest area under the leadership of Coach Anzai. Without giving any instructions to the players, he let Mitsui Hisashi lead the players into the field to warm up.
On the other side of the court, Hainan's players arrived much earlier than Xiangbei. When Xiangbei entered the court to warm up, Hainan's players seemed to have been warming up for a while.
The atmosphere on the Hainan side was somewhat solemn, and it was obvious that Hainan took this game very seriously. The players warming up on the court seemed not to have noticed the Xiangbei players entering the court, and they continued to warm up at their own pace.
"These people from Hainan..." Mu Mu Gongyan noticed that the atmosphere on the Hainan field was a bit solemn. The other party's serious and focused look made him feel uneasy.
"It really is like a last-ditch battle."
"These people in Hainan have a very... attitude."
Mitsui Shou walked to the side of Mugure Gongyan and said softly. He also noticed the state of those people in Hainan, and his expression became serious.
In the stands, the Ryonan players sat down in their own viewing area. They also noticed that Hainan seemed to be a little different. Freshman Hongming pointed at the Hainan players who were warming up and said to his teammates, "It looks like Hainan is going to fight hard today!"
"This is a really good thing for us. Shohoku and Kainan are fighting to the death. When they meet us, they may not be able to recover."
"It would be best if Hainan beats Xiangbei today. Then Xiangbei won't even have the confidence to compete with us!"
Although he was a freshman and a substitute, Coach Tiangang paid close attention to him during the team training. If nothing unexpected happened, after the third-year players retired this summer, he, a freshman, would be promoted to the starting position. Therefore, his status in the team was not low, and his words attracted the approval of a group of first-year students.
"Hainan can't beat Xiangbei." Shigong Tianye shook his head and said softly. As soon as he spoke, almost all the Ryonan players looked at him. Although Shigong Tianye and Yuyue Hongming were both freshmen, their team status was very different.
When Shigong Tianye spoke, even the third graders would listen attentively.
"Huh? Why?" Yueyue was a little surprised. He felt that Hainan was very strong. Although Xiangbei was strong, Xiangbei might not be able to beat Hainan.
"Because I haven't defeated Shohoku before, it's even more impossible for Hainan!" said Shinomiya Tianye.
The Ryonan players around were all stunned when they heard this "explanation". Coach Tanaka was also a little surprised, but then he laughed. Although Shinomiya Tanaka's words were a bit flattering to Xiangbei, the absolute confidence revealed in his words was something Coach Tanaka liked very much.
For a player, strength is the first priority, and once you have strength, you have to be a little crazy. In competitive sports, you can't inspire your teammates by being humble.
“Hahahahaha! Tian Ye, that was you in the past. Now you are absolutely invincible!”
Coach Tanaoka patted Shinomiya Tano on the back and smiled. Then, Coach Tanaoka began to analyze the characteristics of the two teams' players' playing styles and roughly predicted the possible playing styles and possible lineups of the two teams. He hoped that through his explanation, the players would learn how to judge the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams before the game.
While everyone in Ryonan was talking and chatting, the warm-up time on the field was almost over.
Mitsui Hisashi gathered his players and took them back to the rest area. On the other side of the court, Hainan's Omasa Sifu also took his players back to the rest area. When Coach Gaotou saw the players coming back, he immediately stood up and began to make arrangements for the players.
The rest areas of the two teams were quite far apart, so they couldn't hear each other's arrangements.
Coach Anxi didn't care about Hainan's arrangements at all and called out the names of the starting players.
"Mitsui Hisashi, Akagi, Mumu Gongen, Miyagi Ryota, and Budo."
"You five will be the starting lineup. Qianye, you should take a good rest first. I need you to play at the crucial moment. You must be ready to play at any time!"
Coach Anzai made a player arrangement that was a little different from usual. Chiba Daishi was actually demoted to the bench, and his starting replacement was Kogure Mitsunobu.
Chiba Daishi had no objection to Coach Anzai's arrangements. He knew that Coach Anzai had his own arrangements.
After confirming the starting lineup, Coach Anxi didn't make any tactical arrangements. He just encouraged the players and that was it. In contrast, in the other side of the rest area, Coach Gaotou, who was scribbling on the tactical board, seemed so serious.
“Beep!”
After a whistle, players from both teams finally walked onto the court.
Akagi Takenori and Kainan's Maekawa Daiki stood at the center line, ready to jump the ball. Budo took his position, and standing in front of him was Kainan's No. 4, Omasa Shifuku, and Maki Shinichi went to guard Mitsui Hisashi, and in front of the rest of the players, their respective opponents stood.
"What a tall guy." Omasa Shifuku stood in front of Jinguji Takeshi, slightly raised his head and looked at Jinguji Takeshi, feeling a little surprised. Jinguji Takeshi, a freshman, was already 195cm tall, which was the standard height for a center in the high school basketball world of this country.
"Beep!" There was no time for Dazheng Sifu to sigh. As the referee's sharp whistle sounded, the basketball was thrown high into the air. A roar broke out at the center line, and the next second, a red light flew towards this side at a high speed.
Without waiting for Dazheng Shifuku to make any move, Jinguji Budou flashed and appeared directly in front of him, quickly grabbing the basketball. After getting the basketball, Jinguji Budou dribbled the ball down the court without any intention of waiting for his teammates.
"This guy is so tall and so fast?!" When Omasa Shifuku was chasing him, he suddenly found that he could not catch up with Jinguji Budou in the first time. While he was surprised, he suddenly quickened his pace.
But even if he quickened his pace, Jinguji Budo was still in the lead and quickly approached the three-point line.
Just as Jinguji Budou approached the three-point line, other Hainan players arrived to provide backup defense.
Just when Omasa Shifuku was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly saw Jinguji Budou actually holding the ball in that position, with his knees slightly bent, as if he was trying to shoot.
"This... His teammates haven't even made it past yet, and this guy is going to shoot a three-pointer?!"
Omasa Shifu was greatly surprised. The next second, he saw the basketball fly out of Jinguji Budou's hands. The No. 15 player from Shohoku jumped very high, and the person who came to defend was A Kun, so he couldn't reach it at all!
The basketball flew towards the basket amid everyone's surprised gazes. Not only the people of Hainan were surprised, not only the audience were surprised, but even the players of Xiangbei were surprised to see Jinguji Budou's shooting choice.
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