Not long after the second half began, everyone present realized where the deciding point of the game lay.
On the court, Takeshi Jinguji received the ball with his back to the basket from mid-range, and after a shoulder shake, he immediately turned around and broke through. However, as soon as he took a step forward with his right foot, he stopped, took a step back, and then shot a jump shot.
The game has been going on for ten minutes since the halftime break. Under the defense of Shinomiya Tano, Wudao's physical strength has been greatly consumed. Although the posture of his fadeaway jump shot is still chic and standard, as his physical strength declines, Wudao's control over strength begins to become unstable.
"Ding~" The basketball fell on the edge of the basket and bounced directly.
"rebound!"
While shouting to remind Akagi, Mitsui Shou rushed towards the basket, hoping to help grab the rebound.
However, at this time, the basket of Ryonan High School was already crowded with people. The big center Jun Uozumi, Ryoji Ikegami, and even Uekusa, who was less than 170cm tall, were already wandering around the basket looking for opportunities.
Mitsui wanted to grab the rebound, but with so many people from Ryonan High School under the basket and Sendoh blocking the way, he had no way to help Akagi and Chiba in the inside.
The rebound was grabbed by Ryonan who had the upper hand. After Yuzumi grabbed the rebound, he didn't rush to pass the ball. He held the ball tightly in his arms until Sendoh approached, and then he gave the ball away.
"He missed the shot again..."
"His offensive efficiency has dropped significantly in the past few rounds. Since the second half, all of Shohoku's offense has been focused on him. Mitsui-senpai's side has been guarded very tightly, and those guys from Ryonan have left Chiba and Miyagi alone."
"Coach Anxi, if we continue to play like this, Xiangbei will lose!"
Sitting behind a small table under the court, Ayako saw Jinguji Budo's shot miss again, and her brows were filled with melancholy. She couldn't help but say something to Coach Anzai beside her, hoping that Coach Anzai could make some changes.
"... ..."
Coach Anxi didn't say anything, but glanced at the scoreboard. 63:61, Xiangbei High School still had a two-point lead. After a long silence, Coach Anxi slowly said:
"Change is necessary, but you don't need me to say it."
On the court, Xiangbei High School began to retreat after a failed attack. During the retreat, Wudao found Mitsui Shou and whispered in his ear: "Xiaosan, I need to rest for a while, you continue the firepower."
Of course, Jinguji Takeshi could feel the decline in his offensive efficiency. At the moment of shooting, Takeshi basically knew whether the ball would go in or not. He consumed a lot of physical energy. He was on the offense for most of the first half, and he was still dominating the offense in the second half.
While completing the attack, Wudao also needs to take defense into consideration. Shimoya Tano is not an ordinary player. His physical fitness is quite terrifying. If you want to defend him well, physical confrontation is inevitable. Although Wudao's physical fitness is not bad, he can't withstand such a confrontation.
On the contrary, Shimono knew how to share the ball and expended very little energy on the offensive end. He used the excess energy to prevent Jinguji Budou from scoring.
Up to now in the game, Wu Dao's total score in the first and second half is only 27 points. Although this is also a terrifying statistic, compared to his scoring efficiency of 30+ in the first half and 50+ in the whole game, he was indeed restricted today.
"good!"
Seeing Mitsui Shou nodded in agreement, Wudao silently stopped at the top of the arc in his own half, waiting for the arrival of the Ryonan players.
At this point in the game, the players of both teams were already very tired. In order to take care of his teammates' physical fitness, Shimoya Tano deliberately slowed down his pace.
Sendoh, who was holding the ball, saw that Shimoya Tsuneyama was running slowly, so he naturally slowed down the pace of controlling the ball.
This small move from Ryonan High School made the coach Tanaka in the rest area very satisfied. Shigong Tianye's transformation was very fast. It took him only ten minutes to change his playing style. Now, Shigong Tianye has learned to control the team's rhythm with behavioral language, which shows that Shigong Tianye and his teammates are getting closer and closer.
On the other hand, Jinguji Takeshi seems to be closely connected with his teammates, but in fact, Takeshi is out of touch with his teammates when attacking. He has his own offensive rhythm, and will not wait because his teammates are not in position, and will not give up the opportunity in front of him because his teammates do not have a good rebounding position.
On the court, Sendoh Akira had already entered the front court with the ball. After crossing the center line, Shinomiya Tianye did not speed up, but stood about 2 meters outside the arc to ask Sendoh for the ball.
As soon as Shigong Tianye received the ball, he immediately made a pick-and-roll gesture to his teammates. As Sendo approached, Shigong Tianye immediately accelerated and broke through. The opponent's pick-and-roll request was seen by Wudao. Before Sendo got into position, Wudao had already reserved a position in advance. When Shigong broke through, he immediately bypassed Sendo and chased after him.
When Wu Dao's defense came up, Shigong Tianye did not choose to force an attack on Wu Dao, although he had a chance if he forced an attack, but overall, it was not "team" enough.
With a beautiful back pass, the basketball was passed directly back to Sendoh's hands.
After passing the ball, Shinomiya Noboru made an abrupt stop and immediately turned around to help Sendoh screen for Mitsui Hisashi. This was not the first time that Ryonan High School had used a similar tactic, but the effect was still excellent. Although Mitsui Hisashi chose to follow up Sendoh at the first moment this time, the time he spent bypassing Shinomiya Noboru was enough for Sendoh to advance inside.
With a gap, Sendo chose a mid-range jump shot.
When he attacks, he doesn't like to stop suddenly or lean back like Jinguji Budou.
Although Sendoh also shot a mid-range jump shot, he still had nearly a second to adjust his shooting posture and rhythm after stopping. His shot was also a standard two motion, without any fade away.
Although Sendoh's shooting was not as sudden or fast as Takeshi's, his stability was quite good. The basketball went directly into the net, tying the score for Ryonan High School.
After the transition from offense to defense, the ball was once again in the hands of Xiangbei. This time, after receiving the ball in the frontcourt, Budo did not choose to attack himself, but passed it to Mitsui Shou, and then he started to run and intersperse as Xiangbei usually did during practice, distracting Shigong Tianye's attention while looking for a better opportunity to receive the ball.
However, Wudao and Mitsui Hisashi had discussed it beforehand. Although Wudao was running and interspersed, and he did have a good opportunity to receive the ball, Mitsui Hisashi did not pass the ball to Wudao. Instead, he quickly gave the ball to Miyagi and started running himself.
Ryonan High School has never let down their guard against Mitsui Hisashi. His off-ball play puts a lot of pressure on Ryonan. When Mitsui Hisashi passed the ball and started running on the court, Sendoh and Ikegami immediately started chasing him without stopping, not daring to relax at all.
However, even with two people chasing, Mitsui Hisashi finally got enough clearance under the continuous pick-and-rolls by the Xiangbei players. He then received the ball on the three-point line, took a step back to the outside of the three-point line and shot a three-pointer.
Mitsui's physical energy consumption in the first and second half was not that great, and the legendary buff was not bestowed upon him. The basketball did not go into the net as expected, but instead went directly out of the rim.
Under the basket, Shimoyama Nono had already run into the basket, and he also replaced Yuzumi's job of blocking Akagi, pushing Akagi outside the landing point.
Jun Yuzumi once again easily grabbed the rebound and sounded the clarion call for a counterattack.
"The rebound... ..lost again?!"
"elder brother... ."
In the stands, Akagi Haruko saw that Xiangbei failed to grab the rebound again, and she clenched her hands in worry, a little worried about her brother. On the court, Akagi quickly returned to defense, feeling annoyed that he didn't grab this rebound again.
Ryonan High School did a very good job in guarding rebounds. Jun Uozumi, Ikegami, Sendoh, and Shinomiya Tano basically all participated in the fight for rebounds. On the Shohoku side, Jinguji Budou was the main attacker. He was usually responsible for shooting, and as for rebounding, it depended on how far the ball flew.
The only other people in Xiangbei who can assist Akagi in grabbing rebounds are Chiba and Mitsui Hisashi, but the two have disadvantages in height and jumping ability, and they have no advantage in grabbing rebounds in front of Sendoh, Shinomiya Tano and others.
Ryonan High School was far behind in the first half, but was able to catch up in the second half, all thanks to their outstanding rim protection ability.
"It looks like Xiangbei has no hope in this game."
"There is no clear winner in the ace showdown between the two teams, but Xiangbei's overall rim protection ability is far inferior to Ryonan."
"We both have only one center in Hainan and Shoyo. Our inside strength is not much different from that of Shohoku. Although there is a gap between Akagi Takenori and those third-year forwards, with the help of others, we will not be at a significant disadvantage in the fight for rebounds."
"But the Ryonan team is too different. There are three players over 190cm tall, and Sendoh and Shinomiya Tano have very good jumping ability. Although Shohoku's Mitsui Hisashi and Chiba Daishi are not short, it is too unrealistic for them to grab rebounds in front of those people."
"And it's impossible for Jinguji Budo to go inside to fight for rebounds at a time like this."
In the stands, the former champions of Kanagawa Prefecture, the team from Kainan, were also watching the game. Coach Takato analyzed the situation on the field to the players around him while thinking about how to defeat the two teams next year.
"From the current perspective, strengthening the inside line is something that Hainan needs to do no matter what."
"Otherwise, next year we will only rely on Takasago and Amu to protect the rim. Not to mention competing with the three tall players of Ryonan, we may not even be able to beat Shohoku."
"The firepower also needs to be strengthened. It is far from enough to rely on Ah Mu alone."
While Coach Gaotou was thinking, Ryonan had already completed this round of attack.
Shimono no Tano broke into the basket and found the right time to make a fake pass to Sendoh. The latter received the ball and shot directly on the spot. Although the shot did not go in, with the help of Shimono no Tano, Jun Uozumi still beat Akagi to grab the rebound and succeeded in the second attack.
Ryonan took the lead.
At this point in the game, even the dumbest person knows what Xiangbei is inferior to Ryonan. It's not the offensive firepower, it's not the defensive ability of each position, but the difference in rim protection.
Shimono Shimomiya did not focus on offense or one-on-one defense. He just paid a little attention to rebounding, which had a huge impact on the entire situation.
Although Wu Dao also wanted to help grab rebounds, it was different from offense. Shigong Tianye's strength could be fully utilized when he grabbed rebounds. As for letting Wu Dao rush for rebounds, I'm sorry, those players in Ryonan have good explosive power and height. If Wu Dao does not have overwhelming bounce, the possibility of successfully rushing for rebounds is very small.
Moreover, the players who grabbed rebounds for Ryonan were obviously experienced and knew how to position themselves.
The unstable offensive firepower and missed rebounds put Xiangbei in a desperate situation. As the game progressed, the gap between Xiangbei and Ryonan began to widen.
The god-like Mitsui Shou did not appear in this game. Mitsui Shou, who was fully guarded by Sendoh and Ikegami, scored a lot of points, but he could not help the team win the game.
After resting for a while, Jinguji Budo was back at full speed, scoring repeatedly over Shinomiya Tano's head, but his hit rate was not 100% after all.
Having mastered the secret of winning, Ryonan High School began to suppress Xiangbei in the latter part of the second half. All the efforts made by the Xiangbei players turned into a dying struggle in the end.
...
With Jinguji Budo's final buzzer-beating three-pointer, Shohoku eventually lost the game 84:96.
Takeshi Jinguji scored 38 points in the whole game. Although he fulfilled the harsh words he had said to Shinomiya Tano before, it still could not change the fact that Shohoku High School lost.
The last game of the county competition started fiercely, was exciting and stalemate in the middle stage, but in the late stage, it turned into a one-sided crushing situation.
As the game came to an end, Ryonan High School finally ascended the throne of Kanagawa Prefecture's high school basketball. The throne that had been occupied by Hainan for more than ten years was replaced by a new owner.
The people of Ryonan were bathed in the cheers of the audience and enjoyed the applause given to them by the people around them.
After leading the team to win the championship, Coach Tiangang was not excited at all. He seemed like a wise man who had already "shivered". He looked calm and graceful, and waved to the audience around him. Then he simply dealt with a few words from the radio reporter's interview, and then shook hands with Coach Anzai.
On the field, the players from both teams shook hands. When Jinguji Budo's hand and Shigong Tianye's hand were held together, the two looked into each other's eyes, and all the grudges during the game disappeared instantly.
Both of them talked a lot of trash, but the game is the game and the off-court is the off-court.
"Budo, you are the first person to score close to forty points in front of me."
"You are really amazing. Although you can't defend me in a one-on-one, I can't defend you either."
"But this is only temporary. I will study you carefully after we go back. The next time you meet us, Lingnan, you will lose even more!"
Shigong Tianye had a faint smile on his face as he talked to Wudao. It was hard to say who won or lost in the duel between the two, but Ryonan was the winner. From this point of view, it was Shigong Tianye who won.
"Next time, I'll get 50 points."
Wudao did not directly refute what Shinomiya Tano said. He knew that from today onwards, Ryonan High School would become stronger. The current strength of Ryonan's basket was already very terrifying. When Hanagata officially became a part of Ryonan, their ability to protect the rim would be even more abnormal.
"50 points... What's the big deal? The victory belongs to us, Ryonan!"
Shigong Tianye not only changed his playing style, but also his personality and temper. He didn't care about Wudao's words. For him, the team's victory or defeat was more important than his own honor.
"One day, we in Xiangbei will welcome our own Rodman, and the dynasty will be established by our own hands."
"I will let you be proud for a while this year. Cherish the time you sit on the throne. Soon, this throne will have its new owner!"
Wudao looked at the people from Ryonan who were leaving the field, and his eyes became deep.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .