As the game between Ryonan High School and Sanno Industrial ended, the players of the two teams returned to their respective rest areas after shaking hands and began to pack up to make room for the next two teams.
Coincidentally, the rest area for this game of Xiangbei was the place just used by Ryonan High School. After Coach Anzai led the players to the rest area, he greeted the familiar Coach Hedaoka and said some polite words.
"Wow, Coach Tanaka, congratulations! It's really amazing that Ryonan can beat a team like Sanno Industrial!"
Coach Anzai and Coach Tianoka shook hands and said with a smile.
"Thank you, Coach Anxi. Our Ryonan's victory was also thanks to the hard work of the players. My contribution is not that big, hahaha!"
Although Coach Tanaoka spoke modestly, anyone could see the pride and complacency on his face.
"Coach Anxi, I hope you can do your best and win the next game. Then, our two teams will meet in the semifinals."
"After the county tournament, I have been thinking about playing against you guys, Xiangbei, again. I think my teammates are also looking forward to playing against you guys again."
"Come on, Xiangbei!"
"I heard that there is a talented second-year player in Aiwa Academy, known as the 'Star of Aichi'. You should pay attention to him!"
Coach Tanaka said some encouraging words and mentioned Aiwa Academy. They, Ryonan, also paid attention to the group draw of the national competition, and Coach Tanaka was also very concerned about the schedule of Xiangbei, and knew very well what kind of opponent Xiangbei would face next.
Aiwa is one of the two representative teams of Aichi Prefecture. Although the team is rated A, they have an ace player rated AA. The team is very strong and is one of the most promising teams to win the championship this year. In terms of strength, it may be slightly inferior to Sanno, but the reason for this is the strength of the substitutes, not the starters.
"Hohohoho, we will work hard!" Coach Anxi replied with a smile, then loosened his hand and cast his eyes to the rest area on the other side of the court. There, the Sanwang team had already packed up and left the stadium, while the Aiwa Academy players were already changing their equipment in the rest area.
While Coach Anzai and Coach Takeo were talking, Shinomiya Tano, who had packed his backpack, immediately went to find Jinguji Budo.
"Hey, Budo, we've already defeated Sanno and advanced. I'll be waiting for you in the semifinals, so don't let us down!"
Shinomiya Tianye, holding a backpack in one hand and a smile on his face, said to Jinguji Budou. He was very happy after defeating Sanwang Industrial. Meeting Budou, an old rival, the young Shinomiya Tianye couldn't help but show off the achievements that Ryonan had just made.
"Don't worry, we'll meet again soon."
Takeshi Jinguji could read a strong desire to fight in Shinomiya Tano's eyes. It seemed that the battle with Sanno did not satisfy this guy at all. He had already shifted his target to Shohoku. To be precise, Shinomiya Tano had already set his target on Takeshi Jinguji.
"I hope so. I don't want to be called the 'Kanagawa Twins' together with a weakling!"
The Ryonan players had packed their bags, and Coach Tanaoka was leading the players toward the player tunnel. Before leaving, Shinomiya Tano suddenly turned his head and said something to Budo, then hurriedly left the stadium with the team.
"This guy... his personality is really..." Wudao glanced at Shinomiya Tano's back as he left, and couldn't help but whisper, then he retracted his gaze and turned to Aiwa Academy on the other side of the court.
"In that case, I might as well show off some of my skills, so that I won't be looked down upon by others!"
Wudao found a random seat in the rest area, took off his coat, took out a towel, a cup and some other things, then walked to an open space nearby and did some simple stretching.
At this moment, the players from Aiwa College have already entered the court and started warming up. On the Xiangbei side, the players have also changed their clothes one after another and entered the court to warm up.
Coach Anzai, as the representative of Shohoku, went to shake hands and say hello to the coach of Aiwa College. When he came back, he asked the statistician at the podium for a copy of the game data of Ryonan and Sannoh in the previous match, and gave the data to Ayako for summary and organization.
"Wow! Shinomiya Tano's stats are amazing. Sendoh and Fujima also performed very well in this game!"
When Ayako got the data, she just took a quick look at it and then exclaimed, attracting the attention of the Shohoku players around her who were not warming up. Even Kogure Mitsunobu, who had originally walked to the sidelines, curiously came over after hearing Ayako's words.
"He scored 46 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks by himself. Not only are his stats comprehensive, they're also terrifying!"
"Facing an opponent like Sanno, Shinomiya Tano was not suppressed at all, and his performance was even more impressive than in previous matches."
Ayako showed the data to the teammates around her and sighed.
The entire Ryonan High School only scored 92 points in total, but Shinomiya Tano alone accounted for half of the team's points. Apart from him, Sendoh's personal score was only 15 points, and Fujima's score was only 13 points. Obviously, these two are outstanding star players, but after being on the same team with Shinomiya Tano, their brilliance was completely overshadowed.
However, neither Hanagata nor Uozumi scored in double digits.
Although the scoring data of Sendoh, Fujima and others are not that impressive, they are still very good. Overall, each of these players of Ryonan has their corresponding functions. When these people are combined together, they form a terrifying and powerful team that can defeat Sanno.
Kogure Mitsunobu took a quick look at the data of these players and came to a conclusion.
"Fujima and Hanagata, these two have perfectly integrated into Ryonan's system. In my impression, these two both play with the ball, but in Ryonan, these two compromised on ball possession."
"It's the same with Sendoh. In the last game, he didn't hold the ball many times and focused more on running and defense."
"Ryonan is now much stronger than Sannoh!"
Kogure Mitsunobu roughly assessed the strength of Ryonan High School and felt a little heavy.
"Hmm!" Ayako listened to Mugure Konobu's analysis and nodded slightly. Then she turned around and saw that the first-year students around her all looked sad, so she comforted them:
"Alright, alright, let's go warm up. Ryonan High School is very strong, but we at Shohoku are not weak either!"
"Besides, the most important thing for us now is to get past this enemy in front of us. If we can't defeat Aiwa, there's no point in saying all this!"
At Ayako's urging, all the players walked into the stadium and began to warm up. Although these players were most likely unable to participate in the game and could only cheer on the sidelines, they were stimulated by the data of Ryonan's players and looked enthusiastic even when they were helping the starters pass the ball.
The warm-up at Xiangbei's side was very simple, just simple stretching, and simple passing and layups. After doing a few sets with the team, Wudao took a basketball to the open space on the side and dribbled the ball. Wudao, who was warming up independently from the team, quickly attracted the attention of Aiwa Academy.
"That person is Jinguji Budou, who together with Shinomiya Tano became the 'Kanagawa Twin Stars'."
"My coach and I saw their match against Ryonan when we went to Kanagawa Prefecture before. This guy is very strong, and he is no weaker than Shinomiya Tano."
"One of the most important tasks in our game today is to suppress his scoring!"
Aiwa Academy's players were doing warm-up training of passing and receiving the ball. Moroboshi Dai, who was waiting at the end of the team, saw Jinguji Budou dribbling the ball and introduced him to his teammates. Moroboshi Dai was different from the spectators on the field. He had seen Jinguji Budou's ability when he was at full strength. Facing such an opponent, he dared not be careless at all.
"Hey, Zhuxing, don't lose your dignity!"
"Maybe he is very strong, but we are definitely not pushovers."
"As for saying that he is not weaker than Shigong Tianye, aren't you exaggerating? What kind of body does Shigong Tianye have? How could there be so many people like him?"
An Aiwa player wearing a pink No. 4 jersey patted Moroboshi's shoulder and comforted him.
"Senior Longxiang, please don't take it lightly. Today's match is about you defending Jinguji Budo, so you must absolutely take it seriously."
Zhu Xingdai frowned slightly, feeling a little uneasy about his attitude towards this senior.
"Don't worry, Zhuxing, he's just a freshman in high school. I've seen his videos, he's not as powerful as you think. I will control him!"
Okamura Ryugo didn't care about Moroboshi's reminder. He smiled and patted Moroboshi on the shoulder, and then joined a new group of passing and receiving exercises with his teammates.
"Okay, Moroboshi, don't worry."
"Senior Okamura is known as the most powerful forward in the country. He has even been specially recruited by Mingchuan University. I heard from the coach that with his ability, he will be a leader even if he goes to university. He will not lose to an ordinary freshman in high school."
A player wearing the No. 9 jersey comforted Zhu Xingda, and several players nearby also echoed him. This made Zhu Xing feel helpless and deeply uneasy.
Ryugo Okamura, third year student at Aiwa Academy, No. 4, captain, 191cm tall, with a wingspan of exactly 2m and weighs 81kg.
As the players of Aiwa Academy said, he is known as the strongest forward in the country, but this is a title given by the fans of Aichi Prefecture. In recent years, there have been no powerful power forwards on the stage of the national competition. Therefore, in previous competitions, Okamura Ryugo, who averaged 31 points per game, was praised by the fans of Aichi Prefecture as the so-called No. 1 power forward.
However, Ryugo Okamura does have some strength. Not long after the school started this year, a university coach contacted him and gave him a place in the university.
Okamura Ryugo is very proud of being able to achieve such results, and in this year's national competition, their Aiwa Academy has been smooth sailing all the way, which makes him more convinced that he is the strongest power forward in high school basketball.
Now asking a man like him to defend a freshman from an unknown team is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, a waste of talent.
Therefore, he did not take the matchup with Jinguji Budo seriously from the beginning.
The schedule of the national competition was very tight. The two teams had less than 20 minutes of warm-up before the referee's whistle signaled the end.
The two teams returned to the rest area, received some final instructions from the coach, and then walked onto the court at the urging of the referee and began to take positions in the center circle.
The average height of this year's starting players at Aiwa Academy is quite good.
The center is a third-year player who is similar in height to Takenori Akagi and wears the No. 5 jersey.
Standing in front of Budou was Okamura Ryugo, wearing the No. 4 jersey. He was not much shorter than Budou, and his figure did not look any worse than Budou's. Moroboshi Dai was assigned to defend Mitsui Hisashi, and the height difference between the two was not too big.
On Chiba's side was a player wearing the No. 6 jersey, who was a little taller than Chiba, probably around 190cm. The player defending Miyagi was a No. 9 player who was nearly 185cm tall.
Judging from height alone, this year's starting lineup of Aiwa Academy is exceptionally outstanding, firmly suppressing Shohoku.
"Hey, kid, I heard you're pretty good."
"I'm going to beat you up real bad, so don't cry when the time comes!"
Ryugo Okamura took position in front of Takeshi Jinguji. Before the referee kicked off the game, Ryugo Okamura suddenly turned around and taunted Takeshi beside him.
"???"
"Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a low-minded villain when you talk like that?"
"Do you know what the villain's final outcome is?"
When Wudao heard Okamura Ryugo's ridicule, the corners of his mouth twitched. He was a little surprised and speechless, and then he asked back.
"What?" Although Okamura Ryugo has a foul mouth, it can be seen that this guy is a bit naive. When he suddenly heard Wu Dao's question, he subconsciously responded.
"Die! Idiot!"
Wudao laughed and sneered, and suddenly found that Okamura Ryugo's face had turned red. He was obviously the one who provoked first, but now he was provoked by Wudao. This mentality made Wudao feel a little bored.
There is no point in winning an argument with a child; it's boring.
"Beep!" A whistle sounded, and the referee walked into the court with a basketball.
As the game whistle sounded, everyone's attention was focused on basketball.
After another whistle, the basketball was thrown into the air by the referee.
As two loud shouts rang out, Akagi Takenori and the center of Aiwa Academy jumped up together and reached out to hit the basketball.
“Bang!
”
After a slight sound, the basketball flew towards Mitsui Hisashi. Mitsui Hisashi was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and started before Moroboshi Dai. After starting, he blocked the opponent's position and then took the ball in his hands calmly.
“This guy… ”
It was somewhat surprising that Moroboshi Dai was unable to grab the ball. Mitsui Shou was not very fast, and when the ball was kicked off, Mitsui Shou was able to block him only because of his better position. However, Mitsui Shou knew how to use the position to limit him from grabbing the ball by overtaking, which required a lot of experience on the court.
Just after a failed jump ball, Moroboshi Dai realized how difficult Mitsui Shou was.
"Hey! Play it slow, first..." Mitsui Shou was talking, but he threw the basketball in his hand to the front court without any warning. There, Jinguji Budo had already crossed the center line and successfully caught the basketball.
Behind Jinguji Takeshi, Okamura Ryugo followed closely. After Takeshi got the ball, he passed Takeshi and stood inside the three-point line, waiting for Takeshi's breakthrough. There was a faint smile on his face at this time. He had seen through Xiangbei's fast break strategy!
"Hmph! Just a little trick!" Just as Okamura Ryugo was feeling complacent, the smile on his face suddenly froze and he let out a surprised exclamation.
"Well?!"
In the sight of Okamura Ryugo, Jinguji Takeshi quickly approached the three-point line after getting the ball. Facing Okamura Ryugo's defense, Jinguji Takeshi had no intention of waiting for his teammates to get into position. Seeing that Okamura Ryugo's defense was so deep, he directly passed the ball along the three-point line and made a quick stop jump shot.
"What?! Just vote like that?!"
"Three points! It's a three-pointer? But how can it be shot like this?"
"What is Xiangbei doing?"
Wu Dao's shooting choice was beyond everyone's expectations. Amid the audience's exclamations, the basketball passed over Okamura Ryugo's head.
“Today, I’m in great shape!”
Wu Dao turned around, whispered something and started to defend. He had just turned around when the basketball went straight into the net, making a crisp sound.
“Swish!
”
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .