In October, the sky is high and the sea is vast.
There are several sycamore trees on the campus of Xiangbei High School. At this time of year, the leaves have turned deep red. When the autumn wind blows, the fallen leaves swirl and fall to the ground, which is indescribably bleak.
"Hey, why is that seat empty? Where's Jinguji Budo?"
In the morning, as soon as the bell for the first morning class rang, a young teacher walked into the classroom. Looking at the empty seat in the back row of the classroom, the teacher's expression changed slightly and he asked the students below.
"Teacher, today is the opening ceremony of the Autumn National Games. Jinguji Budou is a player on the Kanagawa Prefecture team."
A student answered the teacher's question. The young teacher was stunned when he received this information and turned his head to look at a corner of the blackboard.
"Is it Friday already? I heard that this year's Autumn National Games will be held in our Kanagawa Prefecture?"
"So, I can still go watch this kid's game tomorrow or the day after tomorrow!"
The young teacher pushed his glasses on his nose, talked to himself, and smiled gently.
... .
Kanagawa Prefectural Gymnasium, the prefectural gymnasium that had been silent for several months, became bustling with people on this day.
The prefecture hosting the Autumn National Sports Games this year is Kanagawa Prefecture. For the players from Kanagawa Prefecture, this year's competition can be regarded as a home game.
A red and white bus slowly stopped in front of the gymnasium entrance. After the bus stopped, the front door opened and Coach Tiangang, wearing a suit, slowly walked down from the bus.
“Hiss~~Hu~~”
"Haha, today's weather is really nice. This day has finally arrived!"
After Coach Tiangang stepped off the bus, he raised his head, took a deep breath, looked at the steps in front of the gymnasium, and whispered excitedly.
"Everyone get off! We're here!" Coach Tiangang turned his head and shouted towards the bus. His voice also attracted some pedestrians.
"Hey, that's Coach Tanaka from Ryonan High School, right? I heard he's leading the Kanagawa Prefecture team this year."
"Oh? Really? So, the people on the bus..."
The people who appeared in the county gymnasium today were basically basketball enthusiasts, or players and coaches from other counties and cities. After leading Ryonan High School to win the IH National Championship, Coach Tiangang also became somewhat famous. Standing in front of the bus, Coach Tiangang was easily recognized.
“Squeak… squeak… ”
Under the gaze of everyone, the bus parked on the sidewalk suddenly shook slightly. Not long after, a strong man in a red and white sports jersey slowly walked down from the bus. After getting off the bus, he quietly walked behind Coach Tiangang and looked in the direction of the gymnasium.
"So big! Is that a player from the Kanagawa Prefecture team?"
"Don't you know that guy? He's the center of Ryonan High School, called the monster Jun Uozumi. I heard he's over two meters tall!"
The burly Yuzumi instantly attracted the attention of passers-by around him. After all, with a physique like his, he would definitely be an eye-catching presence no matter where he went.
Coach Tagore looked a little impatient when he saw Yuzumi getting off the bus but no one else.
"Where are the others? Why haven't they come down yet?" Coach Tanaoka raised his hand and looked at his watch, and asked in a deep voice. But just as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps were heard from the bus, and Maki Shinichi, Maekawa Daiki, Omasa Shifuku, and Kamiso Ichiro walked down from the bus one after another.
"Hey, who are those people? Are they also players from the Kanagawa Prefecture team? They look like strangers!"
"I don't know him. He might be a local player from Kanagawa Prefecture."
"Ohhhh, that, that, Sendoh from Ryonan High School! I saw him on the IH court!"
Just as passers-by were commenting on the people who had just gotten off the bus, Sendoh Akira walked down from the bus, and his appearance immediately attracted the attention of everyone around him. Coach Tanaoka seemed to enjoy the scene of his players being amazed by the people around him. He stood aside silently and gave the so-called C position to Sendoh who got off the bus.
However, Xiandao was still in a state of confusion. He had just gotten off the car and looked sleepy, as if he had just woken up. He did not pay attention to the attention and comments of the people around him. After getting off the car, he quietly walked behind Yuzumi, resting his head on Yuzumi's back, yawning, and using Yuzumi as a wall.
When Coach Tiangang saw this scene, his face darkened. He rushed to Sendoh's side in a few steps, stretched out his hand and grabbed Sendoh's ear, and yelled:
"Asshole! Cheer up!"
"We have a match coming up soon. How are we going to play the match if you're like this?! Huh?!"
The furious Coach Takeo grabbed Sendoh's ear and yelled in his ear. That voice made Sendoh sober up instantly.
"Don't be angry, coach. Even though Sendoh is like this now, he won't let you down on the court."
"Calm down."
Just when Coach Tanaoka was about to give the first one a good lesson, Shinomiya Tano had come to Coach Tanaoka's side at some point, patted Coach Tanaoka on the back, and comforted him softly.
"snort!"
"Xiandao, you don't have to play in today's game! From the looks of you, you probably haven't woken up yet, so I'll give you some time to catch up on your sleep!"
Coach Tiangang looked angry, snorted and said to Sendoh. Sendoh spread his hands indifferently, looking indifferent, and his expression made Coach Tiangang angry.
Shigong Tianye sensed something was wrong and immediately interrupted, "Hey, coach, who are our opponents for the first game today?"
Upon hearing this, Coach Tanaka glanced at Shinomiya Tano, then glared at Sendoh fiercely before answering:
"Shimane!"
"Where are Mitsui Hisashi and the others? Why haven't they come down yet? Hurry up and line up! The opening ceremony is about to begin. Hurry!"
After being interrupted by Shimono Shimota, Coach Tanaoka calmed down a little. He glanced at the players who had already got off the bus, and found that everyone was not there yet, so he shouted again.
“Here I come! Sorry, sorry, change clothes, change clothes~~”
Under the roar of Coach Tanaoka, Mitsui Hisashi hurriedly got out of the car, and shortly after he got out, Akagi Takenori, Miyagi Ryouta, Chiba Oishi, Jinguji Takenori and other talents got out of the car one after another.
Only now have the 15 members of the Kanagawa Prefecture team officially arrived.
"Well! Let's go to the gym."
Coach Tiangang looked at the people who got off the car, nodded slightly, waved his hand, and took the lead to step onto the stairs in front of the gymnasium.
Behind him, 15 players from the Kanagawa Prefecture team, wearing the uniform red and white team uniforms, followed closely behind Coach Tanaoka.
The selection of players for the Kanagawa Prefecture team lasted nearly two months, and today, the selection and training work has been completed.
All 15 players come from only three local schools in Kanagawa Prefecture, namely IH champion Ryonan High School, IH quarterfinalist Shohoku High School, and Kanagawa Prefecture's local powerhouse, Kainan High School.
No outstanding players were selected from other schools in the prefecture, which was reasonable. After all, in previous years' autumn national sports games, the players of Kanagawa Prefecture's representative team were often players from Kainan and Shoyo. However, this year, the landscape of Kanagawa Prefecture's high school basketball has changed drastically. The strong ones are no longer there, and the new elites in the prefecture are all ridiculously strong.
Following behind Coach Takeo were the five players from their Ryonan school, including Jun Uozumi who was given the No. 5 jersey, No. 6 Kenji Fujima, No. 7 Akira Sendoh, No. 8 Tano Shinomiya, and No. 9 Toru Hanagata.
The captain of the county team is not a player from Ryonan High School, but Shinichi Maki from Hainan. Shinichi Maki showed overwhelming ability during the training camp. In the PG position, Shinichi Maki is the best in the county. His ability is more trustworthy than Sendoh, who tried the PG position for the first time.
The point guard did not become the coach on the court, and Shinichi Maki, who obtained the starting qualification, naturally became the captain of this county team.
In addition to Maki Shinichi, although Kainan's Kamiso Ichiro and Omasa Shifuku were successfully selected into the 15-man roster, they did not get the corresponding jerseys with numbers. At the same time, Chiba Oishi of Xiangbei High School also did not have a number. Although these three people were wearing the sportswear of the county team, they did not have their own jerseys inside.
The county team only has 12 numbered jerseys, from 4 to 15, which means that only these 12 players are eligible to play in the game. As for the other three players on the roster, they can only be substituted if these 12 players are injured and unable to play.
But normally, such a situation would not occur in the Autumn National Games.
Chiba Daiishi participated in the training camp as a PF, but during the training process, Coach Tanoka took into consideration that there were too many players in the interior this year. In addition to the traditional centers Jun Uozumi and Takenori Akagi, there were also power forwards such as Toru Hanagata, Kazuma Takasago and Daiki Maekawa of Kainan.
Chiba Oishi, who is shorter in height, was naturally ranked lower, and Kazuo Kamiya, who participated in the training camp as a SG, was not as good as Mitsui Hisashi and Fujima Kenji in scoring at the same position. Moreover, the county team's offensive firepower this year does not need a player of Kamiya's level.
In the same situation as them is Ohmasa Shifuku. Although he is a junior at Kainan High School, his competitors are Shinomiya Tano from Ryonan High School and Jinguji Budou from Shohoku.
Both of these players are strong ball-holding players, and their personal abilities are obviously far beyond those of ordinary high school students. Competing with these two, Omasa Shifuku has no chance of winning at all.
Therefore, after the team was formed, Omasa Shifuku, Kamiso Ichiro and Shohoku's Chiba Daiishi were not included in the standard rotation lineup.
The selected players, Takenori Akagi, got the No. 14 jersey, Kazuma Takasago got the No. 15 jersey, Daiki Maekawa was ranked higher than Akagi, No. 13, and Budou Jinguji got the No. 10 jersey, Mitsui Hisashi got the No. 11, while Ryouta Miyagi got the No. 12 jersey.
The distribution of jerseys depends more on Coach Tanaoka's arrangements and personal preferences. As for whether or not a player is a starter or has a chance to play, all players who get a jersey have equal opportunities.
At least, that's what Coach Tanaoka said.
Led by coach Tanaoka, the players of the Kanagawa Prefecture team entered the gymnasium. Before they arrived, many players had already arrived at the venue for the opening ceremony.
There are a total of 47 teams participating in the Autumn National Games, and the competition system is very tightly arranged. Like the IH national competition, it is a back-to-back competition system.
Kanagawa Prefecture's historical performance in the Autumn National Sports Tournament is mediocre. They did not have a bye in the first round, but instead had to play against a team from Shimane.
For example, the old and strong teams, such as Akita Prefecture, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Aichi, have a bye in the first round and start directly from the second round.
Although Kanagawa Prefecture's historical performance in the Autumn National Sports Games is mediocre, the situation this year is obviously different from previous years. Ryonan High School, which won the IH championship, and Shohoku High School, which made it to the top eight with a strong attitude, both left a deep impression on audiences across the country.
The name of the Kanagawa Double Stars had spread throughout the country with the end of the IH event.
Therefore, when the Kanagawa Prefecture team entered the venue, they immediately attracted a lot of people's attention.
"People from Kanagawa Prefecture are here! As expected, Shinomiya Tano from Ryonan and Jinguji Budou from Shohoku are both members of the representative team!"
"I'm really looking forward to it. The two stars of Kanagawa Prefecture have joined forces. I don't know which team can stop them."
"Ah? No way! Any one of these two is invincible alone. How could they lose if they join forces?"
In addition to the players and coaches of the representative teams who will participate in the competition in the near future, there were also many local fans from Kanagawa Prefecture who came to watch the ceremony.
For local fans, Shinomiya Tano and Jinguji Takeshi are undoubtedly the business cards of Kanagawa Prefecture's high school basketball. In their minds, Shinomiya Tano and Jinguji Takeshi are the two strongest players in the country.
As for who is stronger or weaker between the two, there is no definitive answer, because on the court, the two have not yet encountered an opponent who can really stop them. In the Kanagawa derby during the IH period, the two also had a mutual explosion situation.
"The Kanagawa Prefecture team is here, and at first glance, there are many familiar faces!"
"Ryonan High School, Shohoku High School, there are a few new faces, but not many."
"Our biggest rivals in Akita this year should be those people from Kanagawa Prefecture!"
In a corner of the venue, the players of the Akita Prefecture team who had arrived at the venue a long time ago all cast their eyes on the people from Kanagawa Prefecture who had just entered the venue. Speaking of the Akita Prefecture team, it is also very interesting. The members of the representative teams of other prefectures are all drawn from various schools in the prefecture, but only in Akita Prefecture, the entire team of players are from Sanno Industrial.
Unlike the chaotic high school basketball scenes in other counties, Akita Prefecture has always had only one overlord, Sanno Industry. All talented players in the county are recruited by Sanno Industry. Therefore, when other counties are forming coalition forces, only they are independent.
"The Kanagawa Twins... I won't lose to anyone this time!"
Sawakita Eiji looked at the members of the Kanagawa Prefecture team from afar, clenched his fists, and said to himself.
Domoto Goro, who was standing in front of the team, seemed to have noticed Sawakita Eiji's emotions and felt that the atmosphere of the team had changed. He clapped his hands and encouraged:
"During the IH period, our Sanno lost to Ryonan High School."
"This autumn national event is a chance to avenge our humiliation!"
"In the finals, let them see the results of your exchange trip to the United States this summer."
"Zebei, through this autumn national sports event, officially ascend to the throne of the country's number one player! I believe you can do it!"
As Goro Domoto spoke, he walked over to Sawakita Eiji, patted Sawakita Eiji on the shoulder, and looked at the players of the Kanagawa Prefecture team from afar with a confident smile on his face.
"Yeah! Of course!"
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