Time flies, and at the end of December, Japanese high school students officially welcome their winter vacation.
When most students were immersed in the joy of vacation, the winter trials, Winter Cup, officially kicked off.
The winter trials are a national competition in which schools compete. In terms of the weight of the honor, it is not much different from the summer IH. However, the intensity of the competition is lower than that of the IH.
Because after IH, most of the senior players will withdraw from the club and concentrate on preparing for the exam. Therefore, the level of competition in the winter competition is not as good as that in IH, but the degree of competition is more brutal than that in IH.
There is only one team in Kanagawa Prefecture that is eligible to participate in the national competition. Before the players can enter the national competition, the first thing they have to do is to stand out from the prefectural competition.
The venue for Kanagawa Prefecture's prefectural trials is still the Prefectural Gymnasium.
As one of the top four teams in IH and a team that has made it to the national top eight, Xiangbei had a bye in the first few rounds of the qualifiers and did not need to participate in the competition.
Therefore, a few days before the start of the winter trials, Coach Anxi took the players to attend the opening ceremony on the first day, but did not take the players to the stadium to watch the game in the following days. Instead, he let the players practice in their own gym to maintain their competitive form.
It was not until five days later, when the first few rounds of games were over and the quarter-finals began, that Coach Anxi took his players to the venue.
The county competition of the winter selection is still divided into four groups. The teams that have achieved the semi-finals in IH are scattered in the four groups as seeded players. For example, Ryonan is in Group A, and Shohoku High School is in Group B. Before the top 8 match, the four seeded teams will not meet each other.
In the first round of the quarter-finals of Shohoku High School, they met a veteran strong county team, Miuradai High School. Of course, this strong team is only relative to other teams. In fact, in front of Shohoku High School, Miuradai is somewhat inferior.
The result of the game did not surprise the audience. Even though Shohoku High School was missing Jinguji Budo, it was still not a team that Miuradai High School could challenge.
At the end of the game, Xiangbei defeated its opponent with an overwhelming advantage of 103:67 and advanced to the top four.
The results of the other competition groups were also within everyone's expectations, including Ryonan High School in Group A, Hainan in Group C, and Shoyo High School in Group D, which actually stood up a little this winter and knocked down IH's top four team, Buri Junior High School, to win the last spot in the top four.
However, unlike IH's semi-final round-robin, the winter season is still an elimination system. The four teams in the semi-finals draw lots to determine their opponents, and the winner will advance to the final.
Xiangbei High School had good luck in the draw, as they met the weakest team among the top four, Shoyo High School.
Today's Shoyo High School is no longer worthy of being called a strong team. Ever since the two rookies, Kenji Fujima and Toru Hanagata, left for Ryonan, Shoyo's strength has been greatly reduced. It is not even spring yet, and Shoyo High School, without fresh blood, can only maintain its "strong" status when facing a team like Takeshi.
However, when facing Shohoku High School, one of the top eight high schools in the country, they still fell short.
In the match against Shoyo, Shohoku High School played very easily. The current Shoyo team adopts a tall player system, but in terms of height, Shohoku High School does not need too much from the opponent. Mitsui Hisashi's height is now close to 190cm, Chiba Daishi and Akagi Takenori are also over 190cm, and Akagi is even 195cm tall.
Although the back line is a little short, the three of them are enough to support the inside line of Xiangbei High School.
However, what Xiangbei High School is best at is the run-and-gun tactics. Shoyo's tall system simply cannot keep up with Xiangbei's offensive rhythm. Under the leadership of Miyagi Ryouta, Mitsui Hisashi and Kogure Kimiyasu, Xiangbei fully utilized its speed advantage.
At the same time, relying on Mitsui's unstoppable singles play that allowed him to both break through and shoot, Xiangbei firmly grasped the initiative throughout the game and suppressed Shoyo.
It was not until this time that the audience in Kanagawa Prefecture finally came to their senses. It turned out that Mitsui Shou of Shohoku High School had always been the same Mitsui Shou. After the loss of Jinguji Budou, Mitsui Shou who played with the ball became the focus of the entire game.
In the end, Xiangbei defeated Xiangyang 97:77 and entered the finals. Mitsui Shou successfully attracted the attention of many college scouts and coaches who came to watch the game with 46 points in a single game.
The competition in Kanagawa is quite attractive, after all, IH's national champion, Ryonan High School, is located in Kanagawa Prefecture.
In this year's national team youth training, Ryonan High School's Sendoh Akira and Shinomiya Tano both shined in the youth training and have already attracted the attention of many college coaches and scouts.
Today, many people came to see the two players from Ryonan High School, and at the same time, they also wanted to see the other player of the "Kanagawa Twins". But what was unexpected was that Jinguji Budou did not see them, but instead discovered a player like Mitsui Hisashi, which can be regarded as a pleasant surprise.
It was after today's game that Mitsui Shou was really noticed by college basketball coaches and scouts.
Shortly after the game between Shohoku High School and Shoyo ended, the game between Ryonan High School and Hainan started.
Facing Hainan, Coach Takeo had no intention of holding back and directly sent out the offensive duo of Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh, while also sending Hanagata, Uozumi and Fujima Kenji to protect the two.
Ryonan adopted a double-post style of play. Under the firepower of Ryonan High School, Hainan gradually couldn't hold on and began to show signs of defeat.
13 minutes into the first half, Hainan completely collapsed and the gap between the two teams widened rapidly.
By halftime, the difference between the two teams had reached 16 points.
At the beginning of the second half, Shimoya Tano opened fire and quickly widened the score difference to 20 points. The next 20 minutes of the game were a torture for Hainan.
In the end, Ryonan High School defeated Hainan 113:68. This huge gap made coach Takeo smile happily.
Coach Takato, who lost the game, had a gloomy face. He was annoyed at the lack of strength of the team, and also annoyed that the bastard Tian Gang did not give him face at all, keeping Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh on the court even though the victory was already secured.
Moreover, these two rascals had no martial ethics at all. The Hainan players clearly had no ability to resist, but these two guys still looked "trying hard" and scored points crazily.
This huge difference in points made the former Kanagawa overlord lose face. At the same time, it also made Coach Takato more determined to strengthen the team next year.
"It's not enough to just invite strong freshmen! We in Hainan also need to recruit strong senior players!"
"Asshole Tiangang, I will make you pay the price!"
Coach Gaotou was so angry that he broke the folding fan in his hand. I don’t know why he would bring a folding fan in the middle of winter... .
After leaving the stadium, Coach Gaotou seemed to have thought of something. He did not stay to watch the next game with his players. Instead, he gave Amu a few instructions and hurriedly left the stadium.
I took the train directly to Aichi Prefecture.
A while ago, Coach Gaotou heard from a friend that there was a very promising junior high school student in Aichi Prefecture. Although he had only been playing basketball for a short time, he had very good physical talent. Coach Gaotou was arrogant at first, thinking that Hainan would not lack promising freshmen next year.
But today's match was too much of a blow to him. Coach Gaotou was furious. He threw away all his arrogance and reserve, picked up a hoe and was ready to dig people up. He couldn't wait to build his ideal Hainan High School and complete his revenge!
The next day, Shohoku High School faced the national champion Ryonan High School at the county gymnasium.
Before the game, all the spectators ignored the absence of Jinguji Budou from Shohoku High School. However, after the game officially started, the outcome was just as the spectators expected. Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh cooperated with each other and were unstoppable on the court.
It would be very troublesome to meet one of these two people. Facing the combination of the two, Xiangbei has no power to change hands at all.
Coach Takeo was also very clear about the team attributes of Shohoku High School. Right from the start, he sent Shinomiya Tano to defend Mitsui Hisashi with all his strength. At the same time, he also let Sendoh fill in and assist in defense at any time, and let go of Kogure Konobu at the appropriate time.
Ryonan High School's defensive strategy was quite successful. Shimonoseki, who had excellent one-on-one defense ability, had a great impact on Mitsui's outside shooting percentage. At the same time, Mitsui had no way to rely on his own ability to break through Shimonoseki. Even if he completed the breakthrough with the help of his teammates' pick-and-roll, Sendoh would fill in the position in the first time.
Shohoku's strongest firepower point was suppressed by Ryonan High School. On the contrary, Kogure Konobu would get open shots from time to time and scored a few goals to prevent Shohoku from being silenced.
In this game, Coach Anzai did not consider the inside attack. Relying on the strength of Akagi Takenori and Chiba Daiishi, it was impossible for him to gain an advantage against the combination of Uozumi and Hanagata.
As the game progressed, Shohoku High School also showed signs of decline. Facing the double-team of Shinomiya Tano and Sendoh, Mitsui Hisashi was not often able to pass the ball between the two.
When the operation of basketball is hindered, the result is self-evident.
At the end of the first half, Shohoku High School was trailing by 16 points. At the beginning of the second half, although Mitsui Shou had a brief outburst, he was quickly suppressed.
In the end, Ryonan High School defeated Shohoku with a score of 103:74 and won the only national ticket from Kanagawa Prefecture.
...
The day that Ryonan High School advanced to the national competition happened to be Christmas.
Jinguji Budo, who is far away on the other side of the ocean, is participating in a "Christmas game" held by Oak Hill Academy. Their opponents are outstanding graduates from Oak Hill, some of whom have played in the NBA and some are currently playing in the NCAA.
Although it was a performance match, the students of Oak Hill Academy played very seriously. Seeing that the younger students were playing seriously, the seniors of Oak Hill Academy also adjusted their mentality unconsciously and began to deal with these young students properly.
The result, of course, was no surprise, the seniors won the game 97:81. Although there was some letting on, the seniors spoke very highly of the juniors.
Especially the yellow guy in the team, he played for 31 minutes and scored 33 points. His outside shooting was very accurate and his strength was amazing. It was hard to imagine that such a guy was actually a yellow guy and was only in the first year of high school.
After the exhibition match, the winter break started in the US, and Wu Dao had no intention of going back home, so he applied to stay on campus. There was nothing else to do during the break, except for being invited to play at teammates' homes and playing basketball in the school gym.
Some students who have nothing to do during the holidays will also come to the gym when Wudao is training. The coach has no objection to this, and Wudao is happy to have someone accompany him. Although playing street basketball may not have much effect on improving strength, Wudao is still happy to play with these students. Compared to the boring training alone, occasionally playing three-on-three can also provide a change of pace.
After the holidays, Oak Hill Academy began intensive competitions and training.
Wu Dao also traveled with the team for half a year, and he had fought in many colleges and universities in Indiana and Kentucky.
It’s just a pity that the little blacksmith he had always been thinking about never had the chance to fight against the other party.
As Jinguji Budo's games increased, his average points per game stabilized at around 34. At the same time, he officially entered the TOP 100 list of American high school students, ranking 27th.
...
Japan's winter trials officially came to an end in January.
Ryonan High School won the IH and WINTER CUP championships in a row. Shinomiya Tano won the MVP of the competition. In her first year of high school, she had already received the favor of countless domestic universities and had been invited early. But at this time, Shinomiya Tano also set her sights on studying abroad.
After consulting with Coach Tanaka, I decided to go to the United States after the end of my senior year of high school with the recommendation of Coach Tanaka.
After learning about Shigong Tian's thoughts and plans, Coach Tanaoka and Shigong Tian's family made efforts, not only hiring a professional trainer and nutritionist for Shigong Tian, but also contacting the school leaders of Duke University, promising to give Shigong Tian a tryout opportunity in the future.
Although it was just a tryout opportunity, for Shinomiya Tano, it was enough!
After the winter season ended, all teams began to accumulate their strength and prepare for the summer IH.
...
April in Kanagawa is pink and blue.
Cherry blossoms and the sea are the most beautiful scenery of the season.
The breeze blew the petals off the tree, the light pink petals drifted down with the wind, surrounded by the bright red hair... .
“Hahahahahaha!”
"Shohoku! I'm here!"
On the path in front of Shohoku High School, Sakuragi Hanamichi put his hands in his pockets and laughed wildly.
The long-awaited enrollment has finally arrived! Of course, Sakuragi Hanamichi is looking forward to enrollment not for playing basketball, but...
When Sakuragi Hanamichi arrived at the gate of Xiangbei campus, he looked around and saw the figure he had been thinking about at the school gate. He immediately looked happy and shouted:
"Haruko~~~~~~~"
Sakuragi's voice instantly attracted the attention of many students around.
Just as Sakuragi was running towards Haruko happily, a tall figure suddenly walked out of the school gate, blocked Haruko's way, and stared at Sakuragi.
"Ah~ gorilla!" Sakuragi failed to brake in time and crashed into Akagi's arms. At this time, Haruko also poked her head out from behind Akagi and asked with concern: "Sakuragi, are you okay?"
"Hahaha… "
"fine."
Sakuragi smiled awkwardly and was just about to say hello and chat with Haruko when Akagi grabbed him by the collar.
"You've arrived just in time. Let's go and fill out the application for admission."
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