The news that Xiangbei High School defeated Miuradai with a score of 121:57 and advanced to the semi-finals of the county competition quickly spread throughout the Xiangbei campus.
In addition, the local sports media in Kanagawa Prefecture also paid considerable attention to Shohoku High School. On the second day after the victory, the newspaper reported the event on the front page. However, this front-page headline was not exclusive to Shohoku High School.
Ryonan High School, which also easily advanced to the semi-finals, also received a portion of the coverage.
However, there was one thing that was advantageous to Xiangbei, and that was the photo on the front page of the newspaper, which was a picture of Sakuragi Hanamichi dunking during the game.
Early in the morning, when Sakuragi Hanamichi came to school, he heard about his appearance in the newspaper. He "borrowed" some money from Yohei and others, went outside the school to buy a lot of newspapers, and then became a free "newsboy" in the school, publicizing his "glorious deeds."
"This boy Sakuragi actually made it to the newspaper..."
When Jinguji Takeshi came to school early in the morning, he was given a newspaper by the "newsboy" Sakuragi Hanamichi. When he returned to the classroom, he really saw the report about Sakuragi Hanamichi.
"Shocked, the new star of Xiangbei, the red devil Sakuragi Hanamichi!"
Looking at the exaggerated title in different fonts on the photo, Wu Dao couldn't help but laugh. After a quick glance, he put it in the drawer of the seat.
The prefectural selection system in Kanagawa Prefecture is different from that in the national competition. Compared to the back-to-back death match system of the national competition, the prefectural selection system is much more humane.
After entering the semi-finals, Xiangbei High School officially entered the semi-final round-robin tournament three days later.
The four teams that entered the round-robin tournament this year are Ryonan High School, Kainan University High School, Shohoku High School, and Shoyo High School, a local powerhouse in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The first game of Xiangbei High School in the semi-final round-robin was against Shoyo High School.
When they were in the first year of Budo High School, Fujima Kenji and Hanagata Toru, two sophomores of Shoyo, had a conflict with their team coach and both left Shoyo High School. After they left Shoyo High School and entered Ryonan, they helped Ryonan High School win the national championship.
The top management of Shoyo High School naturally noticed the outstanding performance of the two sophomores who had left Shoyo High School in the national competition. They were furious and held the then Shoyo head coach accountable, forcing him to resign.
Until the start of this year's county competition, Xiangyang High School had not been able to find a suitable coach for the team. The position of Xiangyang head coach has always been replaced by a manager who knows nothing about football.
Although there is no coach, Xiangyang High School is a well-established and strong school after all, and the number of students every year is quite good. Even without a coach, Xiangyang still maintains a considerable degree of combat effectiveness.
Relying on its solid foundation, Xiangyang still made it into the top four of the county competition this year.
Such strength also made many fans sigh, and they felt that it was surprising that Xiangyang could still perform like this even without a coach.
But... Xiangyang's good luck ends today.
...
"I really didn't expect it! Even without a coach, Xiangyang High School still made it to the semi-finals this year."
"Who says it's not true? But Fujima and Hanagata made a really wise choice. They went to Ryonan and won the national championship."
"Looking back at Shoyo now, they should be thankful to have made it to the semi-finals."
In the Kanagawa Prefectural Gymnasium, the semi-finals round-robin match between Xiangbei High School and Xiangyang High School is about to begin. The players of both teams are still making final preparations on the sidelines, and the spectators are looking at the current Xiangyang High School and whispering.
Most of the audience who came to watch the game today have some understanding of local high school basketball. Although they are both in the top four, Xiangyang High School and Xiangbei High School are now completely two different levels of schools. Not to mention that Xiangbei High School has a top scorer in the country, Jinguji Budou. Even without Jinguji Budou, the strength of Xiangbei High School is far from that of Xiangyang.
In the rest area of Xiangbei High School, Sakuragi Hanamichi, Rukawa Kaede and others gathered in front of Coach Anzai, listening to Coach Anzai making the final arrangements before the game.
That's right, facing Shoyo High School, Shohoku High School still plans to use the first-year freshmen, but there are some slight changes in the lineup. Oda Ryumasa was replaced by Katsume Ichiro.
"The opponent in today's game is different from the Miuradai you met in the last game."
"Although Xiangyang does not have a coach now, their strength should not be underestimated."
"Of course, don't be too nervous, just play as you did in training. For today's pizza, we'll use the triangle offense."
"Nango, Katsumi, and Rukawa, the three of you need to cooperate well."
Coach Anxi glanced at the timer on the sidelines and made final arrangements for the players. At this time in the original time and space, Coach Anxi should have had a heart attack and was hospitalized, missing the game between Xiangbei High School and Ryonan. In the current world, that didn't happen.
With the reminder and attention of Budo, Coach Anxi was diagnosed with heart problems a year ago. Through diet control and medication, his condition has been alleviated. He has not had any sudden heart attacks during his coaching career.
"Yes, coach!" Rukawa and others listened to Coach Anzai's arrangements and nodded in response, but when it came to Sakuragi Hanamichi, something unexpected happened again.
"Dad....are you going to play the triangle offense?!"
"No, I think my attacking ability is also very strong! Or, should I focus on holding the ball?"
Sakuragi immediately had an opinion when he heard that the game would be played in triangle offense. In the triangle offense system of the first-year players of Xiangbei, Sakuragi was a weak triangle and a marginal player. Sakuragi, who had just shined in the game against Miuradai, was no longer willing to be a supporting role. He felt that he could take on the role of Rukawa Kaede.
"Hey! Red-haired monkey, what are you talking about?!"
"You can also play with the ball?!"
Nango Koichiro was immediately upset when he heard this. He was the core of the triangle offense in his first year. Sakuragi wanted to play with the ball? Isn't this just stealing his ball rights? !
"Shut up, you bleached monkey!" Sakuragi turned around and glared at Nanxiang, not giving in at all.
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Coach Anzai silently turned his head and glanced at Akagi Takenori who was sitting on the bench. The latter understood, stood up silently, and came behind Sakuragi Hanamichi and Nanxiang without saying a word, and punched the top of their heads, which immediately made them quiet down.
"Haha... two idiots!"
When Kiyota Nobunaga saw Sakuragi and Nango being taught a lesson, he immediately laughed with glee.
Seeing that Sakuragi and Nanxiang had calmed down, Coach Anzai paused and continued:
"Sakuragi, in the second half, you can try to do Nango's job."
"Remember, the second half."
Coach Anxi had a very accurate grasp of Sakuragi Hanamichi's character. He knew that if Sakuragi was not given hope, he would probably continue to make trouble. After Akagi gave him a big blow, he fed him a sweet treat.
While training Sakuragi, Coach Anzai also hopes to give Minamigo a sense of urgency so that Sakuragi and Minamigo can form a good competition.
“ohhhh!
!
”
"Dad, you agreed! That's really wise!"
“Hahahahahaha!”
After hearing what Coach Anzai said, Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately became active, and Nanxiang curled his lips in disdain. He was different from Sakuragi. Although he also had a noisy personality, he was still quite polite in front of Coach Anzai and would not openly refute Coach Anzai's opinions.
"Tsk... Do you think the inside pillar of the triangle offense is so easy to play against?"
"Coach Anxi will know how good I am when he sees your performance later."
Nan Xiang thought to himself as he walked into the stadium with his teammates.
Shortly after the Xiangbei players entered the court, Shoyo's starting players also appeared.
"Oh... People in Shoyo are tall..."
Nango Koichiro and his teammates walked to the center circle and took their positions. After seeing the Shoyo players appear on the field, Nango Koichiro sighed in surprise.
Several of Shoyo's starters were of outstanding height. Hasegawa, Nagano Mitsuru and others were all over 190cm tall. The shortest point guard on the team was estimated to be 180cm tall, much taller than Miuradai who he met yesterday. At the same time, the average height of the Shohoku team was also at a disadvantage in front of the Shoyo players.
The current captain of Shoyo is Hasegawa, who wears the No. 4 jersey. This unknown third-year Shoyo player has firmly established himself as the captain of Shoyo.
When Jinguji Budo saw that the player wearing the 4th best jersey was Hasegawa, he couldn't help but sigh: "There is no tiger in the mountain."
Glancing at all the players of Shoyo, Wudao couldn't help but sigh again: "Shoyo today can't even beat our substitutes of Xiangbei."
"It looks like we won't have a chance to play in today's game."
...
In the stadium, the players from Xiangbei and Shoyo were in the center circle looking at each other.
After the players of both teams took their positions, the referee walked into the court with the ball. After a whistle, he threw the ball directly into the air, announcing the start of the game.
“Bang!
”
There was a slight sound in the middle of the court, and Nango Koichiro beat Shoichi Takano of Shoyo and got the jump ball first. The basketball was caught by Kiyota Nobunaga in the backcourt.
"Well done, Dye Monkey!"
Kiyota Nobunaga praised Nango Koichirō for a rare moment, then raised a finger and confidently shouted to the team members:
"Come on! Attack!"
"Steady and secure the ball!"
Although Kiyota Nobunaga's words were relatively steady, his steps and hand movements were not as steady as his words.
After getting the jump ball and calling out to his teammates, Kiyota Nobunaga quickly rushed to the frontcourt with the ball. It looked like he was planning to make a fast break.
"Go back to defense! Go back to defense quickly!"
While Hasegawa was calling out to his teammates, he reached out to interfere with Kiyota Nobunaga's advance, but his interference was easily avoided by Kiyota's back dribble, and Kiyota also successfully approached the three-point line.
"Hehehe, Shoyo High School."
"The speed is just average."
It took Kiyota Nobunaga only a few seconds to receive the ball from the backcourt and bring it to the frontcourt, and when he approached the three-point line, the Shoyo players had just finished getting into position. The speed of returning to defense was only mediocre, which was probably related to the height of the Shoyo players.
But not all tall people possess terrifying speed like Jinguji Takeshi and Sakuragi.
Realizing this, Kiyota Nobunaga did not hesitate at all and shot a three-pointer from an open position.
After entering Shohoku High School, Kiyota Nobunaga was trained by Coach Anzai to be a guard. In addition to requiring Kiyota to have excellent dribbling skills, Coach Anzai also trained Kiyota's shooting.
Although Kiyota Nobunaga's three-point shooting is immature, it is not completely useless. In this situation, Kiyota dares to take a shot.
“Ding~~”
The basketball flew over the players and fell towards the basket. However, Qingtian seemed to have used too little force, and the basketball hit the front of the basket with a crisp sound.
“Ahhh!
”
"Idiot wild monkey, what the hell is this shot?!"
At the moment when Kiyota shot, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Minamigo had just entered the inside and had no advantageous terrain at all, so Kiyota shot directly.
With the appearance of the rebound, the two were quickly trapped by Xiangyang's inside line and lost the best position to grab the rebound.
If they were facing an ordinary team, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Minamigo would still be able to grab rebounds with their height and jumping ability even if they had no positions. After all, the center of an ordinary high school team is only around 185cm tall.
However, Xiangyang's inside players are all over 190cm tall, so they have no problem controlling the backcourt rebounds if they have the advantage of terrain.
“Bang!”
Takano Shoichi blocked Nango's position, jumped up and grabbed the ball, and after landing, he held the ball in his arms. After Sakuragi and Nango realized that there was no chance to retreat, he passed the ball to his team's point guard.
The ball was transferred to Xiangyang, who launched a counterattack.
"Is Qingtian this kid too proud?!"
Mitsui couldn't help but frown when he saw how Kiyota Nobunaga handled the jump ball.
"Don't worry about it. It's normal for him to behave like this."
"Young people, once you get beaten, you will naturally stop looking down on others."
"Although Xiangyang does not have a coach, they were able to reach the semi-finals, which shows that they are quite strong."
"Those players are very tall and their footwork isn't too slow. Even if there aren't any star players leading the offense, they're definitely enough to give these freshmen a hard time on defense."
"Just wait and see. If Qingtian continues to be so reckless, he will suffer the consequences soon."
Jinguji Budo looked at the two teams that were changing their offense and defense, his eyes fell on Kiyota Nobunaga, and said with a smile. In fact, Kiyota Nobunaga was not the only one who looked down on his opponent, Sakuragi Hanamichi, Nango and others also had the same mentality. The big win against Miuradai had made these first-year students feel proud, thinking that high school basketball was nothing special.
As soon as Budo finished speaking, Shoyo had already entered the frontcourt. Although there was no coach, Shoyo still had basic coordination. Yin Taku used Takano Shoichi's high pick-and-roll to easily pass Kiyota's defense. After breaking through and attracting Sakuragi's backup defense, he passed the ball to Nagano Mitsuru who was open in the mid-range.
As for Nango, his attention was drawn to Shoichi Takano who was running forward after a pick-and-roll, and he did not notice Nagano Mitsuru who was missed by Sakuragi. The latter took the ball and made a mid-range shot, and the basketball went directly into the net.
"Swish!" With a slight sound, Shoyo High School scored first in the match between Shohoku and Shoyo.
"These guys are both talented and stupid..."
"You have to wake up quickly..."
Seeing Xiangyang score easily, Budou couldn't help but murmur.
Shoyo High School is really not weak. The main reason why Shohoku was able to win in the original time and space was simply because Fujima underestimated Shohoku's plot-killing ability. In the last few minutes, Fujima, the super ace who played against Miyagi in a mismatch, did not get a single point, not to mention the entire first half when he let the game go.
The tall player system led by Hanagata once defeated Shohoku. After Fujima came on, the offense was not strengthened much, which can be seen from the final score of 60+ between the two teams.
Although Shoyo no longer has Hanagata and Fujima, the other players are still very tall and their playing style has continued.
Moreover, the Xiangbei team on the court at this time did not have Akagi Takenori and Miyagi Ryouta. Nango's dominance under the basket was not as good as Akagi, and Kiyota was not necessarily better than Miyagi in terms of small-to-big-out. Rukawa Kaede's offensive firepower might not be able to burst out perfectly. This can be seen from the score in the original work.
From a martial arts perspective, the strength of these first-year players from Xiangbei is only slightly higher than that of Shoyo. If they don't play seriously, these guys will probably lose.
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