As the basketball was thrown into the air by the referee, the game between Xiangbei High School and Ryonan High School officially began.
With two loud shouts, Akagi Takenori and Uozumi Jun jumped up almost at the same time and pointed at the basketball.
“They are both top centers in the county, and their timing on jump balls is very similar.”
"But... Akagi's height and arm span are not as good as Uozumi's!"
Coach Takeo on the sidelines looked at the timing of the jump ball between Yuzumi and Akagi and instantly determined who had the ball. The next second, the basketball was taken by Jun Yuzumi and he hit the ball towards Kenji Fujima in the backcourt.
"Well done, Yuzumi!"
Fujima received the basketball, smiled and said something encouraging, but was not in a hurry to drop the ball and advance. Only after seeing Shohoku start to retreat did he drop the ball and slowly move forward.
As Fujima entered the frontcourt with the ball, the players of Ryonan had already taken their positions early, with the standard 2 inside and 3 outside. In addition to Fujima at the top of the arc, Sendoh and Shinomiya Tano stood in the corners outside the three-point line, and the three of them supported each other.
Miyagi Ryouta was in charge of defending Fujima. Seeing that Fujima didn't pass the ball or change his rhythm after entering the frontcourt, he hesitated for a moment. After a little thought, Miyagi adopted a more cautious approach, keeping a distance of about 30cm between him and Fujima, and defending calmly on the three-point line.
Such a defensive gap will make it easy for Fujima to find an opening to break through, but it will not allow Fujima to shoot three-pointers without scruples.
Miyagi Ryouta's height is different from that of ordinary point guards. Even Fujima, who is in his third year, has reached 178cm, 10cm taller than Miyagi. If it weren't for this, Miyagi Ryouta wouldn't have to be so close. For Miyagi, this is also a helpless move.
Sure enough, Miyagi Ryouta's defense had no defensive depth at all, and in Fujima's view, it was full of opportunities.
Without any hesitation, Fujima changed his position by moving his hips, adjusted his dribbling rhythm and lowered his center of gravity. The next second, he stepped his right foot in front of the left, and placed his right hand on Miyagi's waist. With one stride, he passed Miyagi Ryouta and completed the breakthrough.
"Such a small gap still provides an opportunity for a breakthrough!"
"This point guard from Ryonan is no ordinary character!"
Spectators from other counties in the stands exclaimed, while on the court, Fujima, who had completed a breakthrough, kept rushing towards the inside. Sakuragi Hanamichi just glanced at Fujima quickly, and rushed in front of Akagi, took the lead and stepped forward, raising his big hands high, instantly blocking Fujima's sight.
However, the next second after Sakuragi came in front of Fujima, the basketball flew directly out of Fujima's hands, hit the floor under Sakuragi's crotch hard, and passed towards the inside.
"What?!" Sakuragi was surprised by Fujima's pass. He turned his head and saw Hanagata under the basket had already received the basketball and shot the ball into the basket on the spot.
“Swish!”
With a slight sound, Ryonan High School scored first.
With just one simple round of attack, the powerful strength of Ryonan High School has been revealed.
The connection between Fujima and Hanagata was very exquisite, and the half-witted freshman Sakuragi Hanamichi was completely fooled. And this kind of attacking method is not what Ryonan relies on to survive. Even if it is just like this, it is difficult for Xiangbei to resist.
"Fujima..."
"The gap between Miyagi and the other side has not been completely bridged yet."
"Who would have thought that Gongcheng has only grown a few centimeters since his first year of high school..."
Wudao glanced at the people from Lingnan who were returning to defend, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Sure enough, when playing against Shohoku High School, Ryonan High School had no intention of holding back and directly targeted Miyagi Ryouta.
"Alright! Let's start the attack!"
After Fujima's single attack caused the team to lose points, Miyagi Ryouta's mentality was much calmer. There was no other way, he had experienced too many such things. Miyagi Ryouta also knew that his defense was not good, and all he could do was to maximize his value.
Miyagi's stability also made Wudao feel relieved, and he ran quickly towards the front.
When Shohoku attacked, Miyagi Ryouta pressed behind all the players and the speed of advancement was not very fast. Different from the offensive formation of Ryonan, this time, except for Akagi Takenori who directly positioned himself in the inside, the rest of the players of Shohoku High School were all scattered outside the three-point line.
Miyagi Ryouta approached the top of the arc, Jinguji Takeshi and Rukawa Kaede stood at the corners outside the three-point line, and Sakuragi Hanamichi did not force into the inside, but sank to the bottom corner. Hanagata, who didn't know Sakuragi's strength, didn't dare to leave Sakuragi open at this moment, and also pulled out from the inside to guard against Sakuragi.
"Miyagi!"
Just when Miyagi Ryouta was about to pass the ball to Jinguji Takeshi, Takeshi called out to Miyagi first, and then looked at Rukawa Kaede on the other side, his thoughts were self-evident.
Without any hesitation, Miyagi Ryouta passed the ball sideways, and it unexpectedly landed in the hands of Rukawa Kaede. This made Shinomiya Tano, who was about to rush in to intercept, look stunned, as he did not expect that Xiangbei did not give the ball to Jinguji Budou, but instead gave it to the first-year student.
Sendoh, who was defending Rukawa, came directly in front of Rukawa the moment Rukawa got the ball. There was a distance of 50cm between the two of them. Sendoh stretched out his hand and blocked Rukawa's vision.
"It's you who holds the ball!"
"Shohoku High School is actually going to recruit a freshman like you?!"
"To be honest, I originally thought you were just a role player sent by Xiangbei to drain my energy."
Sendoh had a smile on his face and was a little surprised that Rukawa had the ball, but even when facing a freshman, Sendoh had no intention of holding back.
Rukawa Kaede is quite capable and is a first-year student worth destroying!
Facing the hint of sarcasm in Sendoh's words, Rukawa remained unmoved as usual. He bent his body slightly, tapped the ground with his right foot, and used tentative steps to adjust Sendoh's position.
"Good move, this kid's breakthrough speed is not slow, I can't act rashly!"
Sendoh watched Rukawa's movements and thought to himself that he just adjusted his position slightly according to Rukawa's temptation, without any additional movements.
Seeing that the opponent's defense did not make any big mistakes, Rukawa gave up the idea of continuing to test the defense. He quickly dropped the ball, and as the basketball bounced back, he dribbled in mid-air, pretending to prepare for a breakthrough.
"Too naive!"
However, Rukawa's suspended dribble seemed to be anticipated by Sendoh. Sendoh, who was half a meter away, suddenly rushed forward and came face to face with Rukawa in an instant. Sendoh's hand also quickly poked at the basketball in Rukawa's hand.
Sendoh was very fast, but Rukawa also reacted. He did not dare to hesitate and sent the ball directly back to Miyagi on the side with his right hand.
At this moment, Budo finally started, and instead of staying at the corner, he quickly moved towards Miyagi. When he came to Miyagi's side, Miyagi Ryouta also moved sideways and passed the ball to Jinguji Budo. At this time, Shigong Tianye, who was chasing and defending, had also come to Budo's side.
"Ryukawa Kaede needs to practice harder."
“After entering high school, I seem to have played too few games, and my sensitivity to the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents has decreased!”
Wu Dao was thinking in his mind, and he caught a glimpse of Shigong Tianye who was chasing him. The opponent was very fast, or rather, the opponent was as fast as ever!
Without any unnecessary movements, after receiving the ball, Takeshi Jinguji moved sideways in the direction of his running. After a simple step, he looked up at the basket. The next second, a blue figure flashed, and Shinomiya Tano actually squeezed past Miyagi Ryouta and came in front of Takeshi Jinguji.
A beast-like breath hit me in the face.
"really!"
The moment he saw Shigong Tianye's figure, Wudao narrowed his eyes slightly, stopped suddenly, and quickly held the ball. In an instant, two positions were opened between Bianxiang, Jinguji Wudao and Shigong Tianye who was chasing him. Jinguji Wudao got the gap without any hesitation. He took a step and directly passed the ball, raised it above his head, and shot it.
However, just as the basketball was about to be shot, a big hand blocked Jinguji Budo's sight.
The shadow completely obscured Jinguji Budo's vision.
However, the basketball also flew out of Wudao's hands at this moment.
"Hey, I made it!" Wu Dao landed and happened to see the smiling face of Shigong Tianye.
Although Shinomiya Tano failed to block Jinguji Budou, Shinomiya Tano was confident that his blindfolded defense must have interfered with Jinguji Budou. No one could score a three-pointer under such interference!
“Swish!
!”
However, the crisp sound behind him and the smile on Jinguji Budo's face made Shinomiya Tianye's smile freeze on his face. He turned around and looked at the basketball that just fell from the net, muttering in disbelief:
"How... is this possible?!"
What Shinomiya Tano said was also what most people in the stadium were thinking at that moment.
His defense just now was actually very good, but even so, Jinguji Budou still scored the ball. This terrifying shooting ability made all the players on and off the court feel creepy.
"I'm in great shape today!"
Wudao said with a smile, then turned around and started to defend. However, the next second after he turned around, Jinguji Wudao's smile also disappeared.
"That guy... is faster than before!"
"He was able to keep up with my sudden stop and disguised pull-up shot."
"This time, shooting may not be so easy!"
Although Jinguji Takeshi just scored the goal, he still feels a little scared when he thinks about it now. If he had not made an emergency stop and then a pull-up shot, but had stopped and pulled-up shot directly in the direction of his running, I'm afraid that Shinomiya Tano would not have just covered Takeshi's face with his hands, but would have blocked the basketball firmly.
The opponent's leg strength has greatly improved as he grows older. Shinomiya Tano has probably also entered his developmental period, and his personal talents are being constantly discovered.
"Really, a scary guy."
"But I don't believe you can always score a goal like this!"
Jinguji Takeshi's three-pointer did leave a deep impression on Shimonoseki, but after a brief moment of shock, Shimonoseki adjusted his mentality and was determined to win the game!
The scoreboard on the sidelines showed 2:3. Xiangbei High School fought back and was one point ahead of the opponent.
Between offense and defense, Ryonan High School entered the frontcourt.
This time, Miyagi Ryouta's defense was smarter. He left more space to prevent Fujima from breaking through. In Miyagi Ryouta's opinion, it would be better to prevent the opponent from breaking through than to prevent Fujima from shooting three-pointers.
The threat of the opponent's breakthrough was too great, and Miyagi didn't believe that Sakuragi Hanamichi could successfully fill the position.
"How are you going to defend me from such a distance?!"
When Fujima Kenji saw that Miyagi Ryouta had retreated a little, a smile appeared on his face. As he approached the three-point line, he paused, directly passed the ball, and shot a three-pointer.
Kenji Fujima of Ryonan High School is different from Ryouta Miyagi. He is full of confidence in his scoring ability!
Moreover, that is not blind confidence!
“Swish!”
The basketball drew a beautiful and smooth arc in the air, and then hit the basket steadily with a crisp sound.
After Jinguji Takeshi made the three-pointer, Fujima Kenji immediately retaliated, but the time between the two was only a short 9 seconds.
The crisp sound of the net hitting the target behind him made Miyagi Ryouta's expression freeze. Then Miyagi put his hands on his hips, sighed helplessly, clapped his hands, and encouraged himself.
"We can't play like this. If Miyagi is trained by Fujima, I will have to expend a lot of energy to get back the points."
"But if Shigong Tianye is just defending, his physical energy consumption is much less than mine."
"When I enter the rotation, even if Mitsui Shou comes up, it will be difficult for him to get any favors from him."
"We must find a way..."
Although Wudao thought so in his heart, after entering the frontcourt, Miyagi Ryouta still put the ball in his hands.
This is normal. After all, Rukawa was almost intercepted by Sendoh before, so it is difficult for Miyagi to trust Rukawa too much. In addition, Takeshi Jinguji just scored a difficult three-pointer and his touch is hot. Letting Takeshi hold the ball is the best option for Xiangbei.
As soon as he got the basketball, Budo immediately put aside all distracting thoughts and looked at Shinomiya Tano in front of him.
As soon as Wudao raised his head, Shigong Tianye rushed in front of Wudao and reached out to grab the basketball. Jinguji Wudao's reaction was also very fast. He quickly turned his back and dropped the ball. However, the opponent's pressure also made Wudao move his feet involuntarily. If he didn't drop the ball, he would be called a traveling violation by the opponent.
With his back to the basket, Takeshi Jinguji immediately held the ball and moved away from Shinomiya Tano. When the opponent just wanted to chase him, Takeshi Jinguji immediately turned around and pretended to break through. Takeshi's action made Shinomiya Tano freeze. He didn't dare to follow up, but moved sideways to block Takeshi's advance route.
Excellent physical condition, rich experience on the court, strong athletic ability, and terrifying defensive sense give Shinomiya Tano the capital to truly compete with Jinguji Budou.
Faced with this level of defense, it would not be easy to break through even for Jinguji Budo.
But... it's just not easy!
Turning around to face the basket, the basketball in Jinguji Budou's hand fell to the ground again. At the moment of rebound, Jinguji Budou directly broke through, and his movement instantly attracted Shinomiya Tano's interception.
At the moment when Takeshi was about to hit Shinomiya Tanaka, Takeshi Jinguji held the ball, with his back tightly pressed against Shinomiya Tanaka's chest. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from Shinomiya Tanaka's sight and turned his back.
"How can it be so easy to break through?!"
Although Jinguji Budo's breakthrough was sharp, Shinomiya Tano's pursuit was not slow at all. He turned around and chased after Jinguji Budo directly.
However, just as Shimono's pursuit speed increased, Jinguji Takeshi suddenly took a step back with the ball and shot directly from a high position.
This sudden step back and jump shot directly widened the distance between Wudao and Shigong Tianye. Even though Shigong Tianye had terrific bounce, his old strength had been used up and new strength had not yet been generated. He had just stopped when he saw the basketball flying over his head and heading towards the basket.
“Swish!”
He stepped back from a high position and shot accurately.
"Hey!"
"Even you can't stop me!"
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