Nine minutes into the second half of the game between Ryonan High School and Shohoku High School, the score between the two teams was 77:76. Ryonan High School had a lead and also had offensive possession.
In the stadium, as Ryonan High School's Kenji Fujima slowly dribbled the ball towards the Shohoku half, the Shohoku supporters in the stands shouted "Defense" rhythmically.
The scores of the two teams were tied, and every attack by the players on the field could affect the emotions of the audience in the stands.
“Defense!
Defense!
”
The cheers of the audience reached the stadium. After seeing Fujima enter the frontcourt, the players of Ryonan began to move in an orderly manner. At this stage of the game, the players of Ryonan had no longer hidden their intentions and had already used all the tactics that should be used.
After Fujima entered the frontcourt, Sendoh Akira on the outside quickly cut into the inside. Under the pursuit of Mitsui Hisashi, Sendoh was unable to quickly run out of the open space.
However, when Sendoh tried to pass through the paint area with Mitsui Hisashi, Hanagata Toru in the inside helped Sendoh to make an off-ball pick-and-roll.
With the help of Hanagata, Sendoh moved to the middle distance on the right and successfully created an open space.
Fujima saw Sendoh in an open position and wanted to pass the ball, but as soon as he raised his hands, Rukawa saw through Fujima's thoughts and raised his hands to block him.
However, Fujima Kenji has never been a point guard who can only pass the ball. When Rukawa raised his center of gravity to block him, Fujima Kenji quickly dropped the ball and accelerated the breakthrough. When Fujima's position was level with Rukawa, he quickly passed the ball to Sendoh.
However, when the basketball fell into Sendoh's hands, Rukawa's defense gave Mitsui some time to chase and fill in the position. At the moment Sendoh was holding the ball facing the basket, Mitsui had already rushed in front of Sendoh and blocked him with one hand.
“It’s very fast.”
"As expected, he is Mitsui Shou from Xiangbei High School!"
Sendoh kept his back straight, made a fake shot, then quickly dropped the ball and rushed forward. After a breakthrough, he stopped suddenly and took a fadeaway jump shot.
Sendoh's jumping ability is better than Mitsui's, and the two have similar heights. When Sendoh takes the initiative in offense, his fadeaway jump shot is simply unstoppable for Mitsui.
The basketball flew directly out of Sendoh's hands, just passed over Mitsui's fingertips, and fell directly into the basket of Xiangbei.
Maybe it was because Sendoh shot too few times in this game, or maybe it was because Mitsui put a lot of defensive pressure on him.
In short, the basketball thrown by Sendoh hit the edge of the basket directly and bounced out.
“Rebound!”
"rebound!"
Mitsui Shou heard a light sound behind him and shouted excitedly. At the same time, Sendoh, who had shot the ball, felt that his shot was short and shouted loudly.
Under the basket, Akagi Takenori and Uozumi Jun collided directly with each other, and both raised their heads to look at the falling basketball.
Akagi Takenori's defensive position was closer to the basket than the offensive player Uozumi Jun. When the basketball was falling, he found the right time to jump and grabbed the ball first.
"Pass the ball, Akagi!"
"well done!"
The rebound was in his hand, and Mitsui Shou shouted hurriedly. The Xiangbei players on the sidelines also cheered in unison, appearing extremely excited.
After grabbing the rebound, Akagi raised the ball with both hands and was about to pass it to Mitsui, but Sendoh flashed out from the side and blocked Mitsui. At the same time, Hanagata Toru and Uozumi Jun directly surrounded Akagi Takenori.
Akagi, who was unable to pass the ball in the first time, was trapped in the middle by two players. He could only wave his arms quickly to avoid the two people's stealing.
However, Hanagata and Uozumi are two tall men, one is agile and the other is strong. In the fight between the two, Akagi was unable to hold the basketball firmly.
The basketball slipped out of his hand and flew toward the sidelines.
"Our ball!"
"Flower shape!"
Yuzumi Jun knew clearly that he had hit the basketball. As he watched the basketball fly out of the baseline, he hurriedly shouted to Hanagata.
After receiving the signal from Yuzumi, Hanagata quickly flew over to save the ball. With a leap, he grabbed the basketball and pushed it behind him.
There is no target for the flower-shaped transmission, but the general direction is fine.
Sendoh and Mitsui Shou ran towards the direction where the basketball was coming from almost at the same time, but Mitsui Shou, who was in a better position, grabbed the ball first.
"Good post, Hanagata!"
After the basketball was in hand, Mitsui Hisashi said something with a smile, then raised his eyes to see Rukawa Kaede on the outside, but instead of passing the ball, he dropped the ball himself, quickly passed Sendoh Akira, and dribbled the ball towards the frontcourt.
The moment Sendoh was passed by Mitsui Shou, he realized that it would be difficult to steal the ball from Mitsui Shou in the Shohoku backcourt, so he quickened his pace and ran back to his own half. He had no intention of entangled with Mitsui Shou in the frontcourt. He quickly entered the Ryonan backcourt, took position early and started defending.
9 minutes and 20 seconds into the second half, during the transition between offense and defense, Xiangbei High School got the ball.
The current score is 77:76, and Xiangbei High School is only one point behind Ryonan High School. For Xiangbei High School, this ball is extremely crucial.
This goal will determine whether they can overtake!
Mitsui did not pass the ball to Rukawa, but instead took the ball and quickly advanced towards Ryonan's half. When it came to this crucial ball, Mitsui believed more in his abilities!
Soon, Mitsui Hisashi dribbled the ball to the top of the arc of Ryonan, while Rukawa Kaede and Shinomiya Tano stood at the corners on both sides of the Ryonan three-point line.
Mitsui held the ball in his right hand, stretched out his left hand and waved towards Rukawa, signaling Rukawa to move, and then looked at Sendoh in front of him, maintaining high dribbling, like a mature point guard.
After receiving a signal from Mitsui, Rukawa quickly moved towards the other corner, but his running route was to pass through the inside line. Rukawa's running also attracted the attention of the Ryonan players, and Hanagata's attention was also attracted by Rukawa's running position.
"It seems that Ryonan High School is very wary of this kid Rukawa Kaede!"
"In that case..."
While thinking, Mitsui Shou turned his head to look in the direction of Jinguji Budou, which aroused Sendoh's vigilance.
Mitsui changed his dribbling rhythm and accelerated his breakthrough after dropping the ball. When Sendoh was chasing him, Mitsui quickly changed direction in front of his body and changed the direction of his breakthrough. He simply took two steps forward. When Sendoh was chasing him again, Mitsui quickly changed direction with his back dribbling and directly dodged Sendoh's defense. After passing the ball, he took a side step and then leaned against the three-point line and made a direct shot.
A series of smooth and rapid forward moves directly shook Sendoh away by nearly two body lengths, and the extremely fast shooting action also made Sendoh unable to react at all.
Although Mitsui's shooting point was not high, his shooting speed was quite fast, leaving no chance for Sendoh to intercept.
The basketball flew straight out and headed towards Ryonan's basket.
However, just as Mitsui Shou confidently clenched his right fist, the basketball hit the edge of the basket and bounced out.
“Ouch!
!”
Seeing the basketball hit the basket, the Xiangbei players on the sidelines all let out a wail.
Mitsui Hisashi, who made the three-pointer, exclaimed "Impossible" in disbelief, then quickly moved and ran in the direction where the basketball was falling.
However, before Mitsui Hisashi ran over, Jinguji Takeshi and Shinomiya Tano had already run to where the basketball landed. Takeshi's strength was not as good as his opponent's, so he had to fall behind a body position when chasing the ball, in order to use his running start to fully utilize his jumping ability and rush to grab the rebound.
However, Shimonoya was well aware of Jinguji Takeshi's plan. He didn't want to rush to grab the ball. Seeing Takeshi deliberately slowing down, he also slowed down and directly blocked Jinguji Takeshi. He was not in a hurry at all.
Therefore, when the two came to the landing point of the basketball, Jinguji Budou had no way to fully utilize his jumping ability, and Shinomiya Tano, who occupied a better position, naturally grabbed the ball.
"Hehe, it seems that I am still more skilled!"
With the ball in his hand, Shinomiya Tianye smiled brightly at Jinguji Budou, and passed the ball directly to Fujima Kenji on the side. Then he quickly passed Budou and ran towards the front court.
Fujima was not in a hurry after getting the ball. He dribbled the ball towards the sideline, avoiding Rukawa Kaede, and then shouted to the players:
“Score another goal!”
"Increase the score gap!"
When the calm Fujima saw that neither Shohoku nor his own team scored the ball, he immediately realized that the pressure of the game had affected the performance of the players to some extent. He immediately stabilized the rhythm and did not want to organize an attack in a hurry.
Sure enough, at Fujima's call, the players of Ryonan High School who were running forward slowed down one by one. After seeing the players slow down, Fujima moved towards the frontcourt with the ball.
"Shohoku High School and Ryonan failed one after another. It seems that the physical exhaustion and the pressure of the game are gradually affecting the players."
"Yes, the starting lineups of both teams have played for 30 minutes. The intensity of this game is quite high."
"The fact that we were able to play until now without losing focus is enough to show the excellence of the players on both teams."
"Ryonan's Fujima Kenji is also a very good point guard. He has a very accurate grasp of the players' situation. It is very important to control the speed at this time!"
In a corner of the stands, Coach Smith from Oak Hill College in the United States held a stack of information in his hands and muttered to himself with some emotion.
The game between Shohoku High School and Ryonan High School was extremely intense. Even a famous American coach like him could see the outstanding performances of both teams from this game.
Whether it is Shohoku or Ryonan, there is a big gap when compared with the strong teams in the United States, but both teams have many advantages. If some people from the two teams are integrated, Coach Smith is confident that he can build a strong team that can compete with the top schools in the United States.
On the court, Fujima Kenji dribbled the ball into the front court and quickly passed the ball to Sendoh on the side. The latter took the ball and after a tentative breakthrough, he did not choose to forcefully attack Mitsui's defense line.
Although Mitsui's jumping ability is not as good as Sendoh's, his speed, strength and height are not inferior to Sendoh. Moreover, Mitsui has rich defensive experience, so it is not easy for Sendoh to break through Mitsui.
The ball was quickly passed back to Fujima, Sendoh passed Mitsui and cut into the inside. Sendoh planned to change his method. He planned to use footwork and rhythm changes to attack within shooting range.
However, Fujima, who got the basketball, did not pass the ball back to Sendoh. Instead, he gave the ball to Shimonoseki who was asking for the ball with his back to the basket.
Shinomiya Tano grabbed the ball with one hand, turned his back and rushed towards the basket the moment he got the ball. While his ball protector was on Takeshi Jinguji's body, Shinomiya Tano's right foot quickly landed on the right heel of Takeshi Jinguji, blocking Takeshi's turn.
Shinomiya Tano didn't do many fancy dribbling moves when he broke through, but all his movements were extremely precise and efficient. He broke through with his back the moment he got the ball, directly passed Jinguji Budou and invaded the three-point line.
Akagi Takenori moved forward, and Mitsui Hisashi also noticed Shinomiya's advance at this moment, and rushed towards Shinomiya, but at this time Shinomiya passed the ball to Sendoh in the bottom corner with a backhand.
"What!
!”
"You didn't play it yourself?! You passed it to Sendo?!"
"Three-pointer?! He already missed the shot before, are you still planning to use the three-pointer to widen the score now?!"
Under the surprised gazes of Mitsui Hisashi and others, Sendoh raised the ball and was about to shoot it, but at this moment, the figure of Jinguji Takeshi suddenly flew out from Sendoh's side and pressed the basketball in Sendoh's hand with one hand.
However, Sendoh seemed to have anticipated this. He collected the ball and moved sideways the moment Takeshi jumped out. After one dunk, he took a step sideways and shot a three-pointer.
Sendoh Akira is not the type of shooter who just stands still!
“Swish!
!
”
With a flick of his hand, the basketball flew directly towards the basket from a zero-degree angle, and then landed steadily in the basket.
An exciting sound was heard, and cheers broke out from the Ryonan bench.
"Three points! It's three points!"
"Nice throw, Senior Xiandao!"
"Well done, Sendoh!"
Cheers filled the stadium, but at this moment, the scoreboard jumped and only gave Ryonan High School two points.
The linesman on the field also pointed two fingers to the ground, indicating a two-point goal.
The Ryonan substitutes who noticed this sighed, but after the sigh, the Ryonan players recovered and cheered loudly for the players on the field.
It's a pity that it wasn't a three-pointer, but two points are still points. For players on both teams who had not scored a goal for a long time, Sendoh's goal was a shot in the arm for Ryonan.
Soon, the Ryonan players began to return to defense. After being stunned for a few seconds, the Xiangbei players hurried to the baseline to serve and passed the ball.
The game became difficult and everyone could feel it. At this time, Coach Anxi on the sidelines slowly stood up and walked towards the referee's seat.
Ten seconds later, Coach Anxi returned to the rest area, patted Sakuragi Hanamichi on the shoulder, and said with a smile:
"Sakuragi, you'll be on the court soon, watch carefully... what are you going to do?!"
... ... ... ... ... ...