Ryonan Battle (4)

After the timeout, Ryonan launched a fierce counterattack. Under Sendoh's leadership, Fukuda and Uozumi's firepower was reignited, and they wreaked havoc in Miuradai's paint.

Although Naito and Ono defended with all their effort and intensity, they still could not stop Fukuda from repeatedly driving hard to the basket.

Uozumi was not exactly a technical center, but what skills he had were more than enough to deal with Naito, whose basketball experience had not even reached a full year.

Fortunately, Naito's physical gifts were always there. Under Wu Yufei's usual training, Naito's positioning and rebounding had improved rapidly. Relying on his explosive athleticism and Ono Kazuki's full cooperation, Miuradai could at least maintain its competitiveness on the boards.

Ono, meanwhile, kept winning back the points he had conceded to Fukuda by running pick-and-rolls with Wu Yufei.

Both Miuradai and Ryonan had brought out tactics the other side could not effectively deal with for the moment, making the game fiercely contested and highly entertaining as the score rose back and forth.

When the first half ended, the score stood at Miuradai 55, Ryonan 47.

It was not the double-digit lead Miuradai had wanted most, but eight points was still a respectable advantage.

"Everyone played very well in the first half. I'm very satisfied."

Inside the locker room, Coach Harada was beaming.

Compared with the previous group-stage games, where Miuradai had built a lead of more than twenty points before halftime was even over, an eight-point lead over Ryonan at the break meant Ryonan still had every chance to mount a comeback.

But those had been group-stage matches, with strong and weak teams all mixed together. No matter how big a win they had earned against opponents like that, it meant little to Coach Harada.

Today was different. Their opponent was Ryonan, one of last year's Final Four teams and once again a Final Four contender this year—a long-established powerhouse in the prefecture, with Uozumi Jun, the tallest player in Kanagawa, and Sendoh Akira, the genius player from Tokyo.

Coach Harada was already very satisfied with an eight-point lead against a team like that.

"Keep up our previous offensive approach in the second half. Yufei will organize every possession, and everyone on the court must follow Yufei's arrangements and direction. Defensively, Ono, you need to put more effort into guarding Fukuda! He scored twenty points by himself in the first half. I don't want him scoring any more than that in the second!"

"Yes!!"

Ono Kazuki straightened up and answered loudly, but deep down, he was extremely uneasy.

After all, he had already worked incredibly hard to defend Fukuda in the first half, but Fukuda was simply too strong. Time and again, he had found openings to slip through.

"As for Fukuda, I have a good idea..."

Wu Yufei set down his towel and spoke with a mysterious smile.

Beep—!

With the referee's whistle, the second half officially began.

After more than ten minutes of rest, the spectators and fans had recovered their energy and were ready to continue cheering on the players battling on the court.

"Go, go, Ryonan!! Attack, attack, Ryonan!!!"

The moment Sendoh got the ball, Ryonan's supporters in the stands poured all their energy into cheering for him.

Wu Yufei stood at his spot, ready and waiting.

Sendoh did not hold the ball for long. Spotting an opportunity, he lobbed it directly into the paint to Uozumi.

Uozumi received the pass cleanly, adjusted slightly, then powered into Naito.

But Naito defended well and gave Uozumi no chance to make another move.

After a brief stalemate, with no good shooting opportunity and no way to force his way into the key, Uozumi could only pass the ball back to Sendoh and let him organize the next attack.

Sendoh protected the ball as he surveyed the court.

"Sendoh! To me!"

Fukuda ran out to receive the pass.

Sendoh nodded and handed the ball to Fukuda.

But when Ono Kazuki, who was assigned to defend Fukuda, saw him get the ball, he did something that stunned everyone in the arena.

He ran back into the paint and left Fukuda wide open!

That was right. The instant Fukuda got the ball, Ono Kazuki retreated straight into the key and set himself up, refusing to give Fukuda any chance to exploit an opening.

"Damn it! So they've finally exploited Fukuda's weakness."

At courtside, Coach Taoka shot to his feet in shock.

Seeing Ono Kazuki already retreat into the paint, the unguarded Fukuda glanced at the distant hoop, a confused look appearing on his face.

The next moment, feeling slighted, Fukuda angrily chose to shoot from mid-range.

"Don't, Afu!"

Sendoh was alarmed, but it was already too late.

CLANG!!

The sound of the missed shot echoed through the arena.

"Urgh..."

Uozumi tried to fight for the rebound, but Ono Kazuki had already boxed him out firmly, leaving him unable to move.

In the end, Naito Tetsuya secured the rebound, and Ryonan's attack was declared a failure.

"Damn."

Ryonan could only hustle back on defense, preventing Miuradai from taking advantage with a fast break.

"Nice work, Kazuki."

Wu Yufei took the ball back from Naito and high-fived Ono Kazuki before advancing.

"Keep playing like that."

"Got it!"

On Miuradai's possession, once Wu Yufei brought the ball into the frontcourt, Ono Kazuki immediately came up to set a screen.

No chance!!

Sendoh knew Miuradai was about to use their most effective move again. This time, rather than going around Ono Kazuki to chase Wu Yufei, he positioned himself directly in the passing lane Wu Yufei would have to use, waiting for a chance to steal the ball.

But Wu Yufei caught Sendoh's movement just as sharply.

Since you're not coming over to trap me with Fukuda, then don't blame me for taking advantage!

A faint smile curled across Wu Yufei's lips. This time, he did not pass to Ono Kazuki rolling to the basket. Instead, he drove hard straight at Fukuda Kiccho.

Everyone knew Fukuda's defensive level. Saying he was on Sakuragi Hanamichi's level would have been flattering him. Sakuragi at least had his three-hundred-and-sixty-degree, no-blind-spot Hmph-Hmph Defense. What did Fukuda have?

BAM! SWISH!!

After a simple crossover and an instant burst of speed, Wu Yufei blew past the tall, imposing Fukuda Kiccho with ease and charged directly into Ryonan's paint.

This time, Sendoh was finally forced to step up, since Wu Yufei was about to enter his effective shooting range.

But the moment Sendoh came over, Ono Kazuki was left completely unguarded.

SWISH!

Taking Wu Yufei's bounce pass, Ono Kazuki effortlessly laid the ball in, adding another two points for Miuradai.

"Great job!!"

"Now the lead is back to double digits!!"

Miuradai's bench and the spectators supporting Miuradai erupted in excited cheers, while the section supporting Ryonan fell silent.

"It's unbelievable. Miuradai's number ten is clearly only a first-year, yet he's more mature and composed than Sendoh. Forget being beyond high-school level—at his level, even if he went straight to university right now, he would absolutely be the ace of the team."

In the press section, Yayoi Aida, who had originally hoped Ryonan could win this opening match, felt numb.

In just one short year, had Kanagawa's high school basketball scene really become this deep?

On the other side, at Ryonan's bench, Taoka Moichi put away his shocked expression and slowly walked toward the scorer's table.

He admitted that he had made the wrong decision during halftime, so he had to correct that mistake immediately.