Deadlock

Kainan quickly restored the familiar feeling for the many spectators who had yet to adjust to the pace and score of the first ten minutes, displaying the attitude expected of a long-reigning champion.

At 10:55, the score was still tied at 22:22. But by 11:56, it had become Kainan 32:22 Ryonan.

In just one minute, Ryonan failed to score a single point while Kainan poured in ten unanswered points.

Why did this suddenly happen? Let's rewind the clock by one minute.

At 10:55, Fukuda backed down Muto Tadashi's defense, spun into the paint, and forced his way to the basket for a score. The teams were tied for the nth time in this game, and Ryonan's supporters in the stands were brimming with confidence, convinced that Ryonan could definitely defeat Kainan.

However, over the next minute, the situation changed dramatically.

Kainan suddenly stepped up the pressure and caught Ryonan completely off guard.

At 11:12, A Maki took one huge step past Sendoh and drove straight into Ryonan's paint. Facing the roaring Uozumi, he put on an aerial display, hanging in the air to avoid Uozumi's block before easily scooping the ball in. On top of that, he drew Uozumi's defensive foul and successfully converted the 2+1.

At 11:25, the furious Uozumi held out his hand to ask Sendoh for the ball, wanting to reclaim his dignity. Sendoh obliged his captain and put the ball in Uozumi's hands.

However, Uozumi failed to seize this precious chance to cut the deficit. After backing down Takasago, he turned for a hook shot and clanked it off the rim. Muto Tadashi, arriving just in time, snatched the rebound, and Kainan immediately launched a fast break. It ended with Kiyota Nobunaga throwing down a dunk, officially widening Kainan's lead.

At 11:42, Sendoh tried to force his way past A Maki and score himself to stop the bleeding, only for A Maki to pick the perfect moment to poke the ball loose and complete the steal. Kainan immediately surged into another counterattack.

Just as Sendoh sprinted back alongside A Maki, entered his own paint, and leaped up to block the shot, A Maki casually threw a no-look pass from behind his head, sending the ball to Jin Soichiro, who was waiting beyond the three-point line at the left forty-five-degree angle.

Kainan's sharpshooter caught the ball and fired without hesitation. The shot went up, and the three-pointer dropped cleanly.

At 11:50, Sendoh drove into the paint and passed to Fukuda. Already growing somewhat impatient, Fukuda completely ignored the fact that Takasago was set in position and forced up a layup, only to be emphatically blocked. A Maki secured the rebound and immediately passed it to Kiyota Nobunaga, who launched another fast break and finished with a layup.

Just like that, Kainan scored ten straight points in the span of a minute, instantly shattering what had been an evenly matched contest.

Beep—!!

Seeing the previously balanced situation collapse so suddenly, with Ryonan falling behind by double digits so quickly, Coach Taoka could no longer sit still. He hurriedly called a timeout, giving his increasingly agitated players a full minute to calm down.

"Ugh..."

Ishiyama Jun had just said something as dismissive as "Kainan isn't much," only to be slapped in the face less than a minute later. Naturally, his expression was extremely awkward.

"Don't underestimate them, Jun. Kainan has dominated Kanagawa high school basketball for sixteen straight years and remained firmly among the nation's top four. Any hint of contempt toward them will bring incredibly painful consequences."

Wu Yufei turned his head and spoke to Ishiyama Jun with a serious expression.

"Especially since tomorrow, you'll be the one guarding Jin Soichiro. Unlike Mitsui Hisashi, that erratic player who relies on talent, Jin's skills were truly honed shot by shot through practice. The slightest carelessness or lapse in concentration will let him instantly seize and exploit an opportunity."

"His ceiling may not be as high as Mitsui's, but his floor is definitely higher than Mitsui Hisashi's! His height and wingspan are also better than Mitsui's, and there's no need to even mention his stamina. Unlike Mitsui, who has only just returned from a two-year hiatus, he has been training hard all along. The methods for defeating Mitsui will have no effect on him. That much is certain."

Seeing Wu Yufei's serious expression, Ishiyama Jun swallowed, then adopted a resolute look and nodded heavily.

"I understand. I won't underestimate them anymore. Tomorrow, I'll definitely give everything I have to deal with him!"

"Mm, I'm counting on you. Next year, how effectively you defend Jin will directly determine Kainan's scoring efficiency and ultimately affect the outcome of the game."

"Understood!"

Hearing Ishiyama Jun's firm answer, Wu Yufei nodded, then shifted his gaze to someone else.

"As for A Maki..."

Wu Yufei narrowed his eyes slightly, staring intently at the player in the white number four jersey on the court.

"I'll handle him!"

After that precious timeout, all of Ryonan finally managed to calm their anxious nerves under Coach Taoka's reassurance. Once they returned to the court, they began steadily cutting into the deficit.

Kainan, meanwhile, had established an initial advantage through their explosive minute-long run and successfully maintained it until the end of the first half.

When the referee blew the whistle ending the first half, the score stood at Kainan 41:33 Ryonan. Kainan entered halftime with an eight-point lead.

This was probably what they called the butterfly effect.

Wu Yufei clearly remembered that in the original story, Ryonan had at least been able to firmly suppress Kainan in the first half, even holding Kainan to only twenty-nine points throughout the entire half.

The turning point that ultimately allowed Kainan to win had been Uozumi's irrational act of confronting the referee, which got him directly ejected. Ryonan then completely lost its advantage in the paint.

Without Uozumi inside, no one on Ryonan could stop A Maki from charging into the paint again and again. Takasago could also mercilessly dominate Ryonan's backup center.

Although Ikegami's steals and Sendoh's game-tying dunk extended the suspense for another five minutes, Ryonan was ultimately defeated by Kainan.

No matter what, in the original story, Ryonan had at least remained locked in an inseparable battle with Kainan throughout regulation.

But here, Kainan had already pushed the game to this point before Uozumi had even left the court. It was difficult to imagine what would happen if Kainan targeted Uozumi in the second half.

Wu Yufei did not know how much his transmigration had contributed to this.

But at the very least, in the original story, Ryonan's first game had been against Takezato. Ryonan surely had not given everything in that game, so Kainan could not have obtained much valuable information from its footage.

However, with Wu Yufei's arrival, Ryonan had certainly gone all out against Miuradai. There was no way they could have held anything back or concealed any tactics.

That gave Kainan a full week to study the Miuradai versus Ryonan game footage and figure out how to deal with Ryonan today.

With such thorough preparation, Kainan, whose raw strength was already somewhat greater, naturally avoided the situation from the original story where they were stunned by Ryonan's opening blow and failed to recover for the entire first half.

Ryonan was in trouble.

Wu Yufei felt somewhat conflicted. In his previous life, aside from the protagonist team Shohoku, Ryonan had been his favorite team, especially Sendoh.

But if things continued like this, Ryonan would probably suffer three straight losses this summer and end their Prefectural Tournament run filled with humiliation and regret.

After ten minutes of rest, the teams switched sides and resumed play in the second half.

Kainan continued to execute their first-half strategy decisively, using A Maki and Kiyota as spearheads to repeatedly assault Ryonan's interior.

Whenever Ryonan chose to collapse inward on defense, Jin Soichiro, roaming the perimeter, became a merciless artilleryman, piercing Ryonan's basket with his accurate three-point shells.

But Ryonan was not without the ability to fight back.

Uozumi remained on the court. With Uozumi at 202 centimeters and Fukuda at 188 centimeters guarding the paint, even though Fukuda was a major defensive liability, Kainan's Takasago Kazuma at 191 centimeters and Muto Tadashi at 184 centimeters were consistently at a disadvantage.

Coupled with Sendoh repeatedly erupting on both offense and defense without regard for conserving his stamina, Ryonan gave Kainan no opportunity to turn their advantage into a winning position.

As a result, Ryonan once cut the gap to only three points in the second half. But through their remarkable resilience, Kainan kept their lead within four to seven points and never allowed Ryonan to take another step forward.

This situation continued until the thirteenth minute of the second half, when the score had reached Kainan 67:60 Ryonan.

Beep—!!

Coach Taoka had no choice but to call another timeout, because Uozumi had already committed his fourth foul.

"If Uozumi commits one more foul and gets sent off, Ryonan will completely lose any chance of turning this around."

In the stands, Wu Yufei shook his head and spoke helplessly.

Although, unlike in the original story, Uozumi had not confronted the referee after picking up his fourth foul, Ryonan's disadvantage was very real.

In the bench area, Coach Taoka was likely talking to Uozumi about exactly this issue.

After returning to the court, Uozumi's movements were noticeably more restrained, but that gave Kainan even more confidence to attack Ryonan's paint.

Although the game still retained some suspense, anyone could see that Ryonan was finding it increasingly difficult to play.

In the frontcourt, Sendoh was facing off against A Maki, looking for an opportunity to break through or pass.

"I didn't expect you to hold on this long."

A Maki tried to distract Sendoh with a verbal attack, hoping to create a chance for a steal.

"Heh, thanks."

However, Sendoh did not take the bait. He continued dribbling steadily and gave A Maki no chance to steal the ball.

The next moment, Sendoh suddenly accelerated and drove past A Maki's right side toward Kainan's paint.

A Maki immediately dropped his smile and stuck close to him.

Bang!

Outside the paint, Sendoh planted his foot hard, pulling the ball back in one motion to complete an abrupt stop.

A Maki reacted a moment too late and was instantly separated from Sendoh.

Damn it, he's fast.

A Maki hurriedly slammed on the brakes as well, turning back in an attempt to recover his defensive position.

However, Sendoh did not give A Maki enough time. The instant space opened between them, he rose straight up and released a mid-range jumper.

Even if A Maki had recovered in time, he probably still could not have defended that shot, because Sendoh's release point was extremely high.

Swish!

The basketball dropped steadily through the net, leaving no chance for anyone beneath the basket to fight for the rebound.

"Beautiful shot, Sendoh!!"

"Come on, Sendoh!! We're counting on you!!"

Seeing Sendoh sink another beautiful basket, Ryonan's bench immediately erupted in cheers.

With Sendoh's basket, Ryonan once again reduced the deficit to only four points.

There were still more than six minutes left, and they were only down by four. As long as Ryonan could put together a few more strong offensive runs, this game could absolutely be turned around.