Back and Forth

Tokyo, Yoyogi Gymnasium, Court One—the third-place match between Ryonan and Meihou.

With Ryonan launching a 10-2 scoring run within the first two minutes, they seized firm control of the game.

Yet faced with such a crisis, Meihou's elderly coach was not flustered in the slightest. He had no intention of calling a timeout to adjust the players' morale, nor did he plan to send in their core starter, Morishige Hiroshi. Instead, he chose to continue trusting the Meihou players on the court.

Although Morishige Hiroshi was extremely dissatisfied and confused by his coach's decision, there was nothing he could do. He could only swallow his anger, sit back down on the bench, and continue watching the game with a face like iron.

Let us turn our attention back to the court.

After Kazama Yuto successfully completed a three-point play, possession returned to Meihou.

"Steady yourselves!! Don't let them lead you around by the nose!"

After receiving the inbound pass, Kono immediately began slowing the pace even further.

Seeing this, the Ryonan players did not press forward to force their opponents to speed up. After all, the game had only just begun.

After reaching the frontcourt, Kono continued patiently directing his team's movement, constantly pulling apart Ryonan's defense.

After more than ten seconds of passing, cutting, and movement, Ryonan's defense was finally torn open once more.

Bang!!

The next moment, Kono decisively accelerated. He first used a teammate's screen to shake off Nishiki Junichi, then drove into Ryonan's paint. Spotting the opening, he fired a quick bounce pass to Tsukamoto, who had cut underneath the basket on the other side.

After receiving the ball, Tsukamoto did not hesitate. He forcefully attacked the basket and finished the layup through Takemoto Nozomu's defense.

The only regret was that Tsukamoto had failed to draw