Challenge Match

The game between the Sendai Wanderers and Hokkaido Lavender had reached the final stage of overtime.

After breaking through with his individual ability, Xiandao drew a three-man trap from Lavender. Seeing this, he decisively passed the ball to Mito Yohei, who had been waiting at the baseline three-point line. Under tremendous pressure, Yohei recalled everything from his past with basketball and finally found his shooting touch. The three-pointer dropped! It could be considered his redemption!

"Every outstanding shooter gains tremendous confidence after making a clutch shot like this. This basket could very well transform Mito Yohei and truly elevate him into an elite shooter. He may still be a rookie, but his potential is enormous!"

Coach Omoki, himself a former shooter, was watching Yohei's performance from in front of the television. Perhaps he felt it more deeply than anyone, which made his words all the more convincing!

"Yohei! As expected of a member of the Sakuragi Gang, not bad! But his shooting is still a little worse than mine... Hahaha!"

Sakuragi was thrilled by his friend Yohei's brilliant performance.

"Someone doesn't seem to have made a three-pointer tonight..." Rukawa Kaede quietly drove the knife in.

"Mind your own business, stupid fox..." Sakuragi could never stand Rukawa Kaede mocking him.

Back on the court.

"Ahhh!!!"

Yohei threw his head back and roared after making the three, releasing the pent-up pressure in his heart.

"Get back on defense, get back on defense!!! No timeout!"

Seeing that Lavender had not called a timeout, the experienced Otake immediately urged everyone to defend. A team that was overly excited could easily be caught off guard by a counterattack!

Hearing Otake's shout, everyone realized that Lavender had not called a timeout and desperately rushed back on defense!

Since the team had already used up all of its timeouts, Lavender could only rely on its players at such a crucial moment. They also had to inbound from the baseline, making it extremely difficult to tie the score.

Lavender's head coach had not given up and was still shouting instructions, but time was running out.

Nakahara used his speed to shake off Otake. After bringing the ball into the frontcourt, he forced up a three-pointer over Fukuda. Nakahara might have been trying to draw a foul, but Fukuda did not move at all, merely standing there with both hands raised.

"Yeah~~~~!"

The cheers from the crowd were indeed for Nakahara's three-pointer, because such an Airball from beyond the arc had practically sealed the Wanderers' victory.

Nakahara remained slumped on the floor, unwilling to get up. Perhaps he was questioning the referee's call, or perhaps he regretted that awful three-point attempt, which had nearly buried the team's efforts all night.

There were eight seconds left, and the Wanderers had the ball. To be safe, Shoji still called a timeout to set up the inbound play. If they turned the ball over at this moment, it would not be worth it.

"This timeout also gives Lavender another chance. A team like this has no superstar for clutch moments, and without a timeout, it really becomes difficult to win. If they had been able to call a timeout just now and set up an offensive play, perhaps the result would have been very different."

The commentator clearly explained the importance of timeouts. Indeed, for a young team, only disciplined tactics could bring out its greatest strengths.

After the timeout.

The veteran Otake inbounded the ball. Xiandao escaped from a wall-like screen and received the pass. Left with no choice, Lavender quickly fouled him and sent Xiandao to the free-throw line, practically giving away points. Sure enough, he made both free throws.

Lavender inbounded from the baseline again. This time, Guangu quickly brought the ball into the frontcourt and, without moving it around, directly chose a drifting three-point attempt.

Clang!

The shot missed badly.

Fukuda grabbed the rebound.

"...1 beep!" The buzzer sounded.

In the end, that intense and nerve-racking game came to an end. Thanks to Mito Yohei's near-game-winning shot with sixteen seconds left in overtime, the Wanderers narrowly defeated Hokkaido Lavender 14:99 at home.

After the game, Yohei raised both fists high, a blissful smile on his face as though he had just won the championship.

Yohei himself probably had not expected his clutch shot to help the team win in the end. Without realizing it, he had become a go-to man. Just as he had never imagined that he would one day play basketball, everything had come too quickly for Yohei to fully process. All he could do was quickly shoulder this responsibility, help Xiandao share the pressure, and lead the team forward! Perhaps tonight was Yohei's proving ground!

Over on the other side, the Jaguars quickly boarded the team bus and returned to the hotel after watching the game. The players had delayed for a while to watch it, and it was already late.

"Bzzzz~~~~"

Just after getting on the bus, Sakuragi's phone rang. It was probably set to vibrate, and it buzzed for a while before he noticed it.

"Hm? Takamiya?? What does this guy want now??"

Seeing that it was Takamiya calling, Sakuragi answered listlessly.

"Hey, Sakuragi, did you see it? Yohei!!! Yohei!! A near game-winner! That was awesome!!!"

Takamiya sounded as excited as if he had hit the game-winner himself.

"I know, you don't need to report it to me... Wait... Damn it, I won my game tonight too... Why didn't you even mention that?!"

Sakuragi only then realized that he had also won tonight, yet as a member of the Sakuragi Gang, Takamiya had not said a word about it.

"Oh, Sakuragi, you guys won too!!"

"You bastard, damn it!!!!"

By then, Sakuragi was already furious. The loud argument attracted the attention of the other players on the bus.

Mitsui asked, "What's wrong with Sakuragi? Why is he yelling...?"

"Maybe he got dumped again, that guy..."

"Hahahaha!!!"

Hearing Miyagi's answer, Mitsui burst into laughter.

"But Yohei's game was broadcast nationwide. Your game wasn't televised..."

Takamiya explained afterward.

"Fine, I'll let you off this time... Do you need anything else?" Hearing Takamiya's explanation, Sakuragi did not pursue it any further.

"Nothing much. Oh, Sakuragi, you didn't call Yohei to congratulate him?"

"No, I didn't even..."

Takamiya's question truly stumped Sakuragi.

"Right, I've been back for so long. Even though I know Yohei is playing professionally too, let alone seeing him, I don't even have his number...!"

Perhaps Sakuragi had been so busy practicing basketball that he had forgotten about things like that.

"I really can't believe you two. Are players from different teams forbidden from contacting each other or something??"

Takamiya could not quite believe that the two had never been in touch.

"Cut the crap and give me his number!"

"Fine, wait a moment. I'll send it to you. I'm hanging up first."

"Hurry up," Sakuragi sounded rather impatient.

Before long, Yohei's phone number was sent over.

But as he dialed, Sakuragi hesitated. How was he supposed to start with a friend he had not contacted in so long...?

Whatever!

Sakuragi did not hesitate for long before dialing Yohei's number.

"Hello, who is this?" Yohei answered quickly.

"Uh, it's me... Uh..."

Sakuragi felt awkward introducing himself by name.

"You are...?" Yohei clearly did not recognize his voice.

"You bastard... How long are you going to keep pretending? You hid the fact that you've been playing basketball from me for all these years, and you're still pretending now!!" Sakuragi could not endure it any longer.

"I don't understand what you're talking about..."

"Fine! Mito Yohei! The next time I see you, I'm definitely giving you a long-overdue iron headbutt!!"

"Ah!!! Is that Sakuragi?!" Yohei seemed to recognize him at last.

"Hmph, it's me!"

"Sakuragi, I was thinking about when I should go see you. You've been back for so long, and we still haven't met."

"I thought you had forgotten about me..."

"How could I? You're the pillar of our Sakuragi Gang!!"

"Save it. Still, I watched your game just now. Not bad!"

"Haha, it was decent... Not as fierce as you, Sakuragi!!"

"Stop kissing up to me..."

"Not at all. Our Sakuragi returned from special training in the United States, so your strength must have increased dramatically!"

"Hahaha!! That's right, that's right!!"

Sakuragi, who had been pretending to be reserved just moments ago, was completely defeated by Yohei's praise once again and became wildly full of himself.

"I'm really looking forward to facing you, Sakuragi!! Let's see just how much you've improved." Yohei's words snapped Sakuragi out of his intoxication with the praise.

"Fine, then I'll see what you, a guy who started even later than I did, are really capable of."

"Then it's a deal! What should the loser do??" Yohei was quite interested and took the initiative to make a bet.

"Whatever. This genius won't lose anyway!!"

"Haha, Sakuragi, you're still as confident as ever! How about this? We haven't all gotten together in a long time. Whoever loses treats the Sakuragi Gang to a meal!"

"Fine, it's a deal!"

After returning to Japan, Sakuragi Hanamichi contacted his former high school best friend, Mito Yohei, for the first time. Although it was only over the phone, the two still chatted enthusiastically and even arranged a match. It would also be the first time they represented their respective teams against each other on the court—the Sakuragi Gang's internal battle would soon take place.