Sometimes it was a long pass spanning half the court, the basketball seeming to have eyes as it sailed over the retreating Ryonan players and landed precisely in Sawakita Eiji's hands as he sprinted on the fast break.
The instant Sawakita Eiji caught the ball, he launched himself into the air. Even though Sendoh chased him down from the side with everything he had, all he could do was watch Sawakita stretch out in midair and finish with a thunderous dunk.
Sometimes it was a deceptive bounce pass.
The basketball skimmed swiftly across the floor, brushing past Uozumi's feet and reaching Kawata, who had already established position deep in the paint.
After catching the ball, Masashi Kawata gave Yu Zhu no time to react. Driving through his waist, he spun hard and powered past the defense.
He rose against Fukuda Kicchou's help defense and hammered home a two-handed dunk that shook the entire basket. Sometimes, Fukatsu Kazunari even drove to the hoop himself.
His seemingly ordinary dribbling rhythm concealed superb changes of direction. He would first pretend to pass out to the perimeter, baiting Chi Tong into shifting his weight, then rip open a gap with a sudden crossover.
When Sendoh and Yueye Hongming converged on him to help, he flicked his wrist and passed to Matsumoto Minoru, who was already waiting beyond the three-point line.
Matsumoto Minoru caught and shot in one fluid motion, as smoothly as if he were at practice. The ball swished through the net.
Fukatsu never chased personal glory. He was like a precision tactical machine, always finding the most efficient way to score and pushing his team's offense to its limit.
The score climbed on both sides. Ryonan had barely cut the deficit to four through Chi Tong's brilliant passing and Koshino's three-pointer before