Domoto Goro raised a hand to suppress the team's agitation, his gaze sweeping over the confused faces. He spoke steadily, "I called the timeout so you could catch your breath first. Catch your breath?"
The Akita Prefecture players looked even more bewildered.
They looked at one another.
It was as if countless question marks had popped up above their heads.
Shen Jinyichen frowned, unconsciously rubbing the edge of his towel between his fingers. His once-sharp gaze was filled with confusion.
Kawata Masashi simply scratched his head, still breathing heavily from having just come off the court. What was going on?
The back-and-forth on both ends had been intense. Why did they suddenly need to slow down?
They had only just regained their momentum. Wouldn't it dissipate if they slowed down now?
Every player looked utterly lost, even their breathing unconsciously pausing for half a beat.
No one could figure out what their coach was thinking.
Seeing this, Domoto Goro offered no further preamble. He pointed at the electronic scoreboard in the middle of the court, his tone growing firmer. "Take a look at the score first."
Only then did the players seem to wake from a dream, all turning to look at the glaringly bright electronic scoreboard.
The noisy background of the gymnasium seemed to fade away in an instant as everyone fixed their eyes on the scarlet numbers.
The next second, everyone froze. Their confusion was instantly replaced by shock, and they scarcely dared to breathe.
Kanagawa 25, Akita Prefecture 20!
Yabe Masahiro was the first to break the silence, his voice full of disbelief and confusion.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at the scoreboard again, completely unable to understand.
How could that be?
Our score should be about the same as Kanagawa's. We'd kept pace with them