Scoring Mode

Zhu Zhan's eyes widened as he stared at the unbelievable scene before him. Zhang Jun held the whistle to his lips in his left hand, staring blankly with his eyes wide open, having actually forgotten to blow it.

"...H-how could this happen?" Almost everyone had the same thought.

"Ah!" Li Ke fell to the ground with a cry.

On the other side, Zhang Jian had also fallen, gritting his teeth as he tried to get back up. The basketball dropped from the air and landed right in the hands of Li Zirong, who was standing foolishly not far beneath the basket.

"Shoot! Idiot!" Li Ke sprang up from the ground almost immediately and shouted.

"Huh? Huh?" Li Zirong asked twice in a row, looking utterly lost as he stood there clutching the basketball.

"Get up there and defend!" Zhang Jian shouted as he rolled to his feet. Before he had even finished speaking, he had already lunged toward Li Zirong.

Seeing this, Li Ke stepped forward and blocked Zhang Jian's defensive path with his back, shouting at Li Zirong, "Shoot!"

Li Zirong hurriedly nodded like a pecking chick, rose onto his toes, and pushed the basketball out. That was right—not a shot, but a motion much like the way girls shot, pushing it out from his chest.

The basketball floated through the air, drifting slowly toward the hoop.

Zhang Jian immediately stopped charging at Li Zirong, turned around, and stood under the basket watching the ball. "It can't go in!"

"It has to go in!" Li Ke shouted back. He also turned around at once, and he and Zhang Jian pressed tightly against each other like wrestlers, straining as they prepared to fight for the rebound.

"Class 6, go! Class 6, go!" the Class 6 students shouted.

Hearing the cheers, Class 5's class monitor, Li Xue, immediately waved her arms and shouted, "Everyone, cheer for our class too!"

"Class 5, go! Li Ke is the most handsome! Zhu Zhan is the second most handsome!" a loud, vigorous voice called out.

Zhu Zhan looked over with a mixture of laughter and helplessness, only to discover that it was his deskmate, Sweetie Tian Chen, who had bestowed upon him the title of "second most handsome."

Nearly everyone from the class had shown up. Looking closely, Xuexue and Feifei, the two delinquent girls, were actually standing there under an umbrella, cheering for them.

They looked incredibly excited, their pretty faces flushed red.

Class 5's homeroom teacher, Li Kejun, a refined-looking man with glasses and a slightly balding head, had somehow arrived as well. At this moment, he looked nothing like a teacher, sleeves rolled up as he loudly cheered for Class 5 alongside the students.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhan's heart warmed.

Under the gazes of so many people from both classes, the basketball slowly reached the backboard. Time seemed to slow down.

Smack!

The basketball struck the rim and bounced onto its edge.

"Rattle, rattle." The basketball slowly spun around the rim.

"Ah..." Li Zirong, who had finally managed to take a shot, clenched his hands tightly and stared at the rim with anticipation in his eyes. Seeing that the ball seemed about to roll out, he could not help sighing.

"It won't go in! That rebound is mine!" Zhang Jian shouted joyfully.

"In your dreams!" Li Ke immediately retorted. The two of them braced against each other like bulls, shoving hard with both hands.

Both of them crouched slightly, ready to leap for the rebound.

At the sideline, Zhang Jun watched the basketball slowly spinning on the rim while also keeping an eye on Li Ke and Zhang Jian battling beneath the basket.

Now this was interesting. Not bad, not bad. Thinking this, Zhang Jun finally smiled again. He wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead, and the tension from worrying that the two might get hurt finally eased.

"That scared the hell out of me!" Zhang Jun let out a breath.

"Rattle~" The basketball rolled around the rim once more. Then, as if extremely reluctant, it dropped into the hoop.

Thump! The basketball hit the ground—and Zhang Jian's heart.

"Ugh! How could this happen?" Beneath the basket, Zhang Jian clutched his head and let out a miserable howl.

"Yeah!" Li Xue, Tian Chen, and the others at the sidelines cheered loudly.

"I scored! I scored!" Li Zirong stared at the hoop in disbelief, rubbed his eyes, and after confirming that he had really made it, began hopping excitedly in place.

"Li Zirong, well done!" Class 5's homeroom teacher, Li Kejun, shouted.

"Damn it!" Seeing Li Ke looking at him smugly, Zhang Jian cursed through gritted teeth.

Class 6's Chen Xin silently picked up the basketball and inbounded it to Wang Shun. Zhu Zhan and the other Class 5 players had already run back to their own half to defend.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Li Ke called as he ran. Li Zirong, who was still standing there in delighted surprise, immediately ran toward Class 5's half as well.

"Watch your positions! Stay in your own positions, your own zones! Remember what I told you!" Li Ke shouted after reaching his spot. His gaze was sharp, and his expression was extremely serious.

Defense was the key to a team winning! Seeing Class 6's chaotic defense, Li Ke paid close attention to his own class's defensive formation.

"Quick, get to your position!" Zhu Zhan said, glancing back and noticing that Li Zirong was not in place yet.

Li Zirong hurried over and took his position in the paint.

The five players from Class 5 were using a 3-2 Zone Defense.

A 3-2 Zone Defense meant that three players defended up front, each guarding an area. They formed a defensive zone near the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, two players, one on the left and one on the right, formed another defensive zone in the paint.

According to Li Ke's earlier plan, the three players in the front positions were Li Ke, Zhu Zhan, and Liu Yong.

In fact, based on height, Li Ke, Zhu Zhan, and Liu Yong should have been stationed in the defensive zone under the basket to protect their own paint.

But against a class like Class 6, which lacked a superb point guard, this 3-2 Zone Defense was a powerful defensive weapon!

With Li Ke, Zhu Zhan, and Liu Yong standing in the first defensive zone, they created an imposing threat. On top of that, Zhu Zhan and Li Ke worked together seamlessly. As long as someone drove inside, they could immediately Close the Door!

"Close the Door" meant blocking off the opposing player who had driven in and forcing them to pass the ball.

Other than Zhang Jian making one basket, the rest of Class 6's players had taken many shots without making any.

Against Li Ke's defensive strategy, Wang Shun had tried several times to drive in, only to have Li Ke steal the ball and score on fast breaks.

Zhang Jian had needed three shots to make one basket, and there had been an element of luck involved as well.

After all, Zhang Jian was a track-and-field athlete. He could not possibly play basketball every day. Whether it was dribbling, shooting, basketball awareness, boxing out, or anything else, Zhang Jian was far inferior to Zhu Zhan, let alone Li Ke.

He was only playing on the strength of his outstanding physical abilities.

"Xiaozhan!" Li Ke suddenly called out to Zhu Zhan.

"Hm?" Zhu Zhan had been intently watching Wang Shun, who had dribbled beyond the three-point line and was preparing to pass. Hearing Li Ke call him, he turned to look at him.

"I'm going to switch on scoring mode. Pass me the ball more in a moment!" Li Ke said with a smile, pointing at Zhang Jian, who had already run to the free-throw line.

Zhu Zhan understood and nodded.