Take Them Down!

"Iron Elbow Zhang Jian!" That terrible habit would also teach him a lesson at the National Tournament that he would remember for the rest of his life.

Zhu Zhan had just reached midcourt when he saw Li Ke stand up.

"Referee, we want a timeout!" Li Ke shouted.

Zhang Jun, the PE teacher, nodded and blew the whistle. "Beep! Class 5 requests a timeout!"

"Zhu Zhan, come here!" Li Ke glanced at the scoreboard and beckoned to Zhu Zhan. His nose looked like it was about to start bleeding again, so he quickly tilted his head back while Wen Ting gently patted his back in distress.

"Are you going back in?" At that moment, Li Zirong and the others ran over as well. They grabbed the bottled water bought with class funds and gulped it down, asking between heavy breaths.

"No, I'm going to go over some tactics with you!" Li Ke said loudly.

"Tactics?" Zhu Zhan asked, bracing his hands against his knees as he panted.

"Yes. We need a little strategy, or Class 6 might just win this game with their shameless play!" Li Ke said through gritted teeth, one hand covering his nose.

"Next time I get the chance, I'm going to let that bastard taste my elbow!" Li Ke's eyes swept over Zhang Jian, his back teeth clenched tightly.

"Huff... Then what do we do?" Zhu Zhan asked, breathing hard.

"You need to defend well. Stop that tall guy from Class 6, and we'll win this game!" Li Kejun, Class 5's homeroom teacher and a basketball fanatic, stuck his head in and shouted.

"No!" Li Ke rejected the suggestion without hesitation.

"Don't defend him. Leave him completely open. Let him shoot, let him drive!" Li Ke said quietly.

"What!?" everyone present cried out in shock.

"Wouldn't that guarantee our loss!?" Li Kejun said with a frown.

Li Ke shook his head, the corner of his mouth slowly curving upward as he regained his confident youthful demeanor. "That Zhang Jian is only playing on a burst of momentum. More accurately, he's being driven by a sense of crisis!"

After a pause, Li Ke continued, "If we don't defend him, a rookie with no game experience like him will definitely panic. We won't even need to defend him—he won't be able to make the shots himself!"

Li Ke smugly shook his head. "What you need to do is deliberately ignore him on the court. Don't pay any attention to him!"

"Will that work?" Zhu Zhan asked, his brow slightly furrowed.

Li Ke shook his head. "Don't worry. I figured it out while watching from the sidelines. But that alone isn't enough. The key to deciding this game rests on you, Xiao Zhan!"

Li Ke looked at the scoreboard. It read 38 to 39, with Class 5 holding only a one-point lead.

Li Ke looked around with satisfaction at everyone's admiring expressions. "Xiao Zhan, over these final minutes of the fourth quarter, you need to maintain an extremely high shooting percentage. Every possession, you have to score!"

Li Ke's tone was somewhat grave. After all, even he could not guarantee that he would make every shot.

"As long as Zhang Jian makes a basket, you need to answer immediately—and you absolutely must answer!" Li Ke said slowly. This time, everyone sensed the unusual weight in his tone.

Zhu Zhan stood frozen, looking into Li Ke's trusting eyes.

"Xiao Zhan, you can do it. Come on!" Li Ke reached out and patted Zhu Zhan.

Then, with pride on his face, he said, "Others may not know, but I do. Xiao Zhan, you've always worked hard. You're no worse than anyone else. Show them what you can do!"

"I won't let you down!" Zhu Zhan lifted his head and smiled faintly, an unfamiliar gleam shining across his face.

Li Ke stared blankly.

He could clearly see that the light flickering in Zhu Zhan's eyes was different from before.

The old Zhu Zhan had always had clear eyes. There had been nothing else in them.

But now, Li Ke could clearly sense the undisguised sharpness in Zhu Zhan's gaze!

Xiao Zhan has grown up! Li Ke felt happy for his friend as well.

Suddenly seeming to remember something, Li Ke grabbed Zhu Zhan and pulled him three or four meters away from the others, then whispered something into his ear.

Zhu Zhan listened for a moment before staring blankly and asking, "Are you serious?"

Li Ke's face turned slightly red after whispering to Zhu Zhan. He coughed and said, "I'm leaving the important task of avenging me to you!"

Zhu Zhan froze, widening his eyes at Li Ke. "What kind of joke is that? How could I use my elbow to..."

Before he could finish, Li Ke covered his mouth.

"Shh!" Li Ke guiltily put a finger to his lips, signaling Zhu Zhan not to say it. Zhu Zhan glanced around and discovered that everyone from their class was watching the two of them.

"Ahem, come on, let's give it our all together!" Li Ke shouted, trying to laugh it off as he pulled Zhu Zhan back. They joined the others in a circle.

"Come on, put your hands together and shout three times: Class 5, number one!" Li Ke's confident, infectious words rang through the minds of everyone in Class 5. In an instant, they all voluntarily stacked their hands together.

"Come on, one, two, three!"

"Class 5, number one! Class 5, number one! Class 5..."

Deafening roars rang across the court. The final five minutes of the fourth quarter between Grade 7, Class 5 and Grade 7, Class 6 began.

Since Class 5 had scored before the timeout,

Class 6 had possession when play resumed.

Wang Shun, Class 6's point guard, dribbled the basketball and charged quickly toward the frontcourt.

Class 5's backcourt was Class 6's frontcourt. They were still using the 3-2 Zone Defense. However, after Li Ke had been forced off the court with a bloody nose from Zhang Jian's iron elbow, Ding Qiang had replaced him.

As Zhu Zhan watched Zhang Jian slowly approach, he turned and winked at Li Zirong, Ding Qiang, and the others beside him.

Ding Qiang and the others immediately understood. They stood in their positions, staring straight ahead expressionlessly.

Zhang Jian ran into the paint. At that moment, Class 5's players inside the paint were Li Zirong and Zhang Bo.

Yet Li Zirong and Zhang Bo acted as though they could not see Zhang Jian, deliberately giving up space in the paint for him.

"Hm?"

Zhang Jian looked doubtfully at Li Zirong and Zhang Bo. Neither of them was looking at him; instead, both were watching Wang Shun dribble near the three-point line.

After a moment of confusion, Zhang Jian immediately reached out to call for the ball from Wang Shun.

"Give it to me!" Zhang Jian shouted. Wang Shun immediately understood and rose onto his toes, tossing the basketball high into the air.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The basketball spun through the air toward Zhang Jian.

"Watch this!" Zhang Jian shouted as he leaped high and grabbed the basketball.