The game between Kainan High School and Sannoh Industrial High School officially began!
At the opening tip, Masashi Kawata used his terrifying explosiveness and strength to easily beat Hikaru Nadaka, tapping the ball into his own backcourt, where Kazunari Fukatsu caught it securely.
Sannoh Industrial High School's first possession was unhurried, yet carried a suffocating sense of pressure.
Fukatsu dribbled across half court. Facing Shinichi Maki's fiercely aggressive pressure defense, his ballhandling remained rock solid, without a trace of panic.
After a few simple passes, the ball reached Eiji Sawakita on the left wing at a forty-five-degree angle.
Guarding Sawakita was Kainan's energetic youngster, Nobunaga Kiyota.
Kiyota lowered his center of gravity, his eyes fierce, and kept taunting him. "Come on! Japan's number one! Show me what you've got!"
Eiji Sawakita's face was expressionless, his gaze as calm as a deep pool.
Holding the ball in his right hand, he leaned forward slightly and made an incredibly convincing jab step to drive right.
Nobunaga Kiyota was fully focused and immediately slid right to cut him off.
The instant Kiyota shifted his weight, Sawakita pulled back his jab step like a phantom.
At the same time, his right hand yanked the ball back into an extremely tight, lightning-fast crossover in front of his body.
The basketball moved from his right hand to his left as though glued to his hand.
Nobunaga Kiyota saw only a blur before Sawakita slipped past his left side like a ghost.
One step! Just one step! He had completely shaken off Kiyota's defense, clean and decisive, without a wasted movement.
"So fast!" Ryota Miyagi cried out involuntarily from the stands.
Sawakita beat Kiyota and drove straight into the paint. Kazuma Takasago and Hikaru Nadaka both collapsed to help.
Facing the convergence of Kainan's twin towers, Eiji