The match between Shohoku and Kazami is about to begin.
The players from both sides are warming up before the match.
Chiba Hidekazu volunteered to Coach Kazami: "Coach, I'll guard Kaede Rukawa."
Takahashi Nanase nodded and said, "Then I'll leave it to you."
Chiba Hidekazu's eyes immediately lit up as he stared at Kaede Rukawa.
Kazami's other defensive stronghold is Shimizu Seisaku.
On the defensive end, his ability surpasses that of Chiba Hidekazu.
In the Gunma Prefecture tournament, he almost completely shut down the opponent's top scorers in every match.
In addition, Shimizu Seisaku also possesses excellent scoring ability.
Normally, Takahashi Nanase wouldn't ask him to defend the opponent's strong scorers.
As the team's offensive threat, he doesn't need to waste his energy on the defensive end.
The match began quickly.
Having received the notification, Kawakawamoto arrived at the basketball court the moment the ball was tipped over.
He greeted Anzai and went straight to sit down on the bench.
He kept a close eye on the battle on the field while also diverting some of his attention to talk with the players.
" Ayako- senpai, what do Kazami Kazami's team?"
"I don't know. They didn't even make it to the national tournament last year, so I don't have any information on them, but they seem pretty good."
Ayako is right; at least in the early stages, the two teams showed fairly similar strength.
The match was quite close.
Akagi has a huge advantage over the opponent's center forward and has already scored two goals in a row.
On Kazami's side, Shimizu Seisaku also seemed to be good at three-pointers, hitting two out of three attempts.
At the same time, upon receiving the news, Mari Kawai rushed in from outside.
She glanced at Kawakawamoto, hesitated for a moment, and then sat down next to him.
Kawamoto should play in this match, right?
On the field, Chiba Hidekazu stuck close to Kaede Rukawa.
He kept talking, and his movements were aggressive.
Kaede Rukawa's playing style is increasingly leaning towards making a decisive move in crucial moments.
Therefore, he generally doesn't attack much when the score is close.
They only attack the basket when they have a good opportunity.
The other main offensive target then falls on Mitsui.
The veteran's three-pointers today were quite commendable.
At the end of the first half, he had made 6 of 10 three-point attempts.
At the end of the first half, the two teams were separated by only two points.
After halftime, they returned to the field.
Miyagi originally intended to continue attacking the Mitsui base.
Unfortunately, for some reason, the old man suddenly became constipated.
He missed four consecutive three-pointers.
In contrast, Kazami's Shimizu Seisaku hit five consecutive three-pointers.
The point difference quickly reached 17 points.
Anzai immediately called a timeout, emphasizing the need to defend against Seizo Shimizu Seisaku's three-point shooting.
However, emphasizing defense alone is useless.
Mitsui's stamina was completely depleted; he was struggling even to throw the ball, let alone defend.
After the timeout, Kazami sank another three-pointer.
A difference of 20 points.
Meanwhile, on the Shohoku side, Mitsui faltered.
Kazami opted to tactically ignore him and began to tighten the zone defense against Kaede Rukawa.
Holding a huge lead, Shimizu Seisaku abandoned the offense and focused on his forte: defense.
This made it extremely difficult for Kaede Rukawa to break through in the second half, as he was preparing to exert his strength.
No matter how hard you try, even if you manage to get past Chiba Hidekazu's defense by sheer luck.
He just couldn't get past Shimizu Seisaku's hurdle.
Shohoku could only continue to look for opportunities on the outside.
The pressure fell on Mitsui once again.
The old man was very anxious.
But sometimes, the more anxious you are, the less progress you make.
With his three-point attempt missing again, Shohoku was now down by a full 22 points.
Anzai is intelligent, but there's nothing he can do.
Is a zone defense that collapses inside easy to break?
That's too easy.
Just shoot him directly at three points.
But Mitsui was almost completely shut down by the opponent and still couldn't make a shot, which was frustrating.
The atmosphere in the entire Shohoku team began to become somber.
They instinctively glanced at Kawakawamoto Kazuki in the audience.
Anzai sensed their eagerness and then glanced at Kawamoto.
He trusted this disciple more and more, and cherished him more and more.
Let him go; Kazami is definitely done for.
If we don't let him play, Shohoku might lose.
Logically speaking, it was just a training match; once it's over, it's over.
The result really doesn't matter.
But then he saw the unwillingness on the faces of the Shohoku kids, hesitated for a moment, and still called a timeout.
Akagi roughly understood what Anzai meant, and he said, "Coach, how about we—"
He had already considered putting Kawamoto on the field.
But then I thought, we need Kainan to fight Kawamoto, we need Jousei to fight Kawakawamoto, and we need Kazami to fight Kawamoto.
Are Shohoku High School really that weak against nationally competitive teams?
However, Mitsui's shooting touch in the second half today was absolutely terrible.
If this continues, getting shaved off 30 to 50 points is not out of the question.
Shimizu Seisaku's defense was truly impressive; combined with Kazami's center position, it made it incredibly difficult for him to receive the ball.
Anzai knew what Akagi was thinking.
I don't want to rely on Kawakawamoto for everything.
Even if Kawakawamoto wanted to go, she would still outwardly resist.
Akagi, as the team's leader, suggested that they persevere a little longer, which would be good for boosting the morale of the whole team.
The men of Shohoku have a sense of shame!
But Anzai knew that unless Mitsui got into form, even if he rallied, they still wouldn't be able to win.
That would be an even bigger blow to everyone's confidence.
Alright, there are three practice matches, we still need to win the first one.
He waved and called out, " Kawakawamoto."
Kawamoto was already prepared to go on stage and stood up immediately.
Anzai said, "Go and break the deadlock."
Kawakawamoto nodded. "Don't worry."
"Coach, after we go on the court, please ask me to Shimizu Seisaku our main defender."
It was Shimizu Seisaku's consecutive three-pointers that allowed Shohoku to pull ahead in the score.
If someone can stop Shimizu Seisaku, then Kazami's three-point chances will be much fewer.
Anzai was somewhat surprised.
As far as he knew, Kawamoto wasn't a very passionate person when playing basketball.
Now they've actually volunteered to defend Shimizu Seisaku?
It seems this child was getting a little impatient sitting in the audience.
Anzai nodded and said, "Alright, then let's not let him score another goal."
"Um."
Kawamoto hummed in agreement.
The timeout ends, Shohoku launches an attack.
Upon seeing Kawakawamoto take the stage, Shimizu Seisaku immediately became interested.
I was also curious to see if Kanagawa's three-point shooting was really a dud.
After the ball reached the frontcourt, Kaede Rukawa held the ball on the top of the court.
Kazami players continue with a zone defense strategy.
It's obvious they're letting you shoot three-pointers.
Kaede Rukawa looked at Kawakawamoto.
" Kawakawamoto!"
He called out and passed the ball to Kawakawamoto.
Kawamoto caught the ball without hesitation.
Raise the ball and jump.
Shake your left wrist.
The basketball arced through the air.
Hollow-core netting!
Swish!
Kawamoto hit his first three-pointer since entering the game.
He didn't savor the moment and quickly retreated to defend.
Shimizu Seisaku saw Kawakawamoto's three points but didn't care.
It's just three points.
Coach Kazami didn't pay any attention.
None of the Kazami players paid any attention.
They certainly did their research on their opponents.
They also knew that Kawamoto's specialty was three-pointers.
They just wanted to confirm whether the rumors were accurate.
Holding a 22-point lead, oh no, now it's 19 points.
With practice matches included, they have plenty of patience.
Therefore, Takahashi Nanase did not make any arrangements.
It was Kazami's turn to attack.
Kawamoto Shimizu Seisaku.
At this moment, Chiba Hidekazu dribbled the ball past half-court and handed it to Shimizu Seisaku.
Kawakawamoto stood with his legs spread apart, blocking Shimizu Seisaku.
Chiba Hidekazu thought to himself, "Is Kawamoto going to defend against Seisaku? I'm not seeing things, am I?"
He was well aware of Seisaku's offensive capabilities.
And Kawakawamoto...
Since they're not from the same county, their understanding of their opponent can only come from news reports.
Most of the reports contain a lot of false information.