" Aoki! Aoki! Aoki!" The bench of Takezato erupted instantly, with everyone shouting Yo Aoki's name at the top of their lungs.
"He must have been lucky!" "How could that ball possibly go in?" " Takezato is really lucky today!" The students from Shoyo all thought it was a lucky shot when they saw the ball.
Looking at the situation on the field, Fujima suddenly realized that Takezato was the team currently in the lead. His gaze fell on Aoki; it was this guy who had single-handedly changed the course of the game.
"He looks exactly like Sendoh from last year."
It was Shoyo's turn to attack. Fujima passed the ball to Takano and turned to shoot. But he underestimated Mizuki. The moment Takano turned, Mizuki reacted quickly and swatted the ball out of Takano's hand.
Imamura reacted quickly, leaping forward and snatching the basketball away.
Over here, Yo Aoki caught sight of Imamura controlling the ball and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, " Imamura, pass it to me!"
Imamura instantly understood his intention and delivered a through ball that landed precisely in Yo Aoki's hands.
Imamura stared at Yo Aoki's retreating figure, his mind screaming, " Aoki, charge!"
Just as Nagano was about to close in to block the fast break, Yo Aoki changed direction and left him behind, heading straight for the frontcourt!
Upon reaching the same spot, Yo Aoki raised his hand and jumped to shoot without hesitation, another three-pointer!
The basketball traced a beautiful arc in the air and swished into the basket with a "whoosh"!
The score difference has been narrowed to 4 points! 2 minutes left!
The referee's whistle blew suddenly, announcing, " Shoyo team, requesting a timeout!"
The entire stadium was instantly filled with the shouts of the Takezato Team; everyone else was stunned. No one could believe that Fujima was still on the court, yet the score difference had been narrowed to such a small margin, and the one who had orchestrated all of this was a first-year rookie.
Under Yo Aoki's relentless pressure, the Shoyo team finally revealed their Achilles' heel—their offense was too one-dimensional. As long as Fujima was tightly marked, the scoring ability of the other players was greatly reduced. Just like now, although Yo Aoki hadn't completely shut down Fujima, simply harassing him like this was causing Shoyo a lot of trouble.
Coach Akai clenched his fist and roared, "We can win! We definitely can win!"
This isn't just Akai's thought; the entire Takezato team thinks the same way now.
Akai turned to Yo Aoki, " Aoki, you haven't used your full strength yet. Stop holding back and beat them to a pulp!"
Yo Aoki was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and grinned, "Don't worry!"
In fact, Akai didn't think Aoki was hiding his strength at all; he said that purely to boost the morale of the whole team.
Using someone else's strength to bolster one's own courage is a wrong approach, but it's the most effective for Takezato. Takezato is an ordinary team with no outstanding players; they might not even be as good as last year's quarterfinalist, Tsukubu.
The sense of helplessness they felt when facing Kainan, Shoyo, and Ryonan was etched into everyone's bones, but now, with their own ace and such a strong performance, they have the confidence to challenge powerful teams.
As the timeout was about to end, Yo Aoki glanced at Shoyo's side, where Fujima was still whispering tactics to his teammates.
Yo Aoki thought to himself, "I wonder if Shoyo will realize how devastating it is to be without a coach after this game."
This wasn't him underestimating Fujima; when he read the manga before, he particularly agreed with Ryonan coach Moichi Taoka's assessment of Shoyo.
If Fujima had entered the game right from the start against Shohoku, the outcome would have been very uncertain.
Fujima is a good player, and maybe a good coach too, but he can only choose one role.
After the timeout, Shoyo didn't improve much. Fujima couldn't pass the ball well and could only shoot hard against Yo Aoki's defense, but he missed.
Imamura grabbed the crucial rebound with 1 minute and 30 seconds remaining.
Shoyo retreated quickly enough this time, preventing Yo Aoki from launching a fast break, and both sides fell into a half-court battle. Yo Aoki dribbled the ball on the outside, with Hasegawa sticking to him tightly!
Imamura set a screen for Yo Aoki at the high post, Yo Aoki shook off Hasegawa and drove straight to the basket!
Yo Aoki leaped high, holding the ball with both hands, ready to make a layup. Hanagata jumped up to block, and just as he was about to block the ball, Yo Aoki suddenly pulled the ball back, dodging Hanagata's big block!
Then, Yo Aoki twisted his waist and abdomen, raised his hand again, and gently flicked the ball, sending it spinning and grazing the rim as it went in!
The difference is only 2 points!
The competition has entered a heated phase.
Takezato's bench erupted in cheers, chanting, "Defense! Defense! Defense!"
Shoyo didn't rush to attack, using their height to control the pace. 10 seconds left!
At this critical moment, an unexpected person stepped forward and intercepted Takano's shot! It was Hojo!
Hojo's family was of modest means. Takezato was a private school with exorbitant tuition fees. Her parents never mentioned the pressure, but Hojo knew it all too well.
Hojo desperately wants to win, but he's even more afraid of losing. So he avoids anything that might cause him setbacks.
Today, he was completely overwhelmed by Fujima; he had nowhere to hide!
He watched as Yo Aoki kept watch on Fujima for him, watched Yo Aoki shoulder the burden alone, and suddenly hated himself. If he had put in a little more effort normally, things wouldn't have come to this.
Overwhelmed with self-blame, Hojo erupted. After intercepting the ball, he bravely passed it to Yo Aoki despite Shoyo's pressure.
Yo Aoki gets the ball and attacks! The game is about to begin!
The entire Takezato team silently prayed: Bless us!
The entire audience began counting down. "5 seconds!"
Hasegawa relentlessly harassed Yo Aoki, preventing him from shooting three-pointers. Yo Aoki had no choice but to cut inside to get rid of Hasegawa.
"4 seconds!"
As Yo Aoki approached the free-throw line, Hanagata and Nagano immediately double-teamed him, preventing him from getting a shot off. Yo Aoki then decisively moved laterally, attempting to move to the three-point line.
"3 seconds!"
Fujima suddenly clung to Yo Aoki like a ghost, startling Yo Aoki, who quickly took a step back to create some distance.
"2 seconds!"
Fujima's hand had already touched the ball, but Yo Aoki gripped it tightly. There was no time left, so Yo Aoki simply pulled up for a jump shot!
One second! All eyes were glued to the basketball. Finally, the ball bounced twice on the rim and "clattered" into the net!
The referee's whistle blew sharply, and the game came to an abrupt end!
The players from Takezato jumped up instantly, raising their hands and shouting to celebrate their victory, but Yo Aoki didn't bother to join in the fun. He turned his head and stared at the referee—whether the referee had stepped on the three-point line or not, he was wondering to himself.
The referee held up two fingers, Yo Aoki's face instantly fell—he had indeed stepped over the line! Two points! The score was tied!
This was a practice match, so there was no overtime. The entire Takezato team looked dejected, full of resentment. Yo Aoki clutched the hem of his jersey, feeling quite disappointed. A draw against Shoyo was something to brag about for a year, but if they had won, the team's confidence might have soared significantly.
He turned to look at Fujima. If he hadn't been interrupted at the last moment, he wouldn't have crossed the line and caused this mishap.
At this moment, Fujima walked over, raised his hand in a gesture of "thank you for the win," and said in a cheerful tone, " Aoki, well done! Let's settle this in the prefectural tournament!"
Yo Aoki opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing, only managing a forced smile, "See you at the county competition."
He had wanted to warn Fujima to be careful of the dark horse team from Shohoku, but he swallowed the words back. He muttered to himself that his arrival had disrupted a lot of things, but some things were better left to their own devices.
On Monday morning, Yo Aoki staggered into the classroom with dark circles under his eyes. He had another sleepless night—last time it was from excitement, this time it was from reviewing the match until dawn.
My mind was filled with images of the game against Shoyo all night. He had an amazing performance: 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists – impressive stats.
But he also identified a host of problems, which he noted down in his notebook. These were the tough challenges he and the team would face next. He pulled out his notebook and flipped to the page he had tidied up the night before:
Team weaknesses: 1. Inconsistent offensive shooting, with a very limited range of shots. In the first half, without Fujima, Shoyo was completely overwhelmed by Takezato's shooting, but in the second half, once Fujima came on, Shoyo's overall performance improved, and our shooting percentage plummeted.
2. Their defense was disorganized; they just focused on marking one player at a time. If it weren't for his sudden burst of speed, interception, and pass, we would have been finished long ago.
3. The substitutes were weak; only Yasunori Sanada was substituted in this match, and the others simply couldn't withstand this level of competition.
4. The coach's coaching level needs improvement. When Yo Aoki saw this, he smiled. Although Coach Akai's tactics were a bit lacking, he really cared about the team. Although he was sometimes too reckless, there was still room for improvement.
5. The team lacks fighting spirit. He crossed this off at the end because he felt the team's morale had changed.
Next, he mentioned his own shortcomings: 1. He's still not strong enough! He only wrote this much about this one point.
During the break, Shirota, as usual, invited Yo Aoki to have lunch on the rooftop. Shirota waved with a smile, "Hey, Aoki!" Yo Aoki smiled back, " Shirota, feeling pretty carefree today?"
Shirota rummaged through his lunchbox. "Something strange happened to me." Yo Aoki looked up. "What?"
"I just went to Coach Akai's office to deliver the data from the Shoyo game when a girl suddenly came in and said she wanted to be a team manager," Shirota said in a low voice.
"Team officer?" Yo Aoki's mind immediately popped into Ayako from Shohoku. It was strange, really, that no other team in Kanagawa, or even any team in the national tournament, seemed to have a girl as an officer.
Shirota laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, "Yeah, right! Coach Akai kicked him out!" He mimicked Akai voice. "Basketball is a man's sport, no women involved!"
Looking at Shirota's smug expression, Yo Aoki rolled his eyes. "Hey, Shirota, what's so funny?"
"Isn't it ridiculous for a girl to want to join the basketball team?" Shirota raised an eyebrow.
Yo Aoki thought to himself, "This guy's pretty chauvinistic." Shirota then asked, " Aoki, why do you think that girl wanted to join the basketball team?"
"Who knows? Either he's bored, or he's got his eye on you and wants to join the team to get closer to you," Yo Aoki teased.
Shirota's face instantly turned as red as a ripe tomato. "It's very rude to talk about someone behind their back!" A female voice boomed from the stairwell as a girl walked up the stairs.
She was wearing a sailor-style school uniform, had shoulder-length hair, large eyes, and a small mole under her eye. Shirota nudged Yo Aoki with his elbow and muttered, "That's her."
Yo Aoki was instantly embarrassed. This place was usually deserted, and the two of them had just spoken without any restraint.
Yo Aoki quickly smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, classmate, we didn't mean it, please don't take it to heart." The girl snorted and turned to walk towards the stairwell.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Yo Aoki hurriedly called out, "Why did you want to join the basketball team?"
The girl turned and glanced at him, making a face. "Mind your own business, you big bad guy!" Then she ran off without looking back. Shirota pouted. "Quite a temper."
Yo Aoki had asked her the reason earlier, hoping to say a few more words to clear up the misunderstanding, since it's not good to talk badly about girls behind their backs. Unfortunately, the girl didn't give him a chance and disappeared in a flash.