Therefore, in this match, Yo Aoki is to exploit Fukuda's weaknesses and dampen Ryonan's momentum.
"I'm sorry, Fukuda, this is the only way for Takezato to win."
Koshino raised his hand and passed the ball to Sendoh, Sendoh received it so easily for the first time in the game.
Fukuda positioned himself next to Yo Aoki and called for the ball from Sendoh near the left baseline. Taking advantage of his height, Sendoh passed the ball to Fukuda, Mizuki couldn't stop it at all.
After receiving the ball, Fukuda shifted his weight to the left while holding it with both hands. The movement behind him alerted him that Yo Aoki had also shifted to the left.
"The opportunity has come!" Fukuda suddenly adjusted his center of gravity, turned quickly to the other side, and shook off Yo Aoki in one go. Then he jumped high and shot.
Imamura was under the basket, watched the whole thing, his heart skipped a beat—that movement was too fast. But he didn't move, still guarding Uozumi's position, after all, he knew Yo Aoki's abilities all too well.
At that speed, you think you can shake off Aoki? No way.
But as soon as Fukuda jumped, Yo Aoki immediately moved to his side, pushed off with both legs, and sprang past Fukuda with incredible speed.
Immediately after, Yo Aoki raised his hand and slammed it hard against the ball. With a crisp "smack," the basketball was swatted out of bounds. That block was incredibly powerful!
The Ryonan players, who had been cheering loudly for Fukuda, froze on their faces. Good shot! The Takezato players swarmed over, each giving Yo Aoki a high-five and a chest bump.
"You damned bastard!" Fukuda was so angry that his body was trembling.
Coach Taoka's heart skipped a beat. He vaguely guessed Yo Aoki's purpose, but then shook his head—no, he thought again. Number 10 must be trying to save his energy by specifically targeting Fukuda.
Ryonan's inbound pass was taken by Koshino. He originally intended to pass it directly to Sendoh, but Fukuda was already in position to receive the ball. Koshino glanced at Fukuda's eyes and immediately saw the fierce determination in them.
This energy reminded him of when he first joined the team, Fukuda had been clamoring to challenge Uozumi and Sendoh. If Yo Aoki knew what Koshino was thinking, he'd definitely burst out laughing—"You have sharp eyes, how could you notice something so small?"
" Fukuda, hold on!" Koshino passed the ball over.
This time, Fukuda didn't turn his back to Yo Aoki, but stood facing him. Fukuda raised the ball high above his head with both hands, pretending to shoot. Yo Aoki saw through the feint immediately and didn't even move.
Seeing that Yo Aoki wasn't taking the bait, Fukuda tried to use a feint again, but Yo Aoki's eyes narrowed, and he intercepted the ball with a swift movement. "Ah--!" Fukuda was stunned.
Yo Aoki intercepted the ball and immediately passed it to Hojo, allowing the Takezato Team to launch a counter-attack.
"Why did Ryonan bring on number 13?" Ryonan fans on the sidelines began to mutter. "Wouldn't it have been better to give the ball to Sendoh?"
Coach Taoka was furious. He stared at Fukuda on the court, wondering to himself, "Can this kid handle this mental pressure?" He knew Fukuda's personality all too well, and he wasn't sure if the kid could withstand this kind of pressure.
Yo Aoki had completely switched defensive zones with Mizuki at this point. He ran to the baseline, and sure enough, Fukuda was standing right in front of him.
"You think you can stop me?" Yo Aoki asked with a smile.
Fukuda glared fiercely at Yo Aoki without saying a word.
Yo Aoki received the ball, grinned, shifted his weight to the left while holding the ball with both hands, and suddenly turned to the other side, directly shaking off Fukuda. "He actually used the same dribbling move as Fukuda?" Hikoichi Aida widened on the spot.
Yo Aoki jumped up, gripping the ball in his left hand, leaning back slightly, and then stretched out his arm, ready to slam the ball into the basket. On the Takezato Takeuchi Akiyama saw this move and simultaneously jumped up, shouting, "Tomahawk dunk!" Yo Aoki had used this move on them during the freshman practice game. Later, they asked him and learned that Yo Aoki said it was called a "belly dunk," or a "tomahawk dunk."
Fukuda, furious at being used as a stepping stone, jumped up to block Yo Aoki. Just as he was about to dribble the ball, Yo Aoki pulled his arm back, narrowly avoiding the block.
Fukuda couldn't control his strength and crashed solidly into Yo Aoki's arm. But this didn't disrupt Yo Aoki's balance. With a burst of power from his waist and abdomen, his left hand, like an axe, slammed the ball into the basket!
The scoreboard showed 6 to 11.
"Defensive foul! Additional free throws!" As soon as the referee's whistle blew, Fukuda's fragile pride shattered instantly. The morale of the Ryonan team collapsed immediately.
Kogure was somewhat incoherent. "A dunk? How is that possible? He's only a freshman!" Miyagi's expression was grave. "It's only the beginning, Aoki has already scored 11 points." Akagi said seriously, "Our next game is against Takezato, if we can't stop him..."
Sakuragi suddenly interjected, " Gorilla, don't worry, I can definitely stop him!" "Sigh--" A sigh came from next to Sakuragi. Upon hearing this, Sakuragi turned around angrily, "Damn Kaede Rukawa, what are you sighing for? You have a problem with that?" Kaede Rukawa turned his head away, pretending not to see Sakuragi.
"Alright, stop arguing and focus on the game!" Akagi quickly pulled the two apart, his face serious. " Sakuragi, Rukawa, the next match against Takezato is counting on you two!"
Yo Aoki stepped to the free-throw line, took the ball from the referee, adjusted his posture slightly, raised his hand, and made the free throw with ease. The score became 6-12.
"Not bad!" Coach Akai looked at Yo Aoki with a satisfied expression—from the strong offensive at the start of the game, to the tight marking of Sendoh, and now to the containment of Fukuda, this kid is leading Takezato toward victory.
The game transitioned from offense to defense, Ryonan began their attack. Sendoh controlled the ball and orchestrated Ryonan's offense. " Fuku has him completely marked by Aoki," Sendoh knew exactly what Yo Aoki was up to, but he had no choice but to score the ball first.
Facing Mizuki's defense, Sendoh dribbled directly to break through. Sendoh dribbled two steps to the right first, and Mizuki immediately moved to the left to defend. Sendoh suddenly did a crossover, switched the ball to his left hand, and shifted his weight to the left. Mizuki reacted quickly and immediately moved a step to the right.
At that moment, Sendoh used his right leg as a pivot, turned around, and slipped past Mizuki's left side, who was still moving to the right.
The entire routine was crisp and clean, with particularly graceful movements; even Yo Aoki almost couldn't help but shout "Awesome!"
Sendoh cut inside and jumped to dunk, Imamura quickly jumped up to help defend. Sendoh had the ball in his right hand, and seeing Imamura reach out to block, he actually moved the ball back half an inch, just like Yo Aoki.
Huh? Now it was Yo Aoki's turn to be surprised.
Sure enough, Imamura did exactly the same thing as Fukuda back then, hitting the ball instead of the player's hand.
Clang! Sendoh slammed the ball into the basket.
"Defensive foul! One free throw!"
"Holy crap! Is this really a high school basketball game?"
" Sendoh and Aoki are both monsters."
The game had only been going on for eight minutes, but the audience's emotions hadn't cooled down at all. Wave after wave of excitement, every offensive and defensive maneuver was dazzling and made their blood boil.
Yo Aoki grinned at Sendoh, not feeling disappointed at all; on the contrary, he was extremely happy, even a little excited.
Sitting on the bench in Takezato, Oriyuki saw Yo Aoki's smile, muttered to herself, and shook her head.
She thought to herself: How can this guy have such an adorable smile? It's because he laughs so carefree!
Sendoh scores the free throw, making the score 9-12.
" Sendoh! Sendoh! Sendoh!" The Ryonan bench erupted in cheers.
Yo Aoki chuckled, "We can't let Ryonan regain their momentum."
He turned to look at Imamura and Hojo, "Senpai, it's time to let Ryonan see the power of the Takezato Golden Duo."
Imamura and Hojo exchanged a glance and laughed.
The nickname "Golden Duo" was given to the two of them by Yo Aoki after their great Hinode West.
Yo Aoki sincerely hoped that the two of them could truly become Golden Duo. After all, basketball is a team sport, and he needed helpers to get a ticket to the national championships.
Takezato began organizing an attack.
Imamura takes the ball from the baseline and passes it to Hojo. Hojo dribbles the ball to the attacking third and immediately raises his left hand into a fist.
The entire Takezato team reacted instantly; Hojo was going to run a pick-and-roll.
Shindo, along with Uekusa who was defending him, moved towards Yo Aoki's offensive zone, leaving a large open space on the left side of the field.
Imamura seized the opportunity and immediately stepped forward to block Hojo. Uozumi didn't follow, because he was aware of his own weakness.
Imamura strides forward, forming a human wall, while Hojo dribbles close to his body, completely blocking Koshino, Hojo to successfully break free.
Uozumi saw Hojo cutting in, he rushed over to block him, but Hojo made a bounce pass and passed the ball to Imamura the outside.
Imamura attempted a jump shot from the spot, but Koshino, whose Koshino was blocked, merely raised his hand symbolically, which had no effect whatsoever.
Swish! Hollowed into the net.
The score became 9 to 15.
" Takezato's center can actually shoot three-pointers?" Riki Takato, who was fanning himself, stopped.
How did they come up with that?
Jin said, "His touch is smooth, just like Shoyo's Hanagata."
In those few short minutes, Coach Taoka had lost count of how many times he had been surprised.
In his mind, there are only two types of centers: either as aggressive as Uozumi or Akagi, or as gentle as Hanagata. Now, a center who can shoot three-pointers has suddenly appeared in Takezato?
Coach Taoka's face darkened. " Takezato has done his homework thoroughly."
Ryonan continued their attack, Sendoh, facing Mizuki, launched a three-pointer—swish!
The score became 12-15.
When it was Takezato's turn to organize the attack, Hojo raised his hand again, this time making a "1" gesture.
This hand gesture was instructed by Yo Aoki. As required, whenever Hojo raises his hand, whether it's a fist or a "1" sign, it's a pick-and-roll tactic, and the gesture can't be repeated each time.
Seeing Hojo raise his hand, Imamura immediately ran to a high position to cover for him. This put Uozumi in a difficult position; the situation couldn't wait for him to figure it out.
After being blocked by Koshino, Uozumi quickly stepped forward to defend Imamura's outside shot. In fact, he had a backup plan, hoping to use his strong physique to defend Imamura while also interfering with Hojo.
Takezato had already figured out Uozumi's strengths. When Hojo saw Uozumi leave the paint, he immediately stopped, took a lateral step to create distance, and jumped to shoot!
Swish! A mid-range jump shot goes in, making the score 12-17.
" Shunya! Shunya!" Hojo's parents shouted from the stands.
Hojo heard this and immediately waved to them.
Someone nearby remarked, " Takezato's tactics are pretty good."
"Their teamwork is amazing."
At this point, things started to get a little chaotic in Ryonan. They all felt that Takezato seemed to have figured out their tactics.
Seeing the team's low morale, Sendoh immediately shouted, "Guys, let's score first!"
His calm and confident demeanor reassured the Ryonan players.
Someone shouted, "Yes! We still have the Sendoh!"
While Sendoh was methodically organizing his attack, Fukuda grew impatient, eager to prove himself.
However, Yo Aoki's defense kept Fukuda far away from the basket, preventing him from getting a chance to drive.