Taoka stared at Uozumi: " Uozumi, you go off the field and rest for a bit. Kanpei, you take his place."
Uozumi hung his head, looking annoyed.
Taoka patted him on the shoulder. " Uozumi, solve problems when they arise. Don't be discouraged. Trust your teammates; we can win."
When Kanpei comes on, everyone pay attention to Takezato's screen tactics; they'll definitely rely on that to score.
Uekusa, you take over Koshino Off-Road and stabilize the situation; Fukuda, you become the core of the attack.
"Sendoh, get your act together! Are you really going to get defeated by a first-year student?" Taoka roared, making everyone in Ryonan's ears ring.
Yo Aoki joined the team and said, " Ryonan will definitely substitute Uozumi after the timeout, so let's change tactics."
Coach Akai swiftly handed over the tactics board.
Yo Aoki scratched his head and said, "Teacher, I..."
Coach Akai waved his hand and said, " Aoki, you're the team's ace. It's your responsibility to share your ideas at crucial moments. Don't worry about me."
A surge of warmth filled Yo Aoki's heart, and he replied, "Yes."
After Uozumi the court, Kanpei will definitely take his place. We don't know Kanpei's free throw ability, so we can't use a fouling tactic and we need to change our tactics.
Yo Aoki looked at Imamura: " Imamura -senpai, it's your turn."
Imamura clenched his fists and said, "I've been itching to get started for a long time."
Yo Aoki then looked at Mizuki: "Captain, is everything alright with Fukuda?"
Mizuki glared at him and said, "I'll keep an eye on him until he's dead!"
Yo Aoki nodded, striking a confident pose. "I judge that after Uozumi, Ryonan will definitely think we should continue using pick-and-rolls, so our tactic is..."
Once the whistle blows, the game resumes.
As soon as Kanpei entered the game, both sides plunged into positional warfare.
At this moment, Yo Aoki is still sticking to Sendoh, Imamura is guarding Kanpei, Mizuki is watching Fukuda, Shindo is guarding Ikegami, Hojo is facing Uekusa.
Uekusa dribbled the ball, deliberately slowing down the pace.
Fukuda Mizuki for the ball, Uekusa handed it over as instructed by Taoka.
After receiving the ball, Fukuda suddenly turned and headed towards the basket. Mizuki quickly and immediately followed, but Fukuda was fast and instantly overtook him by half a body length.
Seeing that he was about to make a move, Mizuki had no choice but to foul him.
Fukuda stood at the free-throw line, and both balls hit the rim.
Yo Aoki grabbed the rebound!
Nakamura leaned over to Aida and said, "Look, Ryonan's number 13 missed his free throw too. Why didn't Takezato foul him?"
Aida scratched his head. "This..."
Yo Aoki didn't launch a fast break; instead, he dribbled the ball across half-court. Sendoh came up to defend him, and Yo Aoki began sweeping the entire court.
The others in Takezato spread out to give Yo Aoki space, but Yo Aoki didn't intend to rush in. He glanced at Mizuki.
Mizuki immediately ran ahead of him to ask for the ball, Yo Aoki handed it to him.
As Mizuki received the ball, he remembered what Yo Aoki had said during the timeout, " Mizuki- senpai, you're the offensive focal point from now on!"
"Me?" Mizuki was stunned.
"As I said before, Fukuda's defense is full of holes, so go ahead and attack, senior!"
Mizuki faced Fukuda, raised her hand and shot, but Fukuda immediately jumped up to block it.
"No way, it's that simple?" Mizuki was so shaken by the feint that she couldn't believe it herself.
Without hesitation, he drove straight to the basket, Uozumi not around, Kanpei couldn't stop him at all.
Mizuki makes a layup, making the score 71-65, Takezato has closed the gap!
The score is now 6 points behind, Ryonan is attacking.
Fukuda suddenly turned around while running, shook off Mizuki, and dashed towards the basket.
Uekusa's passing vision is far inferior to Sendoh's. Fukuda ran into open space, but he didn't pass the ball in time. He only passed it to Fukuda after Fukuda had regained his footing.
But the initiative was lost. Mizuki leaned out and intercepted the ball, then passed it to Hojo.
Yo Aoki didn't camp inside, but moved to the outside. Ikegami and Fukuda couldn't double-team him, but Sendoh wouldn't let him receive the ball easily, sticking close to him and using his body to separate the ball from Yo Aoki.
Hojo didn't pass the Yo Aoki, but instead gave it to Mizuki.
Mizuki faced Fukuda, turned around and passed him when he wasn't paying attention, drove to the basket and scored again, making the score 71-67!
Aida rubbed his temples. " Nakamura, didn't you just ask why Takezato didn't foul Ryonan's number 13?"
Nakamura nodded.
"Because Takezato kept him on. He's different from Uozumi; Uozumi's defense is too aggressive, so Takezato fouled him out."
"But this number 13, Fukuda, although his free throws are off target, his defense is full of holes. Keeping him Takezato allows us to exploit his weaknesses and score, which is much more reliable than shooting three-pointers."
"And Takezato already has a way to defend against him!"
"Wow! This team from Takezato is absolutely amazing!" Nakamura exclaimed.
The Blue team requests a substitution: player number 13 will be replaced, and player number 6 will be replaced.
Taoka's face darkened. He had transferred people to Ryonan, and there was no way to keep Fukuda any longer. He had no choice but to bring in Ikegami, even if it hurt Fukuda's pride. They had to win this match today.
Yo Aoki breathed a sigh of relief; his plan had succeeded!
With Uozumi and Fukuda substituted, Ryonan instantly became a team where Sendoh carried the entire load.
With only three minutes remaining, the showdown between Aoki and Sendoh officially began.
Taking advantage of Aoki's absence while he was guarding the ball, Sendoh pressed close and tried to squeeze towards the basket. The two collided and exerted their strength, and Sendoh used the force of the impact to bounce away and dart to the outside.
Aoki was a beat too slow, Sendoh caught the ball smoothly. After catching the ball, he didn't even make any extra movements and just raised his hand to shoot.
Three-pointer hits! Score 74-67!
Taoka breathed a sigh of relief on the sidelines; Ryonan had finally scored.
Sendoh! It all depends on you!
When it was Takezato's turn to attack, Aoki dribbled the ball across half-court and immediately set a screen for Imamura. Imamura blocked Sendoh, Aoki raised his hand and threw down a three-pointer, directly answering the call.
The score is 74 to 70!
Takezato's bench erupted in chaos.
Wow! That's amazing!
Aoki's cheat code today!
Yasunori Sanada clenched his fists and roared, " Aoki has been practicing his three-pointer for half a year, and today he finally gave Takezato a chance to prove himself!"
Shigeru Akiyama clutched his chest and exclaimed, "My heart is about to jump out of my chest!"
Shirota wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes. " Aoki practices until the very end every day, and now he has finally made Takezato no longer a weak team!"
Coach Akai waved his arms and shouted, "Everyone, louder! Be their sixth man!"
yes!!
The Takezato Team members were all shouting at the top of their lungs, " Takezato Team! Stop them! Stop them!"
Ryonan team is on offense. Sendoh uses Ikegami's screen to temporarily shake off Aoki, and then rushes towards the basket after receiving the ball.
Aoki immediately pressed forward, but Sendoh suddenly stopped, turned around and jumped—it was a fadeaway jump shot!
Two points secured, score 76-70!
Shirota's face turned pale. "This move... Aoki practiced it before!"
That monster, Sendoh!
Aoki took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
It was worth it to fight Sendoh!
With only one minute left, Aoki received the serve in the backcourt, Sendoh immediately pressed him with full-court pressure.
Aoki dribbled with his back to the basket, moving towards the frontcourt while keeping up with Sendoh. Just as he stepped onto the three-point line, he suddenly tensed his core and jumped up for a pull-up jumper!
Sendoh didn't even have a chance to raise his hand; the ball swished through the net! A three-pointer! 76-73! Just three points away!
The atmosphere on the field instantly became electric, with everyone's eyes fixed on the two of them.
Holy crap! Is this how high school students play ball?
Sendoh and Aoki, those two monsters, score whenever they have the chance!
Fujima clenched his fists, his face turning green—he wasn't even qualified to spar with an opponent of this caliber!
He made a silent vow in his heart: In the Winter Selection Tournament, Shoyo must beat you!
Taoka yelled hoarsely from the sidelines, "Strangle Aoki! Don't let anyone let him go!"
Nakamura sidled up to Aida: "Hey, Aida, why isn't Sendoh organizing anything anymore? Has he started working solo?"
Aida cleared his throat. "At this point, we can only rely on our ace to fight head-on."
The plan for Takezato is complete!
Takato stroked his chin and said to the people from Kainan, " Takezato has replaced Uozumi and Fukuda. Without his helpers, Sendoh will have to go it alone."
After such a long wait, Takezato has finally brought Ryonan to the same level.
This Takezato team, win or lose, they're already smitten!
The game remained close, with Sendoh making sudden stops, changing direction, and running in the opposite direction, trying to shake off Aoki, but Aoki stuck to him tightly.
The two bumped into each other, sweat flying everywhere!
Taoka's eyes widened. "Is Aoki an iron man? From the beginning until now, he's been fighting tooth and nail with Sendoh, Uozumi, Ikegami, and Fukuda, and he's still running away?"
With no other Uekusa passed the ball to Kanpei.
Kanpei dribbled twice with his back to Imamura, then suddenly turned and hooked the ball. Imamura jumped up and reached out to interfere, and the ball missed!
Imamura positioned himself perfectly against Kanpei and snatched the backboard!
As soon as Aoki saw Imamura grab the rebound, he immediately shook off Sendoh and rushed over to ask for the ball.
Ikegami and Koshino immediately pounced on him to surround him, with Ikegami on the left and Koshino on the right, completely blocking Aoki.
Aoki dribbled between his legs, switched the ball to his left hand, and then drove to the left.
Just as the two players closed in, Aoki suddenly stopped, dribbled behind his back, switched to his right hand, and twisted to drive to the right.
Ikegami reacted quickly and was about to adjust his center of gravity to catch up when he looked up and realized that he was too close to the Koshino. If he moved, he would crash into someone, so he stood frozen in place!
Koshino then came to his senses and hurriedly moved to the right of Yo Aoki. With this stop and jump, a gap was directly torn between the two.
Yo Aoki turned his feet, used his left foot as a pivot, and squeezed through the gap between the Koshino Koshino the Ikegami.
Hikoichi Aida the top of his lungs, "He broke through the middle!!"
Coach Taoka slapped his thigh and roared, "We absolutely cannot let him shoot three-pointers!"
Yo Aoki rushed into the frontcourt in a few steps, where Sendoh was already waiting for him outside the three-point line.
But Yo Aoki took a jump shot just two steps beyond the three-point line!
Sendoh stared blankly at the trajectory of the basketball, and the ball swished into the basket.
The score jumped to 76-76, a tie!
Takezato's bench erupted instantly, the shouts nearly lifting the roof off, " Aoki--!!"
The referee blew his whistle. "Beep! Blue team requests a timeout!"
Coach Taoka, clutching his tactical board, immediately rushed to the sidelines to call a timeout; there were only 30 seconds left in the game.
Coach Akai yelled at his players, who were drenched in sweat and still steaming, "Grit your teeth and hold on to this! Aoki, keep a close eye on Sendoh, don't let him score!"
Yo Aoki nodded, without saying a word during the pause.
He was exhausted to the limit; even with superhuman abilities, he would be on the verge of collapse.
He knew that Sendoh was just like him, relying entirely on that kind of willpower to keep going.
The timeout ended, and both teams returned to the court.