At this point, Yo Aoki also realized Takezato's predicament. As the game progressed, Kainan Team's physical advantage would gradually become apparent.
Conversely, Takezato will gradually find itself in a passive position.
If this continues, Takezato will have no chance of turning the tide!
Takezato Team's attack was spearheaded by Yo Aoki, who dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and pondered how to organize the attack.
He currently has two offensive options: either rely on his individual skills to score or use pick-and-roll tactics.
However, if they use pick-and-roll, given Imamura's current proficiency with pick-and-roll, he simply cannot withstand Kainan's targeted defense.
"It seems I can only rely on myself!" Yo Aoki's eyes darkened, and he chose to break through.
Just then, Coach Takato suddenly shouted from the sidelines, " Kiyota!" and pointed at Yo Aoki.
Kiyota immediately understood, shook off Hojo, and ran towards Yo Aoki!
Coach Takato actually had Kiyota and Shinichi Maki double-team Yo Aoki?
"Hey, what's going on? Maki's actually teaming up with Kiyota to Yo Aoki?"
"Couldn't Maki defend himself against him?"
The crowd outside immediately erupted in discussion.
Hearing the commotion, Nakamura turned to Yayoi Aida and asked, " Aida, Maki really unable to defend against Yo Aoki?"
Yayoi Aida shook her head. " Kainan isn't doing this because Maki can't defend against Yo Aoki. Actually, their goal is very simple: to prevent Yo Aoki from launching an attack."
"With Maki and Kiyota blocking his way, Yo Aoki definitely can't break through. Kainan is forcing Yo Aoki to pass the ball!"
" Takezato's attack now relies entirely on Yo Aoki. If Kainan can shut down that point, Takezato's chances of winning are slim!"
Sure enough, Yo Aoki noticed that Hojo was unmarked and immediately passed the ball to him.
Hojo had just received the ball and was about to shoot when he was immediately entangled by Muto was there to help defend.
Hojo had no choice but to pass the ball to Mizuki.
But Kiyota intercepted the pass while he was helping to defend!
Kiyota immediately launched a quick attack!
Yo Aoki immediately did everything in his power to stop him!
Kiyota didn't dare to fight Yo Aoki one-on-one. Seeing Yo Aoki approaching, he immediately passed the ball to Shinichi Maki behind him.
Upon receiving the ball, Shinichi Maki instantly rushed to the basket to attempt a layup.
Sanada, who reacted quickly, had already caught up with Shinichi Maki. Seeing that he was about to make a layup, Sanada jumped up without thinking.
Despite Sanada's defense, Shinichi Maki forcefully jumped and made a layup!
In mid-air, Sanada reached out to block the shot, but Shinichi Maki pushed it away!
With his exceptional body control, Maki maintained his balance and scored the goal!
"Oh no!" Yo Aoki immediately realized that Sanada had fouled!
Sure enough, the referee blew his whistle as soon as the ball went in.
"White number 7 commits a foul! Goal stands, one extra penalty!"
" Maki is too fierce!"
The Kainan Team's bench erupted in chaos. Miyamasu and Kosuge jumped for joy, Coach Takato wiped the sweat from his brow, thinking to himself, "Finally, we've tied it!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the referee blew his whistle, signaling a timeout for the red team!
Seeing the score tied, Coach Akai immediately pressed the timeout button.
Although they had just tied the score, Coach Takato didn't relax. He smiled and said, "Everyone played well. If we can hold on a little longer, Takezato won't be able to hold on!"
At this moment, Soichiro Jin said: Although my sixth sense tells me that Takezato will not surrender easily, they must still have a backup plan.
Kiyota laughed and replied, "Jin, don't worry, this is already Takezato's limit!"
Mizuki and his group stumbled back to the bench, panting, Shirota immediately handed them towels.
The group quickly wiped their sweat, knowing full well that they had reached their limit!
Coach Akai pondered for a moment, then turned to Yo Aoki and said, "We've only played less than half of the second half, and our stamina is already failing us. We need to adjust quickly."
Yo Aoki asked: Teacher, what do you want us to do?
Coach Akai said, "I plan to substitute Mizuki, Hojo, Imamura, let them rest, and bring them back in for the last five minutes." He paused, then added hesitantly, " Aoki, do you think this method will work?"
Without much thought, Yo Aoki nodded immediately. "Teacher, I support your decision!"
Upon receiving Aoki's affirmation, Akai immediately breathed a sigh of relief and loudly ordered, "Akiyama, Takeuchi, Kawai, the three of you go up and replace Imamura, Mizuki, and Hojo. You must hold out until the last five minutes! The last five minutes are our decisive moment!"
Yo Aoki smiled inwardly. He couldn't understand why Akai insisted on bringing on the main force only in the last five minutes. Was there some data to support it? Or was it simply because the number "5" was special?
The match restarted, and everyone was stunned when both sides entered the game— Takezato had made three substitutions in one go!
Morishita exclaimed, "Is Takezato trying to give the main players a rest? But substituting three players at once is too risky!"
Nagashima shook his head: This must be Takezato's trust in Yo Aoki!
Saki chimed in. "As long as Yo Aoki can keep scoring, Takezato can keep the score close and retain the chance to win!"
Morishita asked, "The key question is, can Yo Aoki do it?"
Shinichi Maki stepped to the free-throw line, adjusted his posture slightly, and raised his hand to shoot.
The basketball swished through the net, making it 53-53, and the two teams were back to square one!
At this moment, Hanagata in the stands frowned: Yo Aoki has been driving to the basket all this time, without even shooting a three-pointer. This is a bit unusual!
Takano nodded: That's right, everyone almost forgot that he can also shoot three-pointers!
Hasegawa's analysis: Aoki usually only relies on three-pointers to catch up when the score is behind. Now that the score is tied, it's probably not his turn to take a shot yet.
But Fujima retorted: No, Aoki is about to shoot a three-pointer!
Seeing Takezato make such a big move by changing players, Kiyota angrily cursed, "Damn it! Takezato is looking down on us!"
He clenched his fists. "I will make them pay!"
Takezato took the ball from the baseline, and Akiyama passed it to Yo Aoki.
Yo Aoki slowly dribbled the ball across half-court; he needed to control the pace and prevent Kainan from launching a fast break.
He was holding down the clock outside the three-point line. Akiyama, who was replacing Imamura, was Takasago by Mizuki, who was replacing Takeuchi, and Hojo Kawai, who was replacing Hojo, ran back and forth, Muto and Kiyota would intercept the ball whenever Aoki passed it. As for Sanada, he was not good at offense to begin with, and with Jin marking him, Aoki didn't even have the idea of passing.
With only 20 seconds left on the shot clock, Aoki is still incredibly composed! 5 seconds left!
Just then, right in front of Shinichi Maki, Aoki jumped up without warning and shot! It was a three-pointer!
With a swish, the ball went into the net! 53 to 56!
Shirota immediately jumped up and shouted, "Here it comes! Here it comes! The first three-pointer of the day!"
After Aoki made that pass, the Kainan Team finally realized that they had overlooked this!
Coach Takato was furious and cursed, "Damn it!" He immediately rushed onto the court and shouted, "Speed up the attack! Don't let them slow us down!"
Just as Shinichi Maki was about to start, he discovered that the person defending him had changed; it was no longer Yo Aoki.
He glanced around and realized that Aoki had gone to guard against Jin again!
Sendoh burst into laughter. " Aoki is hilarious!"
"Is that guy going to use that reckless, charging-and-ramming style of play again?" said Koshino.
Uozumi analyzed. "Perhaps he wanted to widen the score gap with two-point and three-point margins, so he guarded Jin, preventing Kainan from shooting three-pointers and forcing them to only score two points!"
In the blink of an eye, Shinichi Maki broke through Sanada's defense, drove to the basket, and scored a layup! 55-56!
After receiving the ball, Yo Aoki continued to orchestrate the attack!
Just like last time, he advanced slowly, controlling the pace of the game.
This time, however, Shinichi Maki stayed close to him, clearly not wanting him to shoot another three-pointer.
Aoki dribbled the ball and suddenly took a step forward. Shinichi Maki didn't move, still sticking close to him, but this didn't hinder Aoki's next move.
He immediately pulled his legs back, and with a burst of power from his waist, abdomen, and legs, he leaped up directly in front of Shinichi Maki!
The height difference between Shinichi Maki and Yo Aoki is obvious, they can't stop each other at all. Whether this ball goes in or not depends entirely on the feel of the shot, it has nothing to do with defense!
With a swish, the basketball swept across the net, and the scoreboard showed 55 to 59!
"What a pity!" Yayoi Aida muttered, staring at the score. "If Yo Aoki could make it to the national tournament, this year's high school basketball world would be absolutely shaken!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Takezato will definitely make it into the national competition next year!" Nakamura chimed in.
Just as Yo Aoki was about to receive the pass, Kiyota closed in on him. The Kainan Team was playing a close, off-ball defense against him. Before Yo Aoki could even speak, Takeuchi and Akiyama rushed over and stood in front of him as screens.
The best way to break this kind of close off-ball defense is through a teammate's screen. The Takezato Team practices screens frequently, and every player is extremely familiar with the screen routines. Yo Aoki once said in training that if he is closely guarded off-ball, his teammates should use a screen to help him shake off the defender.
With his teammates providing cover, Yo Aoki easily received the ball, Kainan Team's defense futile once again.
Yo Aoki rushed to the frontcourt, holding the ball with both hands, knees bent, body leaning forward, ready to shoot. Shinichi Maki's eyes widened, and he immediately rushed up to block the shot. But Yo Aoki suddenly pressed his hands down, and the ball was passed out!
Yo Aoki was about to shoot when he turned around and saw that Kawai was completely unguarded! Yo Aoki had completely drawn away Kainan Team's defense, so he immediately passed the ball to him.
When Takasago saw Kawai receive the ball, he sprinted to help defend. Yo Aoki had just passed the ball, didn't stand still but ran straight to the basket, hoping to grab the rebound if Kawai missed the shot.
Kawai shot the ball before Takasago could pounce on it! Takasago had just turned around to go back to the basket when he suddenly slipped and lost his balance, falling forward!
This is bad! Unable to stop, Takasago crashed directly into Yo Aoki, landing on his right ring finger! Yo Aoki was focused on the ball and hadn't noticed Takasago's movement when a sharp pain shot through him. He winced, clutching his right hand and bending over!
Oriyuki Iwasaki, with her sharp eyes, noticed immediately and called out, " Aoki! What's wrong with you!"
"Beep--White Team #5, foul for collision!" the referee announced, blowing his whistle.
But no one from Takezato cared about the foul. All the Takezato players gathered around, asking him how he was. Sanada shouted urgently, " Aoki! Are you alright?" Yo Aoki didn't answer, shaking his head in pain!
The referee came over to ask what was wrong, checked him over, and then sent Yo Aoki to the bench. Ryoko Aoki, gripping the railing in the stands, was extremely anxious. "Honey, Yo seems to be injured!"