Yo Aoki glanced at the timer; 2 minutes and 20 seconds remained. This shot had to be defended tightly. He exhaled a breath of stale air. "I need to stay calm!"
At the current pace, Maki will definitely drive to the basket first, and then choose between a layup or a pass.
This is Kainan's signature tactic, so I don't need to worry about whether he can pass the ball or not; I can just focus all my attention on his breakthroughs.
Yo Aoki stared intently at Shinichi Maki's dribbling movements, posture, weight shifts, and the ball's trajectory, silently chanting, "Lower my center of gravity further! This isn't my limit! React faster, anticipate his movements! Be more agile! I must stop him in the first step!"
Yo Aoki kept adjusting his state, forcing himself to focus all his attention on Shinichi Maki's breakthrough. Shinichi Maki suddenly realized that he couldn't find the slightest flaw in Yo Aoki's defense.
"Can't break through?" Shinichi Maki snorted. He was the Emperor of Kanagawa, how could he back down so easily? He planned to force his way through, a testament to his confidence in his skills.
He slowly lowered his center of gravity, Yo Aoki reacted instantly. " Maki is about to break through!" With a whoosh, Shinichi Maki suddenly started moving, dribbling the ball to the right.
Yo Aoki immediately predicted, "That's a feint, he's definitely going to change direction!" Sure enough, Shinichi Maki suddenly used his right foot to push off the ground, causing his body to change direction to the left. Yo Aoki immediately moved sideways first, blocking Shinichi Maki's left flank a step ahead.
"What?!" Shinichi Maki was startled. In a flash, it was too late for him to stop. With a "bang," Shinichi Maki crashed into Yo Aoki, and the two fell to the ground together.
The referee immediately blew his whistle. "Whistle! White team number 4, charging!" The Takezato substitutes jumped up and shouted, "We blocked it!!"
In the stands, Kengo Murasame, the captain of Miuradai, shouted in horror, "Ah!! Maki has been blocked!!" Everyone on the court who knew Kanagawa high school basketball had the same expression as Kengo Murasame at that moment.
No one could believe what they were seeing. At this critical juncture, how could anyone in Kanagawa Prefecture possibly defend against Maki the Emperor? That's right, even Sendoh couldn't stop Shinichi Maki at the last moment and could only fight him head-on.
Coach Takato's forehead was now covered in sweat. He suddenly realized that Kainan, and even himself, had slowly lost control of the game.
Should we double-team Yo Aoki? He hasn't scored much since his hand injury; he's mostly been passing now. Takezato Team takes the inbound pass, Shindo passes the ball to Yo Aoki, Yo Aoki then passes it to Hojo.
Facing Kiyota's defense, Hojo glanced at his teammates' positions before suddenly breaking through. Kiyota adjusted his footing to follow Hojo, thinking to himself, "This guy's trying to get past me too?"
Coach Akai, seeing Hojo break through, immediately shouted, "Well done, Hojo! That's more like a man!!" After rushing into the penalty area, Hojo suddenly looked up.
"Want to shoot?" Kiyota immediately raised his hands to block. But Hojo didn't stop. He still looked up, tossed the ball back with both hands, and passed it directly to number 1.9 behind him without even looking.
Kiyota turned his head and was startled to find that Imamura was already standing outside the three-point line. Imamura received the ball, jumped up and shot, the basketball arcing through the air and swishing through the net.
The score was 75-68, a difference of 7 points. "Wow!!!" The audience cheered excitedly, the shouts echoing throughout the stadium. Imamura excitedly hugged Hojo, and the two of them kept yelling "Ahhh!"
Yo Aoki wiped his sweat and smiled, "We really have a chance!" "Beep! White team requests a timeout," Coach Takato told the Kainan Team to calm down.
With just over a minute left, we're still leading by 7 points, so why am I so nervous? Coach Takato asked himself. Looking at the players around him, Coach Takato composed himself and said, "Everyone, hang in there, the game is almost over!"
Yo Aoki's hand is injured and he can't shoot, so we just need to stop his drives and passes. Jin, you guard Takezato's center tightly, absolutely no three-pointers allowed. Only offense, no retreat! Win the game!
"Yes!" On the Takezato, Coach Akai asked each player about their fitness level, and everyone replied, "No problem!"
Looking at his disciples, who were covered in sweat, Akai slowly began, "There's about a minute left. This time is crucial for your future! Prove to everyone..."
But as soon as the timeout ended, the Kainan Team relied on Shinichi Maki's individual ability to drive to the basket and score, widening the gap to 9 points.
When it was Takezato's turn to attack, Yo Aoki led his teammates to make runs, found Shindo who was open, and fed him the ball to assist in the score, narrowing the gap to 7 points.
With only 30 seconds left in the game, Yayoi Aida muttered with a pout, "This game is definitely over."
"With only one chance left to attack, Takezato is completely helpless."
Kainan Team inbounds the ball from the baseline, Yo Aoki pins Shinichi Maki, preventing him from receiving the ball.
Kiyota had no choice but to pass the ball to Muto, Yo Aoki had made up his mind that he had to foul.
But just as he was about to make a move, he saw Muto dribble the ball twice, and was forced by Mizuki to hold the ball with both hands and dare not move.
"Hmm?" Kainan Team players rarely make this kind of mistake; the only explanation is that they're completely exhausted.
Although the Kainan Team relies on physical strength, they are not made of iron.
Yo Aoki immediately figured out the path, leaving Shinichi Maki behind, and rushed towards Muto.
Shinichi Maki's heart skipped a beat, and he shouted at the top of his lungs.
" Muto! Be careful!"
Upon hearing the warning, Muto's expression changed drastically.
Mizuki stayed close to him, arms outstretched, looking for an opportunity to intercept the ball.
Mizuki knew Muto best, and taking advantage of a moment when he was distracted, she suddenly reached out, knocked the ball down, and caught it in her hand.
"Well done, Mizuki!" Coach Akai shouted at the top of his lungs.
Mizuki immediately passed the ball to Yo Aoki Yo Aoki, who then charged straight into the Kainan Team's paint.
"Stop him! Stop him!" Takato shouted frantically.
Shinichi Maki immediately pressed close, and the two jumped at the same time, their bodies colliding with equal force.
Instead of forcing a layup, Yo Aoki grabbed the ball with his left hand, pulled it back, and passed it to the side.
Imamura receives the ball under the basket, Takasago comes over to defend.
Imamura took a step with his back to the goal, almost knocking Takasago aside, then turned and hooked the ball into the net.
The score difference was narrowed to 5 points with 22 seconds left in the game.
"Damn it! Everyone, concentrate!" Takato roared.
Takasago was preparing to serve from the baseline Imamura didn't get back to defend, instead standing in front of him and dangling around, interfering with the pass.
" The Kainan Team is also tired; they're bound to make mistakes if they try to defend too hard."
Shinichi Maki with Yo Aoki's relentless advance, Maki Shinichi suddenly feinted to the left, and Yo Aoki moved over to follow.
Maki Shinichi Maki changed direction and ran to the right to receive the ball, not only shaking off Yo Aoki, but also passing the ball to Takasago.
Takasago unexpectedly passed the ball to the other side. Yo Aoki, who was about to chase Shinichi Maki, suddenly saw the ball flying towards him.
"Luck is on my side!"
Yo Aoki retrieved the ball and passed it directly to Mizuki outside the three-point line. Mizuki caught the ball and jumped to shoot.
The ball bounced off the rim twice before going into the net, narrowing the gap to 2 points with 17 seconds left in the game.
Wow! Takezato's attack is too fierce!
"They're only 2 points away now!"
"Beep!" The white team called a timeout, Coach Takato had no choice but to use Kainan's last timeout of the game.
Reporter Nakamura exclaimed in astonishment, "Takezato is terrifying!"
Yayoi Aida muttered.
Even so, Kainan has basically won; they just need to control the ball and drag the game out until the end.
"Sigh, yes, it's such a pity about Takezato."
Coach Taoka spoke from the sidelines.
" Kainan and Takezato have played a hundred matches, Kainan has won ninety-nine of them. Will today be that match?"
Coach Takato spoke up.
"Don't panic, we've taken the initiative. Kiyota, Muto, Jin, go to the backfield to receive the ball."
"Don't dribble with the ball, maintain a steady pace, and eventually get it to Maki, then you've got the win."
" Takasago, don't dwell on what just happened, keep fighting."
"Yes." Takasago lowered her head in self-reproach.
Shinichi Maki suddenly sensed something was wrong. What was the problem?
"Could it be Aoki? Is something wrong with him?"
Yo Aoki patted his teammate on the shoulder and said.
"When Kainan takes the ball from the baseline later, I'll mark Shinichi Maki closely and prevent him from receiving the pass."
" Imamura, you keep an eye on Soichiro Jin, make sure he doesn't touch the ball."
"If the ball falls into the hands of Muto, Takasago, or Kiyota, you guys immediately go up and foul them, making them take free throws."
"If they make one of their free throws, we'll have a chance."
Hojo leaned closer and asked with a smile.
" Aoki, are you going to use the fouling tactic again?"
Imamura scratched his head and muttered to himself.
"Why don't we just go up and foul them? Why wait until they receive the ball before we move?"
Yo Aoki arguing about the rules.
"Fouling a player without the ball in the last two minutes would mean two free throws and possession, which is a huge loss. We need to wait until they get the ball before we foul them."
The Takezato Team looked at each other, completely bewildered, Coach Akai frowned.
" Aoki, what kind of rule is that?"
Yo Aoki patted his chest confidently.
"What? That's impossible! I remember it perfectly!"
Actually, this whole thing is a case of Yo Aoki having the rules mixed up in his head. The rules he's talking about are unique to the NBA. Back in the day, Chamberlain's free throws were terrible, and the league changed the rules to avoid diminishing the entertainment value.
Although he had confidently assured everyone that he knew everything, he was completely baffled when he actually checked, realizing that high school basketball now uses FIBA rules, which don't include this.
Mizuki's eyes lit up when he heard this. "That would be even easier! We'll just wait for them to serve and then pounce on them to foul!" He stroked his chin and pondered for a couple of seconds. "That Kiyota kid, he's young but gets easily agitated, he's the easiest to panic."
Mizuki shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone remember this! Takezato will never give up until the very last moment!" Coach Akai looked at him, unable to suppress a smile, and nodded, saying, "From today onwards, let 'Never Give Up' become Takezato's family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation!"
The match officially began! Takasago from Kainan took the inbound pass, and seizing the opportunity, he passed the ball to Soichiro Jin. But the moment he passed it, the whistle blew! The referee held up the board, "Red number 8, pushing foul! White number 10, Kiyota throw!" Reporter Nakamura jumped up with a shout, "That foul tactic! We all forgot about it!"
Yayoi Aida remained silent; she had indeed forgotten. Not only her, but no one at the scene remembered that Takezato had used this dirty trick. Off the court, Uozumi clenched his fists, veins bulging. "Damn it! Takezato's using that dirty trick again!" Koshino laughed, "Now we'll Kiyota's free throws are accurate!"
Shinichi Maki immediately went to Kiyota's side. " Kiyota, don't overthink it, just shoot." Kiyota nodded, cursing inwardly, "Damn it, Takezato actually thinks I can't make free throws!" Yo Aoki leaned in from behind him and whispered in his ear, " Kiyota, keep it up, don't let your hand shake." Kiyota turned around and snapped, "Damn it! What did you say?!"