Shohoku won the first possession.
Yasuda dribbled upcourt. But anyone could see that everyone on the court for Shohoku except Akagi was tense, their movements stiff.
Miuradai captain Kengo Murasame glanced over and sneered. Just as he had expected, Shohoku was still the same lousy team.
"Play tight defense! Don't give them a chance!" Murasame shouted.
Yasuda's hand trembled, and he grew even more flustered. They really are a team aiming to take down Kainan. Their presence is on another level. Can just the few of us... really do this?
While he was thinking, Miuradai guards Kazuo Araki and Hiroshi Takatsu suddenly moved in to trap him. Yasuda panicked, mishandled his dribble, and had the ball swiped away.
Miuradai immediately launched a fast break and scored an easy layup.
2-0.
Yasuda quickly raised his hand to take the blame. Kogure patted his back. "It's all right. Settle down."
But over the next few possessions, Shohoku struggled more and more. Although Miuradai had weakened after their veteran players graduated, they still had more than enough to handle this Shohoku lineup. Their approach was simple and rough: get physical and intensify the contact, which hit Shohoku's second unit right where it hurt.
Kogure caught the ball and tried to drive, but the opposing defense stopped him cold. The ball moved around the perimeter a few times, and with a 24-second violation looming, Shiozaki had no choice but to rush a shot from beyond the arc.
The ball slammed into the backboard without even touching the rim.
Murasame grabbed the rebound and immediately started a fast break. Two passes later, Miuradai scored easily.
4-0.
Their strategy was clear: play fast and wear Akagi down. And Shohoku played right along, committing turnover after turnover on offense and handing them repeated chances to counterattack.
In the blink of an eye, the score became 8-0.
Hanamichi Sakuragi could no longer stay seated on the bench. He bounded over to Coach Anzai, grabbed his chin, and lifted it indignantly. "We're going to lose at this rate, old man! Hurry up and let this genius save the team!"
Ayako smacked him on the head with a paper fan. "Sit down and behave! Captain Akagi is the most anxious one right now. We have to score."
Before she finished speaking, Takenori Akagi suddenly powered up on the court. He held his ground against two defenders inside, and Kogure immediately lobbed the ball in.
Akagi caught it, veins bulging on his arms, and backed hard toward the basket-the two defenders were actually knocked aside!
In the stands, Uozumi nodded despite himself. "Akagi's finally getting started. No one can stop him except me."
Hikoichi Aida suddenly understood and hurried to give his captain a thumbs-up. Praising someone else while still finding room to boost himself-what an artful speaker his captain was!
Takenori Akagi created space, growled, and turned to throw down a dunk.
Just then, Miuradai captain Kengo Murasame charged over. He looked as though he was going for a block, but instead drove his elbow hard into Akagi's neck!
Akagi flinched in pain, and the ball flew out of his hands.
Murasame was called for a foul.
After landing, Akagi clutched his neck with a pained expression. That hit had clearly been a hard one.
Murasame raised his hand to acknowledge the foul, but flashed Akagi a grin.
"Sorry about that, Akagi. I'll be more careful next time."
Akagi glared at him and slowly rolled his neck.
He knew perfectly well that the foul had been aimed at him.
They wanted to make him afraid to keep forcing his way inside.
Even giving up a foul was nothing to them.
At worst, people would call them dirty players.
Akagi stepped up to the free-throw line, his neck still aching faintly. His first attempt nearly sailed clean over the rim.
He took a deep breath and sank the second.
Over the next few possessions, the Miuradai players seemed to have received some sort of signal.
Their movements suddenly became much rougher.
Although they were called for several fouls in succession, the effect was obvious.
Shohoku began holding back, instinctively shying away from physical contact.
As a result, Miuradai had even more room to operate on both ends.
Only Akagi still dared to attack inside, but with the rest of the team struggling, the opposition simply freed up three men to swarm him!
A few possessions later,
Kengo Murasame faced Kogure on the wing,
dribbling toward the other side as he looked for a screen.
Thud!
Hiroshi Takatsu suddenly stepped in. Kogure couldn't dodge in time and was knocked stumbling to the floor.
Murasame seized the opening for an uncontested jumper, adding another two points.
21-6!
Ten minutes into the game, Shohoku was already down by fifteen!
Kengo Murasame glanced up at the scoreboard and shook his head, dissatisfied.
"I said we'd finish this game in ten minutes. We're only up fifteen. That's nowhere near enough!"
His words nearly sent the Shohoku bench into an uproar.
Sakuragi, Miyagi, and Hisashi Mitsui glared, their teeth almost cracking from how hard they clenched them.
"Who the hell does that bastard think he is?!"
"Finish the game in ten minutes? I've never heard anyone talk that big in my life!"
"All you can do is run into people. Wait until I get out there-I'll show you what violence is!"
By comparison, Shirasawa seemed much calmer...
At this rate, Coach Anzai probably wouldn't be able to stay seated much longer.
It wasn't that he didn't believe the players on the court could close the gap,
but mainly that he feared for the reserve lineup's mindset.
If the gap widened further, these second-years might begin doubting themselves in the future, which would do their development no good.
Sure enough,
Coach Anzai turned to look at them.
Sakuragi and the others lit up and sprang to their feet.
On the court, Takenori Akagi finally found an opening,
fighting through a triple-team to seize an offensive rebound!
After landing, he lifted the ball in a pump fake and sent two defenders into the air.
Only Kengo Murasame remained tight against him.
Akagi let out a furious roar!
Even Murasame was shaken by his forcefulness.
When he reached out to stop him, he unconsciously held back some of his strength.
But Akagi was unstoppable now!
He swung his arms up and hammered the ball toward the hoop!
With a slap, Murasame's hand struck Akagi's arm.
But it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Crash!!
Akagi threw down a two-handed dunk!
The rim shook wildly under his grip.
The referee's whistle sounded at the same time.
"Miuradai, number four. Defensive foul."
"The basket counts. One additional free throw!"
That dunk set the stands ablaze.
Miuradai had been playing smoothly, but there hadn't been much to watch.
Nothing more than jump shots and uncontested layups.
Under their rough play, Shohoku's defense had gone soft, with even physical contests becoming rare.
The game had been lukewarm throughout.
At last, there was something satisfying to see!
"Beautiful! That's the dunk I've been waiting for! So dominant!"
"Even watching it scared me! That number four tugged his arm and still couldn't stop him!"
"Shohoku really does have to rely on Akagi!"
"Akagi! Give us another!!"
On the bench, amid the cheers filling the gym, Coach Anzai suddenly gave a gentle smile...
Then he slowly turned his head back again...
"Damn it! That Gorilla! He just had to pick now to show off!" Hanamichi Sakuragi clutched his head and wailed.
Thanks to Akagi's dunk, Shohoku finally regained some morale.
They began trading blows with Miuradai.
The game reached the fifteenth minute of the first half.
Shohoku trailed 20-35.
The gap was still fifteen points.
But the second-years on the court had regained their confidence.
They felt that if they had played like this from the start,
they would never have fallen so far behind!
Coach Anzai nodded on the sidelines.
Seeing that the time was about right,
he calmly said, "Warm up."
Sakuragi and the others immediately grinned.
"What do we need to warm up for, old man? We're ready to go anytime!"
"Ho ho ho~ Then go straight in. Tie the score before the first half ends."
Even Ayako froze for a moment at Coach Anzai's words.
Only five minutes remained, and they were down fifteen. To tie it, they would have to score like crazy without conceding. These guys were strong, but wasn't that far too little time...?
Just then, Shirasawa gave a soft chuckle.
"We'll take the lead."
Tweet...
The referee blew his whistle as the ball went out of bounds.
Shohoku requested substitutions.
Shirasawa led the four of them onto the court together, replacing another four!
The move left the spectators staring in surprise.
Most of them didn't actually know Shohoku's lineup and had assumed those on the court were the starters.
The few who had read Basketball Weekly only knew, at most, that Shirasawa had yet to play.
They figured his offense probably wasn't good enough.
But with four players coming in and four coming out, was Shohoku giving up?
Yet Takenori Akagi was still on the court!
Could it be... that the earlier lineup had been fake starters?
And this was the real deal?!
"Hahaha! The men who represent victory have arrived! Open your eyes and watch!"
Hanamichi Sakuragi stood on the court with his hands on his hips and shouted.
In the stands, Yohei and the others immediately rose to whip up the atmosphere, hollering at Shirasawa and the others.
Hikoichi Aida was so excited he bounced on his feet.
"Sakuragi-senpai!! I'm over here! Show me your talent!!"
Coach Taoka's face turned green. He couldn't take it anymore.
"Sit down! If you like him that much, just go to Shohoku!"
On the court, Takenori Akagi swept his gaze over the four troublemakers.
He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting, and even his heartbeat quickened.
Only now had the strongest Shohoku truly begun!
Akagi swept his big hand forward.
"All right! The game officially starts now!"
"Hmph. What a show."
Kengo Murasame looked utterly disdainful.
He didn't know about the others, but he knew Kiminobu Kogure.
Shohoku's vice-captain and an unshakable starter.
There was no way anyone at Shohoku could replace him.
It was nothing more than an ordinary substitution.
"Don't let Akagi bluff you! There are only five minutes left in the first half. Go all out and hit them hard!"
Play resumed.
Shohoku inbounded from the sideline.
Shirasawa received the ball at the top of the arc, facing Kazuo Araki.
In the stands, Uozumi watched the matchup and shook his head.
"Shirasawa's passing will tear Miuradai's defense apart any moment now. Akagi was right. The game is only truly starting now."
"Hmph. He got to look cool."
Sendoh finally took an interest too, setting down the art book in his hands and turning his gaze to Shirasawa.
"I'm curious how he'll pass on his first possession."
Tap, tap.
Shirasawa dribbled, his eyes sweeping over the half court.
Just as he had when guarding Yasuda, Kazuo Araki picked his moment and lunged forward! He wanted to steal the ball outright.
But Shirasawa remained unhurried. In his eyes, Kazuo Araki was moving practically in slow motion.
Just as Kazuo Araki was about to touch the ball,
Shirasawa swept it back with his dribbling hand and spun with the motion, beating him cleanly.
Then he took a lateral step beyond the three-point line, gathered the ball in both hands, and sprang lightly into the air.
"Is this...?!"
"He's going to shoot?!"
In an instant, everyone on the Ryonan team widened their eyes!
Not just Ryonan-even the entire Shohoku team was stunned!
Shirasawa was going to shoot??!
It was utterly unexpected!
He hadn't taken a single shot in two practice games,
doing nothing but feeding his teammates.
Yet today, having just come onto the court, he was going to shoot on his very first touch?!
Under everyone's astonished gazes,
Shirasawa flicked his wrist, sending the basketball flying toward the hoop.
Takenori Akagi even forgot to go for the rebound. He simply stood with his head tilted back, staring fixedly at the ball.
The basketball arced over everyone's heads,
and dropped cleanly through the hoop!
A three-pointer!
At that moment, both Shohoku and Ryonan fell silent.
It was as though they had witnessed some kind of miracle.
Coach Anzai adjusted his glasses.
"Xiao Bai is finally willing to show his edge. Ho ho ho."
Everyone on the bench froze, then turned to look at him.
Right, hadn't Coach Anzai said long ago that Xiao Bai could do more than just pass?!
Now that the prefectural tournament had begun, was Xiao Bai finally going to get serious?!