After scoring, Shirasawa clenched his hands and smiled in satisfaction.
My shooting touch feels great...
The entire Shohoku team was so excited they did not know how to express their delight!
They wanted to rush over as a team and toss Shirasawa into the air...
Takenori Akagi ran past Shirasawa on his way back to defend, unable to hide his excitement either.
"Nice shot!"
Akagi knew that Shirasawa's passing alone could raise the team several levels.
If his offense got going too, the possibilities were simply unimaginable!
He always controlled the whole court, with his teammates serving as weapons in his hands.
But the deadliest weapon was actually Shirasawa himself!
Shirasawa's offense was the fifth gun in his own hands!
After all this waiting, Shirasawa was finally willing to reveal it. How could Akagi not be excited?
The Miuradai players were a little baffled.
Wasn't it just a three-pointer...?
Was Shohoku really that easily impressed? Why were they all so excited?
No wonder they were weak. There was a reason for it...
Possession changed hands.
Kazuo Araki advanced with the ball, but Shirasawa pressed up against him before he even crossed half-court.
Without a word, Shirasawa went straight into physical defense!
He thrust out his chest and spread his arms slightly, leaving Kazuo Araki unable to move an inch.
His hands were busy too. Spotting an opening, Shirasawa swiped the ball away!
Startled, Kazuo Araki turned to retrieve it, but he was completely outmatched physically. The contact knocked him off balance, and he landed sitting on the floor.
The Miuradai players had not even crossed half-court before possession had changed hands.
With the steal secured, Shirasawa dribbled straight toward the basket!
He charged past the free-throw line and launched himself upward with astonishing explosiveness, his entire body seeming to spring off the floor.
He swung his arm in a full arc and slammed the ball down!
A one-handed tomahawk dunk!
The gym erupted instantly.
"Great play!!!"
"That guy's a beast! He plays so ferociously!"
"He dunks even harder than Akagi! And look where he jumped from! That's so far from the basket!"
"Shirasawa! That's the Shirasawa from Basketball Weekly!"
Haruko Akagi's eyes went round, and her mouth fell open without her realizing it.
That dunk seemed to land straight on her heart, jolting it so hard it nearly stopped beating.
"That was incredible... Xiao Bai really is incredible!"
Beside her, Yohei Mito heard her cry out and turned to see her expression, looking a little puzzled.
"Haruko, why are you acting like this is your first time seeing it? Didn't he dunk all the time when he trained Sakuragi? Some were even crazier than that."
Haruko Akagi froze for a moment.
"Huh? Xiao Bai has never dunked during team practice! Even my brother hasn't seen him do it!"
"Could he... could he have been hiding his strength all along?"
25-35.
In less than twenty seconds, Shohoku had clawed back five points.
In those same twenty seconds, Shirasawa had made everyone see him anew.
Including his teammates.
Their hearts, already full of anticipation for this year, now practically leaped into their throats.
That thunderous dunk also set the tone for the key players on the court.
Their fighting spirit spread uncontrollably.
"Keep defending! Get the next stop!"
Takenori Akagi sank into a low, wide stance, guarding the paint.
Miuradai attacked again.
Shirasawa maintained his full-court pressure.
Kazuo Araki was harried into a fluster and hurriedly passed the ball away.
But just as the ball crossed half-court, a red blur streaked over!
He suddenly appeared in front of Murasame and intercepted the ball.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from Murasame's sight again.
Miyagi immediately launched a fast break, threading a pass straight to Shirasawa at the free-throw line.
Facing Kazuo Araki, Shirasawa swept past him the instant he caught the ball, sending himself and the ball past opposite sides and changing direction in a sharp zigzag.
The ball flew straight toward the right wing at a forty-five-degree angle.
The player arrived with the ball.
Hisashi Mitsui arrived right on cue, caught it, bent his knees, jumped, and released a three-pointer.
The sequence flowed as if it had been rehearsed countless times.
The moment the ball left his hands, Mitsui's lips curved into a confident smile.
"This is who I am. Hisashi Mitsui."
Swish!
Nothing but net.
After scoring, Mitsui raised a hand and pointed at Shirasawa.
Coach Anzai had been right. This guy's passing was in a class of its own.
As long as he got to a good spot, the ball would arrive comfortably in his hands.
Shirasawa smiled and exchanged a high five with Mitsui.
Another ten seconds had passed.
Shohoku had taken another three points.
On the sidelines, Kiminobu Kogure clenched his fists in excitement.
"A fifteen-point deficit..."
"They erased more than half of it in thirty seconds! Thirty seconds!"
"This is what our army of problem children can do!"
"This is our Shohoku this year!"
The bench erupted too. No one remained seated; everyone stood and cheered.
Coach Anzai merely smiled faintly.
"This is only the beginning."
"That bastard..."
In the stands, Kaede Rukawa's gaze turned cold.
His Ryonan teammates had probably all but forgotten he was there.
Kaede Rukawa had always been quiet and barely communicated with his teammates.
Even now, at least half the team had never spoken to him.
But that was simply his personality, not his teammates excluding him.
On the contrary, they all acknowledged his ability.
Now, however, the usually silent Kaede Rukawa had uncharacteristically uttered a curse.
Because Shirasawa's performance had thoroughly enraged him.
Yes, simply because Shirasawa had taken shots.
One three-pointer, one dunk.
Two ways of scoring told everyone: it was not that he could not attack, but that he did not want to.
"I beat you without even attacking."
Those words started circling through his mind again.
Judging by those two baskets, Shirasawa's offensive ability was definitely no worse than his own.
Those words... had actually been true.
The person he had always considered his rival had never taken him seriously at all.
Only now, at the prefectural tournament, had the guy started showing what he could do.
That undoubtedly dealt another heavy blow to Kaede Rukawa's pride.
Shirasawa was like a mountain standing before him. Every time he thought he was almost at the summit, he looked up...
And the damn mountain had grown taller again.
28-35.
Only now did the Miuradai players finally realize something was wrong.
The players Shohoku had brought on were nothing like the group that had gone off!
Kengo Murasame glanced at the scoreboard, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Everyone, settle down! You're playing too loosely!"
"Focus, all of you! Make this possession count!"
As captain, Murasame was not a top-tier individual player, but his words carried considerable weight on the team. His authority differed from Akagi's or Uozumi's; it was somewhat like Shirasawa's back at Yokota. His teammates were all a little afraid of him.
His shout put the other Miuradai players on edge, and they dared not be careless again.
They advanced into the frontcourt. Having learned their lesson, they used screens and passes to counter Shohoku's pressure. Although the ball crossed half-court, they could not find a good opportunity and did not even dare dribble more than a few times. The physical advantage they had enjoyed earlier amounted to nothing against Shirasawa and the others.
With the offense about to stall, Kengo Murasame stepped up himself. He established position against Sakuragi on the right wing at forty-five degrees and held out a hand for the ball.
But Sakuragi was no pushover either. With the advantage in height and strength, he turned and sealed Murasame behind him, completely cutting off the passing lane.
"You think you can score on a genius like me?"
Murasame was in no hurry. Instead, he smiled.
Then he pinched Sakuragi hard on the waist!
Sakuragi straightened abruptly as if shocked by electricity. Unable to tolerate that kind of provocation, he turned and shoved Murasame.
But Murasame went down like a kite with its string cut, hitting the floor in a flash.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Sakuragi roared furiously.
Kengo Murasame lay there looking innocent, spreading his hands at Sakuragi in bewilderment...
It looked utterly natural, without the slightest trace of acting.
The referee immediately blew the whistle and called a foul on Sakuragi.
Sakuragi's eyes went wide. "He pinched me first! Didn't you see?"
The referee ignored him and gestured for Sakuragi to shut up and accept the call. Still, the referee could not entirely be blamed; Murasame's underhanded move had been far too well concealed. There was only one referee per game in the prefectural tournament's group stage, and one pair of eyes was not enough to begin with.
Sakuragi looked thoroughly unconvinced but could only accept it for now. Fortunately, Shohoku was not yet over the foul limit, so Miuradai inbounded from the sideline again.
In fact, from their very first physical contact, Murasame had known he would gain no advantage in a battle of strength. So he had changed tactics-the previous guy had been easier to handle than this redhead. Then he would find a way to get the redhead off the court!
On this possession, Kengo Murasame slipped behind Sakuragi again.
Sakuragi frowned, every muscle in his body tensing.
"You're trying those dirty tricks again!"
Murasame ignored him, shifting his target from the upper body to the legs. He drove his knee forward imperceptibly, striking a nerve in Sakuragi's thigh.
Sakuragi could not help stumbling forward.
Murasame took the opportunity to shake him off, receive the pass, and sink a jumper for two points. After scoring, he even raised his eyebrows smugly at Sakuragi.
Sakuragi's anger flared instantly.
"You bastard!"
"Ref! He's been fouling this whole time! Can't you see?"
The referee gave Sakuragi an impatient glance, but Sakuragi showed no sign of stopping.
"Are you in on it with him?!"
The referee frowned, his hand already reaching for the whistle at his chest.
Takenori Akagi hurried over and threw an arm around Sakuragi.
"Idiot! Shut up!"
He nodded apologetically to the referee, who finally lowered his hand.
"You moron! You almost got a technical! What are you yelling for?!"
Sakuragi broke free of Akagi and said through gritted teeth, "That number four keeps pulling dirty tricks! The second I fight back, he calls a foul on me!"
Akagi glanced at Murasame in the frontcourt, his expression darkening. Sakuragi was usually unreliable, but this time Akagi believed him. He had experienced Kengo Murasame's dirty tricks himself.
"I understand. Sakuragi, remember, he's trying to provoke you. Don't fall for it."
"Next time, try to keep your distance. Just contest him a little."
Hanamichi Sakuragi suppressed his anger and nodded.
Shohoku attacked.
Shirasawa caught the ball and immediately accelerated. After crossing half-court to face Kazuo Araki, he abruptly pulled the ball up, shifted his weight, and sent Araki stumbling with a crossover.
Without breaking stride, he kept driving inside!
When help defense met him at the three-point line, he pulled the ball behind his back while turning sideways, slipping right past the defender's face.
Past two defenders in succession, he charged straight into the paint.
Kawasaki, the center, gritted his teeth and stepped up, determined to stop Shirasawa at this last line of defense!
Shirasawa's eyes flashed, and he suddenly rose up and tossed the ball.
The release was so sudden that Kawasaki had no time to react.
When he turned his head, Takenori Akagi had already leaped into the air beneath the basket.
Just as he reached the peak of his jump, the ball dropped right into his hands.
Takenori Akagi looked as though he had a grudge against the rim as he swung both arms in a full arc and slammed the ball in!