The outcome of this competition was never in doubt from the day the county tournament group list was announced.
Everyone agrees that at least two conditions must be met to challenge Kainan.
First, the team must be exceptionally united, and every position must be highly skilled.
Secondly, in addition to this, we also need one or two top-tier star players.
Therefore, over the years, only Shoyo has been qualified to challenge Kainan.
In other words, without a player of Fujima's caliber on the team, they're just handing points to Kainan.
Clearly, Takezono is not qualified.
Even their girls think so.
Today, Takezono is essentially fighting alone.
Hanamichi Sakuragi scoffed at the game, yelling, " Kainan is nothing special. It's not as exaggerated as you guys make it out to be. They're only leading by 30 points."
The score was 89-53, with Kainan leading by 36 points.
There are a little over seven minutes left in the game.
No wonder Sakuragi said that; Shohoku had already won by more than 40 points in their practice match against Takezono.
At that time, the team didn't have Hisashi Mitsui yet, and Shirasawa didn't even make a move.
Compared to Hainan, Shohoku seems much Kainan.
As Sakuragi made his wild analysis, the entire Shohoku team stood in the stands.
Kogure pushed up his glasses and chuckled, " Sakuragi, things aren't as simple as you think."
"Look at the bench in Kainan, Shinichi Maki, Jin, and Kazuma Takasago, none of them have broken a sweat."
"I guess they only played for a few minutes, that's about it."
Just then, Ayako rushed over.
As soon as she entered the room, she went to find the technical statistics department to do data analysis for everyone.
Perhaps because Shirasawa used to love looking at data, Ayako handed it to him without thinking.
The moment he handed it over, Shirasawa secretly gave her soft little hand a good squeeze.
Ayako shuddered, as if she had been electrocuted.
Shirasawa, however, acted as if nothing had happened and began reading the data to everyone.
Ayako felt both ashamed and angry, and she was determined to find a chance to get back at him.
" Shinichi Maki, 4 points."
" Soichiro Jin, 6 points."
" Kazuma Takasago, 4 points."
All three players had the same playing time, five minutes each.
Takenori Akagi nodded. "Yeah, pretty much as we guessed. Kainan defeated Takezono with their second-string lineup."
Hanamichi Sakuragi stammered anxiously, "How many points... how many did Oda get?"
This is definitely what Sakuragi cares about most.
Even though Yohei had told him that Yoko had been in the Shohoku audience seats the entire game.
In the game against Shoyo, Sakuragi recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Especially with 15 rebounds, the significance of that achievement would be significantly higher if the opponent was Shoyo.
Every one of Shoyo's inside players was taller than Sakuragi, and he grabbed every rebound with his bare hands.
Oda and Sakuragi are no longer on the same level.
However, different playing styles mean that data alone cannot determine who is more important.
Oda currently has 21 points and 5 rebounds, and the game isn't over yet, so his stats are likely to improve further.
However, as Takezono's ace, he had unlimited shooting rights. Facing Kainan's second team, he only managed this result, and the team was still more than 30 points behind. No matter how you look at it, it was a failure.
Sakuragi probably couldn't understand all these twists and turns.
Shirasawa simply changed his wording.
" Sakuragi, on the court, it's all about winning and losing. Once we crush Kainan in the next game, someone like Oda won't even be worthy of comparing himself to you."
"Actually, he's not qualified yet. You're the Rebound King of Kanagawa, while he... he'll soon be a defeated general."
Hanamichi Sakuragi stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then nodded with a serious expression.
"Well, to put it simply, Oda is trash."
The game has become one-sided.
Kainan continued to widen the gap, and after a ball went out of bounds, Nobunaga Kiyota was substituted.
The only starting player remaining on the field is Tadashi Muto, who is known for his defense.
Tatsumasa Oda shouted defiantly, "Cheer up! There's still a chance! Give me the ball!"
Upon hearing this, Tadashi Muto shrugged dismissively.
"Face reality, you're doomed. This is Kainan's second line of defense. Surrender now so I can finally rest."
Oda immediately flew into a rage. "What did you say?!"
That's incredibly insulting.
Even if Oda scores 50 points in the end, he will at most be labeled as "stat padding".
However, Tadashi Muto's "finishing blow" wasn't over yet.
"Don't glare at me. If you're not happy, I don't mind getting serious and making sure you don't get a single point from now on."
With the outcome of the match already decided, the bickering became the only interesting thing on the field.
Jin watched with great interest from the sidelines.
"This counts as indirectly facing off against Shohoku, right? I heard they played a practice match against Takezono."
From the moment the Shohoku Team stepped onto the court, Kainan already knew who would advance from Group C.
However, this was expected, so there's nothing surprising about it.
In other words, Shinichi Maki would feel a little regret for Fujima, his equally renowned rival.
"Coach, can I go up and play for a little longer?" Nobunaga Kiyota ran to Riki Takato's side and pleaded unwillingly.
This was his debut match, and his performance was actually quite impressive.
He played 25 minutes and scored 27 points.
But it depends on who you're comparing it to.
Both being rookies, Kaede Rukawa scored 46 points, while Shirasawa was even more impressive, with 51 points and 13 assists.
Compared to this, Kiyota appears somewhat lackluster...
So he desperately wanted to raise his score even higher, even if it was just over 30 points.
Riki Takato was well aware of this rivalry among the newcomers.
He could have easily put Kiyota on the field; Kiyota is capable of racking up 30+ or even 40+ points in this match.
Let the newlyweds in Kainan also have a moment of glory.
But he refused.
In his eyes, Kiyota represents the future of Kainan.
Kainan has always been strict in selecting new talents.
Every year, a large number of junior high school players come for tryouts, hoping to join this champion team and become part of the legend.
But in the end, very few remain, sometimes not even one.
After all, Kainan prefers quality over quantity.
Even if Kanagawa doesn't produce local talent, they can recruit from other prefectures; Kainan is a nationally renowned team.
If you want to defeat the Sannoh or rise above others, joining Kainan is the fastest shortcut.
Of course, they also missed out on some talented individuals because they were too strong.
Not everyone will choose "if you can't beat them, join them."
Those who truly have the potential to become star athletes often prefer challenges.
Therefore, Kainan's strength is not solely due to Shinichi Maki; their overall roster depth is also quite formidable.
This is Shinichi Maki's final year at high school.
Kainan needs to cultivate a successor this year, someone who can carry the banner of Kainan and continue to move forward after Shinichi Maki graduates.
The successor chosen by Riki Takato was Nobunaga Kiyota!
Kiyota also attended Kanagawa Middle School, but he was on a relatively unknown team, so you can imagine how low the team's overall level was.
This directly resulted in him not receiving much attention.
But Riki Takato noticed his difference.
Kiyota became the only newcomer this year to be valued by Riki Takato.
Even Kaede Rukawa, who dominated in middle school, was excluded from the plan.
Because the future leader of Kainan cannot be just a simple scorer.
Riki Takato saw the shadow of Shinichi Maki in Kiyota.
However, Kiyota is still too inexperienced.
Riki Takato wanted to help him gradually settle down and become a true ruler.
Preventing Kiyota from competing with his peers, Shirasawa Kaede Rukawa, was also part of the plan.
After all, Kiyota doesn't yet possess the individual offensive capabilities of those two.
Blindly comparing yourself to others will only undermine your confidence.
Riki Takato wants him to understand is the culture of winning.
Dominance isn't just about scoring. Take Shinichi Maki, for example. His scoring ability is undeniable, but he never won the scoring title during his two years in Kainan.
He did win MVP twice.
The team's fourteen-year winning streak has now extended to sixteen.
That's the key point.
What Riki Takato needs is a well-rounded leader who can lead the team to victory.
Of course, Shirasawa seems more suitable no matter how you look at it... Besides, he's already a finished product.
Riki Takato could only sigh inwardly, feeling it was a pity that the old fox Mitsuyoshi Anzai had figured it out in just fifty seconds.
Let's get back to the competition.
When the final whistle blew, Nobunaga Kiyota hadn't gotten a single second more playing time.
In this first round of the Best Newcomer competition, Kiyota was left far behind.
He had no choice but to swallow his frustration and wait for the semi-finals to prove himself.
Kainan easily secured the final spot in the semifinals with a score of 125-73.
The team didn't seem particularly excited; they felt it was only natural.
On the other side, Oda was crying her eyes out.
His first season of high school ended just like that.
From the crushing defeat to Shohoku in the practice match to the final blow by Kainan's second team, their journey began.
Oda's performance has been declining steadily; it seems there's no limit to how bad it can get.
The entire Takezono team was utterly disappointed with this nominal captain.
Going forward, he is definitely not the future that Takezono is counting on.
On the Shohoku side, Takenori Akagi also led his team out of the arena.
This trip gave them a deeper understanding of Kainan's strength.
However, the team members no longer felt uncertain or panicked like they did before playing against Shoyo.
Because Shohoku is now a team not to be trifled with!
Taking down Kainan has become their latest target.
Upon leaving the stadium, Akagi announced the immediate disbandment of the team.
We're giving everyone two days off. We'll resume training early the day after tomorrow to prepare for the semifinals!
With two days of rest, everyone can guess that the day after tomorrow will be a brutal training session...
Ayako pulled Shirasawa aside again, her reason quite straightforward.
"You just squeezed my hand, so it's not too much to ask you to go shopping with me, is it?"
Shirasawa was quite amused. Of course, it wasn't excessive; a handshake while strolling around town, and if it were somewhere else, he might even get a free meal...
Miyagi also dragged Sakuragi away, saying he would accompany him to the county hospital to see Rena, ostensibly to exchange dating experiences.
Hanamichi Sakuragi eagerly followed along; he's currently seeking advice everywhere in his quest to catch up with Yoko at the final hurdle.
The members of Shohoku went their separate ways.