The direction of the competition between Shohoku High School and Xiangyang High School did not go beyond the expectations of Jinguji Martial Arts.
Just as Budao expected from the beginning, the arrogant Sakuragi Hanamichi and others soon suffered in Xiangyang's hands. Xiangyang High School, with an average height of over 185cm, does a very good job defensively.
Nobunaga Kiyota did not strictly implement the triangle offensive tactics arranged by coach Anzai. He missed a three-pointer with the ball, and then relied on his excellent speed to hit two more, but was blocked by Xiangyang's inside line. Come down.
The quality of Shoyang's players is far from comparable to that of a team of Miuradai's caliber. Kiyota Nobunaga treats his opponents as the kind of trash fish that Miuradai is, and it is inevitable that they will suffer defeat.
However, after several rounds of offensive failures in Shohoku, the players did not seem to learn their lesson. Sakuragi Hanamichi felt that he was better than Kiyota Nobunaga, and launched a one-stop single attack after grabbing a backcourt rebound. But it is a pity that his single quick move was destroyed by the Xiangyang people who returned to defense in time.
After several consecutive losses, Xiangbei failed to score a point.
On the contrary, Xiangyang performed very calmly on the offensive end, making full use of the height of the players and using the pick-and-roll to create short-term open shots.
When the game lasted 5 minutes, Xiangyang High School once led 12:0 and achieved a true zero-block against Xiangbei High School.
In the stadium, it was the offensive round of Xiangbei.
Kiyota Nobunaga looked at the 12:0 disparity on the courtside scoreboard and broke into a cold sweat. He no longer dared to look at the expressions of Coach Anzai, Jinguji Martial Arts and others on the sidelines.
The score difference was widened to double digits, and even Shohoku was still without a clean sheet. No matter how slow Nobunaga Kiyota was, he realized that these first-year players were screwed.
"Something is going wrong!"
"The score difference is already double digits, and we haven't been able to score even a single offense so far."
"Although I don't know what coach Anxi's performance is now, but I also know that he may have the intention to kill us now."
"The Akagi-senpai and Mitsui-senpai who have been looking at me have not said a word... This is the most terrifying thing!"
"This goal must be scored no matter what."
Nobunaga Kiyota slowly entered the frontcourt with the ball. After a quick glance at the scoreboard, he immediately observed Xiangyang's defense and did not dare to look at Coach Anzai's face.
Although Coach Anzai has not reprimanded them so far, and even captain Hisashi Mitsui has not said much, Kiyota Nobunaga knows that the more silent Mitsui Hisashi and others say, the more terrifying the anger accumulated in their hearts will be.
The situation must be restored to calm the anger of the coach and seniors!
"Rukawa Kaede!"
Kiyota Nobunaga rarely called Rukawa Kaede's name, and after entering the frontcourt, he finally gave the ball to Rukawa Kaede. After the basketball was released, Nobunaga Kiyota quickly penetrated the inside, and Xiangyang reacted quickly when he saw this, shrinking the defense. Realizing that there was no chance, Nobunaga Kiyota quickly left the inside and went to the left corner.
At the same time, Sakuragi Hanamichi also moved to the left free throw line. With his back against the defender, he reached for the ball towards Rukawa Kaede.
Unlike Qingtian who knew what was going on, Sakuragi Hanadao... didn't force him to count.
However, although Sakuragi could not recognize himself, Rukawa Kaede was one of the calmest people in Shohoku High School. He and Katsumi Ichiro were excluded from the offensive sequence in the previous round of attacks, and the inside attacks of Sakuragi, Kiyota, and Nango were all interfered with and intercepted by the Shoyang coefficient.
Rukawa Kaede firmly believes that he is the only one who can break this deadlock!
"After playing for so long, Rukawa Kaede finally got a chance to get the ball."
"I don't know how Shohoku arranged the offensive tactics. Only now did the ball get to Rukawa Kaede."
"If we let those first-years continue to mess around, I'm afraid Xiangbei won't even be able to cross Xiangyang."
In the stands, Uozumi, who was watching the game, saw Rukawa Kaede holding the ball and said in a low voice. He is really worried about Xiangbei. According to Xiangbei's previous style of play, I am afraid that Xiangbei will not be included in this year's national competition.
"Haha, Xiangbei just has more pricks on its head."
"Xiangyang can't be Shobei's opponent. If someone wipes their butts, those first years will never lose to Xiangyang no matter how much trouble they make."
"In my opinion, Xiangyang is not necessarily the opponent of those first-year students."
Kenji Fujima, who came from Xiangyang, didn't have a deep affection for the Xiangyang team, so he expressed his thoughts directly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Rukawa Kaede in the field made a quick move.
Opposite Rukawa Kaede is Shoyang's captain, who is 190cm tall and weighs 81kg. Although he is not as explosive as Rukawa Kaede, his physique is also quite outstanding.
Rukawa Kaede, who was holding the ball on the outside, dribbled the ball at a slow pace and with a high center. When the attack time had just passed ten seconds, Rukawa Kaede suddenly started, shortened his body, and accelerated directly to break through from the right side.
Rukawa Kaede's breakthrough came suddenly, but Hasegawa's reaction was also very quick. He moved sideways and directly followed Rukawa Kaede's footsteps. Rukawa Kaede's breakthrough was disturbed, and he leaned sideways directly against Hasegawa's chest, slowing down. .
Realizing that he couldn't get past his opponent in one step, Rukawa Kaede simply stopped suddenly, dribbled quickly with his hips, and changed the direction of attack. After mobilizing Hasegawa's release, he suddenly reversed his luck and successfully passed Hasegawa in disguise. Rush directly towards the inside line.
】
"Motor motor~~"
However, Rukawa Kaede, who had just broken through Hasegawa, heard loud shouts from behind. At the same time, the Xiangyang team members guarding the inside also stepped up to double-team. For a moment, Rukawa Kaede's shooting space was sharply compressed.
"Hmph!" Rukawa Kaede glanced at his side with his peripheral vision, and saw that Hasegawa had not caught up yet, and the defensive inside line was still some distance away from him, so he took action decisively.
While dribbling, he picked the basketball toward the basket in a "fishing for the moon under the sea" gesture.
"Um?!"
"Is it a pass?!"
When the basketball was released, everyone in Xiangyang was stunned when they saw it, and turned to look at the basket. They guessed that Rukawa Kaede's posture for releasing the ball should be a pass. At the same time, Xiangyang, who originally stepped forward to cover up the defense, changed his direction inside and quickly ran towards the basket.
"Snapped!"
"Uh-huh!"
However, a soft sound of hitting the board and a crisp sound of basketball brushing the net brought everyone back to reality.
Rukawa Kaede's shooting posture is actually a shooting!
"What?!"
"Shooting?! In that position? He actually made it?"
The basketball hit the net, and everyone in Xiangyang on the court was stunned. When they came back to their senses, they all looked at Rukawa Kaede in disbelief.
Rukawa Kaede, who successfully scored a goal, had a blank look on his face. After confirming that the basketball entered the net, he silently turned his head back to the court to defend, as if he was accustomed to such goals.
"Score! Xiangbei scores!
! "
Cheers erupted from the stands after Rukawa Kaede scored, but the cheers were not enthusiastic. Most of the audience were dissatisfied with Shohoku High School's performance in this game. Many people shouted for Jinguji Budo and Mitsui Hisashi. Waiting for someone to play.
In the eyes of the Kanagawa Prefecture audience, Shohoku is the top team in the country. Like Lingnan, it is their calling card of Kanagawa Prefecture high school basketball.
They didn't allow Shohoku to play that ugly game and ruin Kanagawa Prefecture's reputation.
The double-digit score behind Xiangbei in Xiangyang has already angered these viewers. Rukawa Kaede's goal can only change the views of a small number of viewers.
"Phew... finally scored..."
"Hopefully, we can establish the victory in the first half. If not, we have to make some preparations, Martial Arts."
After Rukawa Kaede scored, Mitsui Hisashi glanced at the time and said in a deep voice.
"Well, of course, if they can establish the victory, of course it is the best. If not, let them play after we have established the victory."
Budo also nodded when he heard this. He and Mitsui had the same idea. In fact, when the score difference reached double digits, Budo wanted Coach Anzai to replace them as starters. In the round-robin format, if two teams have the same number of wins, the points difference will be compared.
Although Budao is full of confidence in Xiangbei's current strength, he does not want to take too many risks.
However, Coach Anzai held them down and planned to let Sakuragi and the others continue to fight.
Regarding Coach Anzai's decision, Budo, Hisashi Mitsui and others can only accept it.
Rukawa Kaede's goal did not bring a "morale boost" to Sakuragi and others. Even if they were behind by more than ten points, their morale was still strong. In the final analysis, the problem with Sakuragi and others was not that they had no morale at all, but that their morale was so high that they became arrogant.
Being behind by more than ten points only woke up Qingda. Sakuragi and Nanxiang's concepts have not yet completely changed.
During the transition between offense and defense, Xiangyang made a strong mid-range shot after several passes. Nagano, who was shooting, withstood Kiyota Nobunaga's defense and sent the ball into the basket.
Soon, the ball was in the hands of Xiangbei again.
This time, Kiyota Nobunaga still chose to give the ball to Rukawa Kaede, and repeated his old tricks, running and holding Xiangyang's defense.
Taking the ball again, Rukawa Kaede gave up the high post singles and instead lobbed the ball to Nango Koichiro in a position under the basket.
"Passed the ball?!"
"I just scored a goal, and now I'm passing it on?!"
Rukawa Kaede's shot surprised the audience in the stands. In their opinion, Rukawa Kaede is one of the most reliable players in the Shohoku team on the field. His high-post singles are more stable than Nango Koichiro in the post. many.
After Rukawa Kaede played the ball, even Nango Koichiro himself was stunned. Although he wanted the position, he never thought that Rukawa Kaede would pass the ball. His more purpose was just to contain Xiangyang's inside line.
After a brief moment of surprise, Nanxiang quickly regained his composure and hit with a low post.
Xiangyang's insider, third-year Shoichi Takano, who is 193cm tall and weighs 85kg, is nothing like the first-year Nango Koichiro.
Although Nango is 192cm tall, weighs 89kg, and is larger than Takano Akira, his bones are not fully developed as he is a grade above Takano Akira, so he is only about the same level as Takano Akira.
Nango did not benefit from two consecutive back-up attacks. Realizing this, he suddenly turned around with the ball and tried to break through Takano Shoichi's blockade. However, his movement was caught by the opponent, and he moved sideways, raised his arms high, and directly blocked Nanxiang.
Nanxiang, who turned around to face the basket, saw that his action was predicted by the opponent. He thought of the several shots near the basket that had been interfered by the opponent before, and glanced at the scoreboard on the sidelines. Looking at the score difference, he couldn't help but beat his heart. Glancing at Katsumi Ichiro, who was in a small space in the bottom corner, he chose to play the ball.
"fool!
"
Takenori Akagi couldn't help but cursed when he saw this scene. He hated that iron cannot become steel. He could see the concerns in Nanxiang's heart. What if the direction of breakthrough defense is predicted? ! Nanxiang's explosive power is stronger than the opponent's. He can just get stronger after a series of fake moves. Why does he need to pass the ball? !
What can such a timid insider do? !
"It's not bad, at least the view is good, isn't it?"
Budo said with a smile. As soon as he finished speaking, Katsumi Ichiro, who was catching the ball in the corner, made a three-pointer with his sword. The Xiangyang player who was guarding him didn't expect it. He just wasn't paying attention. Katsumi Ichiro has already taken a shot, and it seems that his shooting ability is quite good.
14:5.
The score difference finally narrowed to single digits, and the Xiangbei substitutes on the sidelines finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When Shohoku was trailing by two digits just now, the low pressure emanating from the seniors Akagi and Mitsui made everyone hold their breath. At this moment, the atmosphere finally relaxed a little.
However, Mitsui Shou and others still looked unhappy.
"It seems that they are finally able to put aside their contempt and let's go..." Before Mitsui Hisashi finished speaking, Sakuragi Hanamichi on the field was distracted during the defense, allowing Xiangyang to successfully counterattack.
The reason for being distracted is also very simple, just because Haruko said "Come on, Sakuragi!" from the sidelines.
God knows what Sakuragi Hanamichi is thinking in his mind, and he can be distracted in this situation.
Sakuragi was eager to regain the field after realizing that he missed a man. When Shohoku was attacking, he actually intercepted Rukawa Kaede's pass to Nango... and forced a mid-range shot by himself.
The result was of course unsatisfactory. Sakuragi's shooting was indeed a little better, but it was only a little. Under the interference of a tall man like Xiangyang, his shooting was not accurate at all. If Sakuragi had a clear mind now, and Being in an open position, he might be able to score from mid-range, but...
"Dang~" As the sound of the iron was struck, Xiangyang took the rebound into his arms and quickly launched a counterattack.
Although Xiangyang scored a fast break layup, the counterattack horn that Xiangbei had just blown came to an abrupt end.
"Idiot, why did you steal my ball?"
"Idiot, you wasted a great offensive opportunity."
After serving in the backcourt, Nanxiang quickly entered the frontcourt, chattering incessantly as he passed Sakuragi.
Sakuragi is also a pig who is not afraid of boiling water. Although he knows that it is his problem, his ears are strangely closed by themselves, and he cannot hear Nanxiang's words at all. His eyes were firmly fixed on Kiyota who entered the frontcourt with the ball. He reached out for the ball without giving up and even murmured to hypnotize himself:
"I am a genius! I am a genius!"
"I am the future ace of Xiangbei!"
Sakuragi's attitude made Akagi on the sidelines unable to stand it anymore, and said to Coach Anzai:
"Coach, I think...that kid Sakuragi needs to wake up."
When Coach Anxi heard this, he just smiled and made no substitutions.
Jinguji Budo looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi in the field, touched his chin, thought for a moment, raised his eyebrows, stood up from his seat, and shouted to Sakuragi in the field:
"Sakura!
"
"Come on!"
"Girls love to watch explosive slam dunks. Come and dunk one!"
Sure enough, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had his ears closed, instantly opened his ears, and a crazy smile suddenly appeared on his handsome face. Although the smile instantly faded, Budo knew that this kid must have heard it.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was originally in a position, suddenly turned around without the ball. In the blink of an eye, he passed the defender. His movements were smooth and quick, catching people off guard.
"Beautiful!" Sendao, who was watching the game in the stands, saw Sakuragi's turn, his eyes lit up, and he whispered in his heart.
Nobunaga Kiyota, who was on the court, didn't want to pay attention to Hanamichi Sakuragi. At this time, when he saw Sakuragi turning around and cutting without the ball, his body moved unconsciously and threw the ball towards the basket.
Alley-oop.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who successfully invaded the basket, jumped up, grabbed the ball in the air with one hand, and dunked the ball into the net.
The violent slam dunk directly bounced away Takano Shoichi who was trying to block him. The basketball stand shook violently under Sakuragi's huge force and made an overwhelmed squeaking sound.
The audience in the stands who originally didn't pay attention to the martial arts words were now staring at Sakuragi Hanamichi in the field.
Some reporters who had watched Sakuragi play were the first to react, and after whispering, they pressed the shutter of their cameras.
"Very good, that's it...just cross Xiangyang."
Jinguji Budo smiled knowingly, silently walked back to his seat, sat down, held his head in his hands, and looked comfortable, as if the competition in Shohoku had nothing to do with him as the main candidate in Shohoku.
............................
