The first half of the game between Xiangbei High School and Lingnan High School lasted 17 minutes and 30 seconds.
The score between the two teams reached 39:43, with Shohoku High School holding a four-point lead. Not only that, Jinguji Budo also successfully defrauded Sendō into a foul after investing a three-pointer.
At this moment, Jinguji Budo was already standing on the free throw line.
The referee gave the ball to Jinguji Budo, who moved his shoulders and neck, took the ball and dribbled on the spot, and then shot directly. Jinguji Budo's mid-range shot was very accurate, and the front of the basketball hit the net with a crisp sound.
The moment the goal was scored, the supporters of Xiangbei began to cheer. At the same time, the scoreboard on the sidelines jumped. The score of the two teams came to 39:44, and the point difference came to 5 points.
The disadvantage that was almost eliminated by Lingnan High School just now, as Jinguji Budo scored 3+1, was once again pulled to the level of three goals by Shohoku.
A 4-point score difference and a 4-point score difference give people different feelings.
With only two and a half minutes left in the first half, Shinomiya glanced at the scoreboard and ran towards the frontcourt silently.
Lingnan's goal in the first half is to smooth out the disadvantage. Ideally, it can also take some lead and carry the lead into the second half.
Shinomiya has clearly seen the situation on the court and has no hope of completely shutting down Shohoku's offense. All he can think about now is to block Jinguji Budo from getting the ball.
Shinomiya Tano knew that as long as he could do such a thing, Xiangbei's offensive would suddenly collapse!
"Jinguji martial arts has really improved a lot over the years, and the ability to fight physically has also improved."
"Although I can still break through him, the strength and physical energy required are not at the same level as before."
"Now that the game has progressed, Jinguji Budo's hit rate has not dropped at all due to the fierce physical confrontation. This guy is getting more and more terrifying."
Shinomiya trotted into the frontcourt. When he was approaching the three-point line, Shinomiya looked at Jinguji Budo who was defending near the three-point line and thought to himself.
At this point in the game, Shinomiya's jersey has already been soaked with sweat, and fine beads of sweat are constantly leaking from his forehead, sliding down his cheeks to his chin. Shinomiya glanced sideways at Fujima's position, grabbed the collar of his jersey with one hand and wiped the sweat from his chin.
Then when Jinguji Budo came up to defend, he swayed without the ball. He made a fake move to the right and quickly seized the gap and penetrated Jinguji Budo's defense and cut inside.
"This guy!" Shinomiya was very fast. The moment he made an air cut, Fujima, who was holding the ball on the outside, directly lobbed the ball inside.
Shinomiya successfully caught the ball in the middle distance, and at the moment he picked up the ball, Jinguji Budo's figure had already bypassed him and came to him. Shinomiya quickly dropped the ball sideways, and his body hit Jinguji Budō hard. After pushing Jinguji Budō back, Shinomiya shot directly with a small hook from the side of the basket.
The basketball hit the board at a 45° angle and hit the net, making a crisp sound.
The scoreboard on the sidelines jumped. The score between the two teams reached 41:44, and the point difference was narrowed to three points.
"Beautiful! Fields!"
"Good shot!"
"Good news, Fujima."
Shinomiya, who scored the goal, left the Shohoku inside line and started running towards the front court amid the encouragement of Sendō and Fujima. Shinomiya, Sendō and Fujima celebrated with high-fives, and gave Fujima a thumbs up. .
The harmonious team atmosphere makes it impossible to feel that Lingnan is the lagging side.
The difference from Xiangbei is that although Lingnan is the lagging side, the pressure on the players is much less than that of Xiangbei. Every time Lingnan scores a goal, the players can see the point difference narrowing, and this thrill of chasing points stimulates each of them.
Chasing such an immediate goal can completely mobilize the enthusiasm of the players.
Looking back at Xiangbei, every goal scored by Lingnan was a blow to Xiangbei. When the young Sakuragi saw the opponent's goal, he covered his head and screamed in annoyance.
Although it is just an inconsequential complaint, this kind of emotion will inevitably affect the team's morale.
"The pressure of being chased for points is too great. No matter how strong the players in Xiangbei are, they are still just high school students."
"It doesn't matter if we don't catch up in the first half. As long as we stick to the score, Xiangbei will collapse on its own."
Coach Tian Gang glanced at the scoreboard and had a smile on his face. Although the team is lagging behind, Coach Tianoka is not anxious at all. The first half is not over yet. What is the difference between this point difference and nothing?
However, the Shohoku players will consume their physical energy at an accelerated pace due to pressure. If this snowball continues, the main force of Shohoku will collapse in a short time in the second half.
Coach Tianoka is quite satisfied with the current situation.
In the court, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had always been very focused, began to get a little distracted. Not only him, but also Akagi, who had been running back and forth with the team, was now starting to get a little confused.
Jinguji Budo and Mitsui Hisashi were still in the same state, but Rukawa Kaede became even more silent after seeing Jinguji Budo play 3+1. His whole body was exuding low pressure. At this time, he saw Shinomiya No. As the score got closer, the desire to attack became more intense in his eyes.
Jinguji Budo noticed the emotions of Takenori Akagi and Sakuragi, but he ignored Rukawa Kaede's ambition.
Between the alternation of offense and defense, Rukawa Kaede had already entered the frontcourt with the ball. Jinguji Budo had his back against Shinomiya Tanano and reached out for the ball. However, facing Jinguji Budo's request for the ball, Rukawa Kaede did not choose to throw the ball immediately.
This also gave Shinomiya Tōdō time to react. His body pressed directly against Jinguji Budō's body, and his right arm directly blocked Budō's eyes.
Facing Shinomiya's aggressive defense, Jinguji Budo could only turn around without the ball to vent his power, then quickly bypassed Shinomiya and cut inside, and quickly ran back when Shinomiya's pursuit came up. At the same time, place your hands in front of your chest, preparing to catch the ball.
However, just when Jinguji Budo ran away, Rukawa Kaede made a breakthrough fake move and directly shot the ball in front of Fujima.
Against Fujima, Rukawa Kaede still has some advantages, and the defender's Fujima's attention was also distracted by Jinguji Budo who ran out of the space. Faced with Rukawa Kaede's fake move, Fujima didn't react at all.
"Uh-huh!"
Kaede Rukawa's shot hit the basket directly. And his goal also made everyone in Lingnan scream in surprise.
"What?!!!"
"This guy voted by himself again?!"
“Three-pointers, or three-pointers?
While the Lingnan substitutes screamed in surprise, there was also a "buzzing" discussion in the stands. Obviously, Rukawa Kaede's sudden three-pointer surprised everyone. What surprised them even more was that Rukawa Kaede not only dared to shoot, but was also able to score.
This first grader from Xiangbei seems to be really planning to rise to the top through this competition!
When playing ball, I completely ignored the trump card of Jinguji Martial Arts!
"Hey, hey, it's true. It seems like you, a first grader, are planning to take your place, martial arts."
"Aren't you angry even if you ask for the ball?"
"It's not me who is causing trouble. If we had such a player in Lingnan, I would have asked the coach to ask him to sit on the bench."
When Shinomiya saw Rukawa Kaede scoring a three-pointer, not only did he not feel unhappy, but he walked up to Budo as if he was watching a good show and said with a smile.
In his opinion, anyone in Xiangbei can attack, as long as it is not Jinguji martial arts attack.
As for first-year Rukawa Kaede? Maybe I can score a few goals occasionally under Fujima's defense, but so what? Rukawa Kaede's offensive efficiency is still not as good as Jinguji Budo. If Rukawa Kaede controls the ball in Shohoku, Shinomiya Tano will be very happy!
"So what? The ball went in. Didn't our first-year team play very well?"
"Don't be jealous, Tian Ye, I know you don't have an outstanding first grader in Lingnan."
"This year your Lingnan will lose to our Xiangbei, and it will be the same next year!"
Budo didn't care at all about Shinomiya Tano's "stoking dissension". Although Rukawa Kaede's actions were indeed somewhat beyond his expectations, in competitive sports, success or failure is all that matters.
Whether it's reasonable or not, as long as you can win, who cares whether it's reasonable or not?
If Rukawa Kaede can really prove that his offensive efficiency is better than his own, and his personal ability is better than his own, then Martial Arts will only improve himself crazily off the field. On the field, Martial Arts has only one goal, and that is to win!
"Well, you are right. Our Lingnan does not have any outstanding first-year students this year, but there is one thing you said wrong. This year, our Lingnan will still win!"
After Shinomiya finished speaking, he ran towards the front court. When Budo heard this, he chuckled, quickly crossed Shinomiya Fields, and returned to his own half to defend early.
Not long after, Fujima dribbled the ball from the backcourt into the frontcourt. After a pick-and-roll, Fujima quickly broke through. When he encountered Sakuragi Hanamichi's supplementary defense, he turned around and passed the ball in the opposite direction. Basketball It hit Sakuragi's feet and flew into the inside.
Hanaxing got the ball under the basket and dunked directly, helping Lingnan High School get two points.
43:47, only one and a half minutes left before the end of the first half.
During the Shohoku attack round, Rukawa Kaede realized that there was not much time left and began to deliberately suppress the offensive rhythm.
The calm way of handling the situation surprised everyone in Lingnan, because before, Rukawa Kaede gave them the impression that they were a sharp-edged and ambitious first-year point guard.
Seeing that Rukawa Kaede took the initiative to suppress the attacking rhythm, Martial Arts secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was not afraid of Rukawa Kaede fighting on his own, he was afraid that Rukawa Kaede would fight on his own without thinking.
Fortunately, Rukawa Kaede was still conscious.
Everyone in Lingnan saw that Xiangbei started to press the pace, but they did not dare to expand the defense line easily. There was no way, several outside players from Xiangbei High School had excellent shooting ability. If the defense line was too stretched, it would be impossible to guard Xiangbei.
Therefore, after Rukawa Kaede passed the center line, he could easily carry the ball, press in front of the center line, and quietly wait for the passage of time.
Fujima didn't rush forward to press him. His physical fitness was not as good as Rukawa Kaede's. There was no point pressing him in that position, as Rukawa Kaede would only seize the opportunity to attack him.
More than ten seconds passed, and Rukawa Kaede finally made a move. While quickly approaching the three-point line with the ball, he actually made a pick-and-roll gesture towards his teammates on the side. Budo did not hesitate, broke away from Shinomiya's defense line, quickly ran towards Rukawa Kaede, stood on the left side of Fujima, and made a pick-and-roll.
However, Budo's pick-and-roll is of little use to Rukawa Kaede, because Shinomiya Tōno is right behind Jinguji Budō. If Rukawa Kaede breaks through, he will encounter Shinomiya Tōno's defensive pursuit.
However, in this way, martial arts will have the opportunity to misplace the big one and defeat the small one.
After the martial arts pick-and-roll was in place, Rukawa Kaede didn't seem to notice this, and rushed directly in the direction of Shinomiya's defense. Shinomiya's expression was slightly condensed, and he took a deep look at Rukawa Kaede. He didn't go to cover up the defense and just let it go. past.
He doesn't want martial arts to have such a chance of misalignment and big fight!
Rukawa Kaede, who successfully broke through, quickly met Uozumi's defense near the free throw line. Rukawa Kaede quickly stopped to combine the ball, took the ball with both hands and passed a feint towards Akagi who was open inside, successfully making Uozumi turn his head. Look at Akagi, the next second when the opponent's attention is distracted, Rukawa Kaede jumps on the spot and throws the ball.
The basketball hit the board head-on and bounced into the net.
Rukawa Kaede clenched his fists slightly, then turned around and quickly returned to defense.
At 43:49, the point difference widened to 6 points. Rukawa Kaede successively passed Fujima and Shinomiya Tanoh, and under the defense of Uozumi, he once again made a single contribution.
Rukawa Kaede's re-entry made the audience in the stands, who had not seen Rukawa Kaede very much, exclaimed in surprise. No one expected that in the final moments of the first half, Shohoku High School's Rukawa Kaede would actually perform such an amazing performance.
Everyone thought that the last two minutes or so would be a contest between Jinguji Budo and Shinomiya Tanano. Unexpectedly, the person dancing solo on the stage was actually a first-year player.
It was only then that Shinomiya Tano took a direct look at Rukawa Kaede's back as he returned to defense, with a little surprise between his brows.
The surprised expression of Shinomiya Tōdō was noticed by Jinguji Budō. Looking at the somewhat surprised Shinomiya Tōdō, Budō smiled and said:
"How about it?"
"His performance surprised you, right?"
"We in Xiangbei have never been a one-man team."
"Compared to us in Xiangbei, your Lingnan defense has a huge hole. You must have noticed it now that the game has started."
"Shinomiya Fields."
After Wu Dao finished speaking, he turned around and quickly returned to the field. After hearing these words, Shinomiya Tano couldn't help but frown, and turned to look at Fujima who was going to the baseline to catch the ball.
The defensive loophole mentioned by Jinguji Budo refers to Fujima!
In high-level competitions, a player's height is very important.
If it is an ordinary opponent, an excellent defender like Fujima who is less than 180cm can handle it. Even most people are not Fujima's opponents.
But if the opponent is a tall defender like Rukawa Kaede, who is close to 190cm tall, Fujima's physical fitness is really not enough.
Whether it is direct defense or switching defense after the pick-and-roll, the presence of Tengzhen makes Lingnan more difficult to play on the defensive end.
If this defensive weakness is not solved, even if their Lingnan High School can overtake the score in a short period of time, this lead will never be carried to the end of the game.
"Fujima."
"Who would have thought that Fujima would become the weak point of our Lingnan defense?!"
(End of chapter)
