Chapter 50: Chapter 50 : VS Shutoku IX - A Close Game
"This game is crazy!" Kise exclaimed as he raised up from his seat to get a better looking at the court. Kasamatsu also did the same, considering almost all the audience in front of them jumped from their seat the moment Midorima blocked Kagami's dunk attempt.
No, it should be way before, in the sequence when Kagami did a chase-down block at Miyaji's attempt layup and posterizing Midorima when the audience started feeling like they are on a roller coaster. Having seen the constant fierce battle between Kagami and Midorima since the first quarter, they all are pumped in their seat, didn't want to miss a single moment of the game.
"If only Kanagawa have more strong teams like Tokyo.." Kise sighed as he slumped down at his seat again, lamenting the fact they are untouchable in Kanagawa. Kasamatsu just let out a small snort before saying,
"Why do you want to make it harder for us? Let the strong players stay away from Kanagawa, we would meet them at the national tournament anyway."
"Why do you sound like an old man, Senpai?" Kise whined childishly. "Don't you you're your blood pumped just by watching this game? This is how you should enjoy your youth, having fun against someone stronger than you! Where is the fun if we just beat a bunch of small fries?"
Kasamatsu sweatdropped at the rants that comes from Kise's mouth.
"Well, I don't know about you, but for me who hasn't even lifted a trophy even once in my life, winning the tournament is far better than playing against a strong opponent just to lose, I guess."
Yeah, for Kise and all the Generation of Miracles who have already tasted how it feels to win the tournament as an invincible team, playing against a stronger opponent of course would be more attractive than winning the game itself. However, for a player without strong background like Kasamatsu, he would rather stay away from strong opponents as far as possible.
"Oh?! I am sorry, Senpai! I forget you have never won any tournament before! Don't worry about it! As a genius, how can I not help my senpai to win his first tournament? Hahahaha!"
Kasamatsu knows Kise has a lot of respect for him and his teammates. But sometimes, Kise could be an insensitive jerk, just like this time. Hearing the mocking laughter from Kise, a thick vein popped out from his temple before he slapped the back of Kise's head.
*Slap!*
"Ouch! What the hell, Senpai!" The blondie whined while he rubbed the back of his head. However, he was silenced by the harsh glare from his senpai.
"Scary..' He murmured under his breath before turning back his attention to the court.
Back to the court, Midorima converted all three free throws easily, shortening the gap to four points. Riko knows her team couldn't stop Shutoku's offense at all, so she decided to put Furihata who has better offense back on the court to replace Izuki.
'If we cannot stop their offense, all we need is to score more than them.' That's what she said to herself.
Right after Furihata stepped into the court, he signaled Kagami to come and said,
"Red, we all are exhausted now. But out of all the Seirin players here, you are the only one who can stop Midorima right now. So, focus on stopping him and save your energy. I will take care of the offensive. Can you do that?"
Seeing the seriousness from the usual playful and mocking expression on Furihata's face, Kagami nodded quickly, didn't object to the instruction. Inwardly though, he sighed in relief as he feels the exhaustion now.
'Good thing that Bastard is coming on the court again. My legs are starting to kill me. Now, I can put all my focus on Midorima.'
The clock displayed 01:22, with only one minute left before the third quarter ended. The ball is in Seirin's possession, with Furihata handling it slowly.
"Wow, you are here again!" Takao who is guarding him exclaimed with a mocking surprised expression. "I bet your coach is panicking right now and trying to put you in. But if you think you can change the flow of the game, you are too naïve! We will overturn the score before this quarter ends, and your red-hair teammate would not be able to stop Shin-chan."
Usually, Takao didn't talk too much to his opponent during the game. However, after receiving all the trash talk from Furihata in the second quarter, he couldn't help but do the same when they have the upper hand.
However, Furihata just raised his eyebrows with an unimpressed expression.
"What do you mean panicking? All we need is to score more than you, right? That should be easy. We have done it before, we can do it again all time."
Takao snorted a little.
"As if you can do that."
"Are you sure?"
Before Takao could give a reply, Furihata launched the ball quickly to the low-post area where Kagami is standing. However, it is way too high to be considered as a pass and way too low to be considered as a lob for Kagami. It went straight to Kagami's face that even Kagami is surprised by the pass.
'A miss pass? What the hell are you doing, Bastard?'
But right when he is about to grab the ball, Kuroko suddenly popped up in front of him with a jump, grabbed the ball in the air, and launched it toward the basket. Midorima who is guarding Kagami once again is taken aback by the sudden appearance of Kuroko and couldn't help but cursed out loud.
"Shit! What the hell are you doing, Takao!"
However, he couldn't do anything but watch the ball went into the basket as he was blocked by Kagami's body.
*Splash!*
An alley-oop layup!
Takao saw the entire play with disbelief on his face. When he turned back to see Furihata again, he could see the infuriating smirk planted on Seirin point guard's face.
"See? Easy enough, right?"
Then, he turned around and go back for defense, leaving Takao even before Shutoku's point guard could say anything.
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"Nice catch, Phantom!" Furihata gives Kuroko a high-five, praised the blue-haired boy.
"Thank you, Furihata-kun. Nice pass as well." Kuroko nodded slightly.
"Oi, Bastard!" Kagami suddenly chimed in. "Give me a hint first if you want to pull a stunt like that, will you?"
Furihata changed his expression mimicking an old man before replying, "As a wise man said, if you want to trick your opponent, trick your friend first."
Kagami snorted a little while muttered, "Of course, you would say something like that."
They kept the playful atmosphere for a few seconds before they noticed the game restarted again with the ball in Takao's possession, and the atmosphere suddenly changed to the serious one again.
"Red, remember your main task?"
Kagami nodded quietly.
"Good. Do all you can to stop him from shooting. We will do the rest." After saying that, he left Kuroko and Kagami to guard Takao.
"So, still think we cannot score against you?"
Takao snorted as he muttered,
"Whatever. All we need is to score more than you."
Furihata shrugged a little before he opened his guard in a subtle way, inviting Takao to drive through the left side. It is something that he noticed after a while. Midorima is a left-handed player, so he tends to stay on the right side of Takao when the point guard is holding the ball, ready to receive any pass with his left hand so he can draw a shoot quickly.
As long as he can block the passing route to Midorima, even if it doesn't stop Takao to pass the ball to the shooting guard, it would be a great help for Kagami.
Takao didn't notice Furihata's intention at first. He thought Furihata just lowered his guard due to the overconfidence due to the last play.
'The left side is open? I can take it!'
He charged forward to the left side just like Furihata planned. There, Kuroko suddenly appeared in front of them, trapping Takao in the high-post area.
"Shit!"
He tried to turn around to find Midorima. But the pass route was blocked by Furihata, and when he tried to force the pass, Kuroko slapped the ball on his hand from behind, resulting in the ball running wildly to the opposite side of the court.
"Shit! Steal!"
"Nice double-team, Kuroko-kun, Furihata-kun!"
Furihata who saw the ball is out of possession immediately run quickly to get the ball and drive toward the basket. However, Miyaji and Kimura managed to get back in time to cover the defense.
"Kimura, be careful! Don't let this bastard fool you again!"
"Yes!"
Both of them tried to stop Furihata from scoring. However, Furihata with kicked out the ball to the three-point area where Hyuga is waiting.
"Damn!"
Kimura, who is the one who should guard him cursed as he tried to close the distance between them. Seeing this, Furihata also moves around to the wing area, trying to open the position to score.
"Don't think about it, Bastard!" Miyaji gritted his teeth, trying to block the path between Furihata and Hyuga.
However, Hyuga didn't pass or even shoot the ball. He took a stance for a three-point shoot to bait Kimura to raise up his arm, opening the defense on his left side. Hyuga took the chance to dribble forward, getting away from Kimura before he makes a quick stop in the high-post area, pulling up a mid-range shoot from there.
*Splash!*
"Nice one, Senpai!"
However, before Seirin players could celebrate the play, they all are snapped by the sudden yell from the other side.
"Senpai, here!"
Midorima who didn't get the ball in the last play took advantage of this situation to catch Seirin off guard by asking the ball immediately to run a quick fast break. Miyaji who noticed Midorima's movement even before the ball went in is already under the rim and launched the inbound pass to the green-haired boy.
"Shit!"
Kagami tried to slow down the fast-break process by closing the distance between them. However, Midorima didn't give him time to do that as he dishes the ball quickly to Otsubo in the paint area before he started running again, trying to cut inside to open the position.
"I will not let you go that easy, Bastard!"
Kagami gritted his teeth as he tried to follow Midorima's movement from behind. However, before they both entered the high-post area, Midorima makes a sudden stop and retreated back to the three-point area with a huge step-back move.
"Damn!"
"Senpai, here!"
This was the fast break strategy that Shutoku practiced all day, and they proved how lethal this strategy is by executing it pretty well. Otsubo dishes the ball back to Midorima who immediately pulled up a three from his spot.
"Shit!"
Kagami tries to jump for the ball, but he couldn't stop it anyway as the ball went into the basket smoothly.
*Splash!*
It is twenty seconds left before the third quarter ends, and the situation on the court is very chaotic right now. Both teams are trying to organize their position back, but they are way too scattered after two fast-break plays in a row. And Furihata took advantage of the scramble position to ask for the ball immediately, going after the third fast break plays in a row.
"Senpai!"
Tsuchida who holds the ball hears his name called, and when he saw Furihata approaching him, he sends the ball quickly to his kouhai. The point guard did a spin move immediately after he received the ball to get away from Takao and went directly to Shutoku's basket.
"Damn! Senpai!"
Seeing as he is one step behind Furihata, Takao yelled immediately to his teammates to cover the defense. Both Miyaji and Midorima tried to stop Furihata from penetrating their defense. However, by coming into him, Midorima leaves Kagami alone, and Furihata took advantage of that by sending a lob near the basket where the red-haired boy is already on it.
"Nice lob!" Kagami grinned as he grabbed the ball in the air and slammed it into the basket.
*BAAM!!*
"Nice dunk, Kagami-kun!"
"Go back! Ten seconds left! Defense!"
Seirin players are trying to re-organize their defense. But in doing so, they give Midorima enough space to exploit, and Miyaji immediately sends the ball toward the green-haired boy.
"Shit!"
Kagami who is far away from Midorima after the dunk tried to go back and stop the shoot. However, he is a bit too late as Midorima is already taking a stance to pull up another three.
Or that was what he thought.
However, right before the ball is released from Midorima's hand, Kuroko suddenly appeared in front of his face, trying to block his eyesight. But Midorima didn't look surprised at all.
"I know you would be there, Kuroko!"
He lowered the ball again, taking one dribble aside to avoid Kuroko and ready to pull up another three. But it was never Kuroko's attention to stop his former teammate. He did it to buy enough time for Kagami to come back from his position, and right when Midorima is finally pulling up a shoot, Kagami is already jumping from behind, trying to snap the ball from his hand.
"I will stop you, Midorima!"
But when he is about to reach the ball in the air, Kagami suddenly feels his legs getting heavy, trying its best to pull him down.
"Shit! What happened?!"
Before he could realize what happened, he is already falling down from his jump, crashing into Midorima's body in the process.
*BRUGH!*
And right after their clash, the referee blows his whistle before announcing,
"Seirin #10 defensive shooting foul, three free-throws for Shutoku #6."
75 – 83
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