章 127: Chapter 127 : VS Yosen High XVIII - Crisis!
It was the break before the final quarter began, and Murasakibara found himself grumbling like an old man, his eyes looking searchingly at the audience seat.
'Goddamnit, Aka-chin! You and your unreasonable request! Now I had to face this less version of Ao-chin here, and he is so troublesome!'
He keeps grumbling to himself for a full minute, yet no one dares to snap it out of his system. Hell, even Masako as his head coach just let him be, knowing that this was Murasakibara's way to cope with his exhaustion.
Moreover, it also acted as a reward, for his brilliant defense in the last play that prevented Furihata from scoring the buzzer-beater.
Yosen High 83 – 72 Seirin High
Looking at the score, it was quite fortunate for Yosen to prevent the buzzer beater, not only because it would shorten the gap to one digit again and bring back the momentum to Seirin, but it would also force the senior members to recall bad memories from the past.
Masako shuddered at how similar Furihata's last buzzer beater was with their own game against Rakuzan High in the final of the last winter tournament. At that time, they entered the second half with a comfortable 15-point lead, just like the game today happened.
Ironically, a very similar scenario happened during the third quarter, where one of their opponent's players suddenly had an outbreak and played crazily, somehow managed to bring back their respective opponents into the game.
That's why Masako was a bit worried when Furihata went berserk earlier.
Fortunately, they have an immovable wall in the form of Murasakibara right now. The buzzer beater in the third quarter that killed their spirit when they played against Rakuzan, they managed to prevent it this time, avoiding catastrophic state of the players. And even though the others didn't say anything, Masako knows at least Fukui and Okumura had the same feeling as she is right now, as they both are also the members of the team last year.
"Murasakibara-kun." She spoke, gaining the attention of the others. "Would you like to take a rest for a bit or do you still want to be on the court?"
Even though it sounded like favoritism, no one made a fuss about that. Besides the fact that no one could really stop him if he wanted to rest, everyone thought the center deserved some time to rest, especially considering he had been playing for two full quarters without being subbed. It far exceeded the average minutes Murasakibara played during Yosen's games, which usually only lasted for two quarters or less before the center decided to leave.
Murasakibara himself pondered for a moment.
On one hand, He is dead tired right now. Some rest would be beneficial, not only for himself but also for the team. The problem is, that he didn't know if Furihata could still maintain his zone state or not.
'Ao-chin used to last for at least a quarter before he collapsed. But it was because he used to enter that state, a completely different state compared to this. Hmm…'
After taking a glance at Seirin's bench, he took a decision.
"I will play." He said. "He is on the verge of death. I will be on the court to keep my eyes on him until he can't do that again." Even though Murasakibara didn't specifically say a name, all of them know that the 'he' that was mentioned was Furihata.
And to be honest, it was quite surprising for anyone on Yosen's bench, as this would be the first time they saw Murasakibara so determined. Several of them looked at each other, unsure of how they felt about that. But as a head coach, Masako grinned widely, excited to see her best player finally has the motivation to unleash his full potential.
"Okay, Murasakibara-kun. You are on the court. Here is what we are going to do…."
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Unlike the happy Masako, the other women coach on the opposite side of the court feels a huge headache on her head, even if the root of the problem is the same.
Yeah, if Masako is happy to see Murasakibara determined to kill Furihata, Alex is racking her brain hard to find a solution to the current situation after she hears Riko's diagnose of Furihata's condition.
"Are you sure about that?" She asked the second-year girl once again to confirm the news.
"Unfortunately, yeah." Riko nodded solemnly. "I know even if he didn't say anything, he felt something wrong with his knees. Not only that, but by the amount of sweats that we could see, it is obvious he is the worst out of all the players here. With his current state, Furihata-kun could only play for another one or two minutes before he collapsed, both physically and mentally."
"Damn!" Alex cursed out loud.
Just when they started to chase down the score, their best player suffered from exhaustion. To be honest, she already saw the possibility of this to happen. However, she never thought Furihata would go down this fast, giving her a headache. This was the worst scenario possible to happen.
And to add salt to their wound, Riko continued her diagnose.
"And Furihata-kun is not the only one."
Alex snapped her head hard when she heard Riko's whisper.
"What do you mean? Is there another player who suffered the same level of exhaustion?"
"No, not the same level." Riko shook her head, eliciting a relieved sigh from Alex. "But Junpei is damn close to Furihata-kun's exhaustion level. He would last for at least five more minutes."
"Oh, for fuck sake!" Alex rubbed her temple frustratedly. "Are you sure it is accurate?"
If it was under normal conditions, Riko would be insulted that someone doubted her observation ability. It was something she had honed for as long as she could remember, and to be skeptical of her judgment would mean to doubt all of her hard work and efforts to train this skill.
However, Riko knows Alex didn't mean to doubt her. Alex is just desperate in this situation, something that she also feels. That's why instead of answering verbally, she just gave the blonde woman an apologize look.
"Lord have mercy….."
Alex bit her lips as she looked at the condition of her players. And tight to what Riko said, even with naked eyes, Alex could see how terrible Hyuga's condition was. The captain who has a horse-like stamina is now rendered into a mess, with sweat keep rolling down his face.
Logically, she knows that Hyuga had to be subbed out at the beginning of the fourth quarter. However, she is a bit reluctant to do that. Even though Hyuga didn't contribute a lot in this game, his constant presence on the court is something irreplaceable. He is the backbone of the team, the one all the players look up to when everything goes wrong.
His leadership is unmatched in this team.
She lets out a deep sigh once again before finally taking a decision. "Okay, everyone, Listen to me! Here is what we are going to do."
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A few minutes later, the timeout is finally over, and all the players are coming up from the bench. While no changes happened for Yosen High, everyone in the gym was shocked to see two new players coming up from Seirin's bench, both of them shaking nervously.
"Don't worry, guys!" Tsuchida patted their back, trying to comfort them both. "I know you both are nervous. But you know this is not your first rodeo, right? Moreover, you remember what Alex-san said. Just do what she said to your best, and she won't care for the end result."
Koganei snorted a little. "Easy for you to say that, Tsuchida-kun. But we are not that immune to this kind of pressure." Kawahara who stood like a stone beside him nodded his head rapidly.
Yeah, instead of the usual Izuki–Furihata sub, Alex went into an unusual route by having Koganei replace the point guard. As for Kawahara, Alex put him on the court to replace Hyuga, not for the scoring role of course, but to stabilize the game.
Koganei, Kawahara, Kuroko, Kagami, and Tsuchida.
Those are the five best hustlers on the Seirin team right now, and two of them are still fresh with blank notes on their statistics. By putting all of them on the court, Alex is showing her intention clearly. This is a tactical rotation by Seirin to let the main rosters rest while trying to control the time, probably with the foul strategy.
And just like Tsuchida said, this was not their first time using this kind of strategy. They did it against Shutoku before, and it ended up with them overturning the score and winning the game.
However, this time is a bit different from when they played against Shutoku. Just a single glance at Yosen players revealed the hungry and insulted expressions directed at them, making all the heads snap away quickly, to avoid eye contact with their opponent.
"Damn!" Koganei cursed under his breath. "They would kill us! I don't want to die yet! Tsuchida-kun, save me!"
Tsuchida just rolled his eyes in exasperation at his dramatic teammates.
"Don't scare Kawahara-kun like that." He chided the cat-like senpai. "He doesn't need more pressure, or he would pass out first."
And Tsuchida is right. Poor Kawahara, his face is pale, as if he would pass out anytime on the court. Kagami decided to take pity on him and patted his back reassuringly.
"Don't worry. Try to ignore their glare." The red-haired boy spoke. "No matter how bad you messed up, it would be impossible to be as bad as me. So, tough it up!"
The other Seirin players snapped their heads toward Kagami, looking at him dumbfoundedly. No one would expect a self-centered brat like him would accept and speak about his terrible performance that easily, especially to comfort the other.
"Kagami-kun is right." Kuroko suddenly butted in. "No matter how bad you messed up, it would never be as bad as we the main rosters are. So, don't worry about it."
Kawahara nodded silently, taking a deep breath to suppress his nervousness.
"Okay, everyone remembers what Alex-san said, right?" Without Hyuga and Kiyoshi on the court, Tsuchida is the one who acted as the leader. "This will be a survival game for us. If we can't contain them for at least until Junpei or Furihata-kun is back, we can say goodbye to this tournament. So, don't hold back and kill them all!"
All of the Seirin players looked at each other before they nodded collectively.
----------------------------------------------------
"Defense!"
"Tsuchida-senpai! Screen on your left!"
"Damn! Kawahara-kun, cover!"
"Don't let the ball go to the paint!"
*FWEEE!*
"Seirin High #6 defensive shooting foul! Two free throws for Yosen High #9!"
"Nice defense, Koganei!"
"Don't mind the foul!"
It was about three minutes since the fourth quarter began, and the game started to succumb into chaos. Two timeouts, a lot of fumbles, turnovers, fouls, and clashes between players from both teams have happened, draining the stamina of all the players on the court.
However, even though the clock has run for three minutes, in reality, almost ten minutes passed since the intermission before this quarter began. This was what Seirin aimed for since the beginning. By drawing foul and slowing down the pace of the game, they tried to take control of the time, giving Hyuga and Furihata time to rest as much as possible.
"Good defense, Koganei." Tsuchida patted Koganei's shoulder. "Keep your eyes on the ball. If it fell into Murasakibara's hand, prepare to draw a foul again."
"Sure."
And this is the second strategy that Alex instructed earlier.
Hack-A-Shaq.
A strategy to commit a foul intentionally toward the opponent's best player to disturb their rhythm. It was quite popular in the NBA for the last decade, especially against a super-dominant center like Shaquille O'Neil. And it was also quite effective right now for Seirin, as they could see the frustration on Murasakibara's face.
*Clank!*
"He misses the free throw again!"
"Come on!"
Out of the five free throw attempts from Murasakibara this quarter, he had missed his last two, which was not that bad actually. But considering the fact that the last three plays from Yosen always ended up in Murasakibara being sent to the foul line, those missed attempts are a huge boost for Seirin's spirit.
However, their momentum didn't last for too long. Once again, Yosen High showed why they are the veterans in this tournament by adapting to this unfavorable condition pretty quickly, and the main actor once again is Murasakibara. Facing the second attempt of the free throw under such pressure after missing the first one, instead of aiming for the basket, he missed it deliberately in such a way that the ball bounced back into his direction.
"Damn!"
"Kagami! Box out!"
"Koganei, foul him!"
The moment Murasakibara missed the free throw, the three Seirin players who were guarding the paint knew what Yosen's center was trying to do, and three of them quickly surrounded him, trying to prevent the rebound. However, with his height advantage, Murasakibara won the ball back easily, and with a quick bump, he bodied two of them away and jumped for a dunk, and a second later,
*BAAAAAM!*
A posterized dunk over Kagami, Tsuchida, and Koganei! And to make it worse, right after they all landed on the floor, the referee blew his whistle.
*FWEEEE!!*
"Seirin High #11 defensive shooting foul, two free throws for Yosen High #9!"
There was a moment of silence on the court before it was broken by the roar of Yosen's players.
"YOOSSHHAAAAA!!!!"
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On Seirin's bench, Furihata watched the game nervously. He keeps playing with the ice pack that was used to compress his knees, waiting for Alex to put him back on the court impatiently. He gritted his teeth, cursing inwardly at his current weakness.
'Damn! Only four minutes and I couldn't keep up with it again? This is pathetic! And to think Aomine could hold his own in this state for a full quarter…'
He shook his head quickly, trying to focus back on the court. He groaned out loud, echoing everyone who did the same as they saw Murasakibara grab the rebound from his own free-throw before dunking the ball himself, resulting in another three-point play. Anxiety grows inside him as he sees the current score.
Yosen High 90 – 77 Seirin High
07:28
'Fourteen points gaps with less than eight minutes left on the clock. If Alex-san didn't put me on the court sooner, even miracles wouldn't be able to save us. Come on, Alex-san!'
Fortunately, his silent prayer was heard, as Alex finally made a move.
"Hyuga-san, Furihata-kun, and Kiyoshi-san, prepare yourself. You will go after this free-throw attempt.'
Those three players who were mentioned suddenly let out a sigh they held unconsciously, relieved that Alex finally put them on the court. Even though they knew there was a huge chance they wouldn't be able to overturn the score, they at least wanted to end the game on the court, not sitting helplessly on the bench.
"Listen, all of you." Alex's voice snapped them from their thoughts. "I know some of you think that this is over, nothing we can do would be able to save the game. Don't deny it. I know." Kiyoshi suddenly looked sheepish, getting caught off-handedly like that. However, Alex just smiles in understanding. "I know that feeling, and don't worry, I won't blame you. But you three are the backbones of the team, so I want you all to show your best attitude here. Show your teammates that you will not give up the fight until the end. Can you do that?"
Furihata frowned slightly. With all the momentum he created in the third quarter, now Alex suddenly indicated that it is okay to give up the game? However, just by the look of his two seniors, he knows that at least Kiyoshi considered this game unsavable. So, with a silent nod, they three turned at their coach, even with a reluctant Furihata, and answered Alex's question simultaneously.
"Yes, Coach!"
Alex nodded, satisfied with their answers. "Good. Now, go and bring hell to your opponent! Show them your resolve!"
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Author note :
If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes
You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 147 on that page. Thank you! :)
-Zeta Faes-
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