"Did you guys notice it???"
Sendo wrinkling his brows notice it " All their member have rebounds. Even the freshmen subs."
The whole Ryonan team eyes went wide hearing that as their whole body froze with shock
"YES!!EXACTLY!! THEY HAVE 23 TEAM REBOUNDS IN ONE QUARTER.!!! AND THAT IS WITH AKAGI ONLY HAVE 5 REBOUNDS. AND THAT IS EVEN MORE THAN UOZUMI'S REBOUND. !!!" hufff huffff....Taoka's heart thumping loudly...
He continued, this time much calmer "All of them fight for rebounds. And so they have more chances to score. They are almost monsters under the ring. And depending on our Uozumi is not enough. Their players are not scared of physicality."
"I want you all to do the same. Understood?!!"
"Yes coach!!!"
2ND QUARTER BEGINS....
=========================
The second quarter starts with Yuji initiating the offense. 'I guess we can have a nice play', swings it to Rukawa, who is now being followed by Ikegami, Chuchiro made a screen, Sendo who saw this, blocked Rukawa's way, only for Rukawa to kick the ball out to Hanamichi.
'Heh this fox is getting better at passing.' He pause just a bit to check the defense. As soon as he see Sendo still far from him, he didn't hesitate anymore and hits a clean three.
SWOOOSSSHHH
48-26
"That's his third 3-pointer already. Sendoh's lost" Kogure cheered together with the others in the bench.
"Crafty bastards" Sendoh sighed as he starts to bring the ball in.
Sendoh tries to isolate Rukawa again. Hanamichi let him do it as well to train Rukawa more.
He fakes left, spins right, Rukawa followed closely, not letting him thru. But Sendoh hits a fadeaway jumper, as Rukawa's a little late to jump forward.
48-28
Rukawa's jaw clenched. No words. Just a glance at Sakuragi, who's already jogging back with a smirk.
'I know, I know...sheesh this kid.'
Yuji brings the ball up. NPC1 defended very tightly. Yuji passed to Hanamichi. Seeing this, Sendoh directly challenge Hanamichi.
Hanamichi smirked as he pose for a triple threat. He fakes a drive as he pull up from midrange
'Got you now!!!!' Sendoh stretch wide and high as he block the ball. Hanamichi however have no plans to shoot, as he passed the ball to his back without looking.
"How did he know someone is behind him??!?!?!?!" Taoka and Sendoh both surprise think the same thing as Rukawa caught the ball, without waiting for any defender, jumps a floater and scores
50-28
Next possesion surprised Hanamichi as NPC2 scored a sudden midrange
50-30
'Damn I forgot about these guys already' Hanamichi chuckled.
Hanamichi takes the inbound as he dribbles slowly, clearly wasting time. Sendoh steps up cautiously. Too cautious. Hanamichi fakes a handoff to Rukawa, and maybe because of the previous play, Sendoh became too cautious with Rukawa scoring ambushed shots, took the bait. Hanamichi drives left with Uozumi rotating too face him. But he just levitate over him with almost zero effort.
52-30
"Nice fake Sakuragi!!!!"
🎶 H-A-N-A! M-I-C-H-I! 🎶 Sakuragi, notice me!
🎶 Jump so high, heart goes boom! 🎶 Red hair prince, clear the room!
Sendoh raised a finger to call for a motion. "That's ok team. We can do this, take it easy."
He avoided Hanamichi to drive against Chuchiro as Koshino switch to Hanamichi. Sendoh uses that, as he pulls a simple jumpshot.
52-32
Chuichiro brings it up, swings to Yuji. Without hesitation drives in the middle. Uozumi defended but it left Akagi open. Yuji passed it easily as Akagi made his Gorilla dunk.
"WOOOAAHHHHH!!!!" Akagi release some energy building up in his body with a wild two-handed dunk.
54-32
Ryonan inbounded quickly, not letting the energy dip. Sendoh tapped the ball to Koshino, who sprinted up the sideline. Hanamichi shadowed him, arms wide, eyes locked. Koshino hesitated, then passed to Ikegami, who curled around a screen and launched a three.
CLANK
Rebound battle erupted—Uozumi reached, but Akagi boxed him out. The ball tipped off fingers, and Hanamichi dove in, snatching it mid-air before crashing to the floor.
Hanamichi rolled up, passed to Yuji, and jogged back with a grin. "Heh, you have to make this more interesting, man." looking at Sendoh.
As soon as Yuji cross the half court, he called for a play with his fingers doing a slicing gesture in the air. Rukawa cut baseline, dragging two defenders. Chuchiro slipped into the elbow, received the ball, and faked a shot—then lobbed it high.
Akagi rose like a beast unleashed.
BOOOM!!!! Another dunk. The gym shook.
"WOOOAAHHHH.." Akagi celebrated. 'It's finally here, the chance to get to the Nationals.'
"Great dunk Captain" the team tap him on the shoulder.
56-32
2:45 left in the second quarter. The Ryonan team down by 24 points.
Sendoh dribbled up slowly, eyes scanning. Hanamichi noticed something different. 'Here we go! His starting!!' stepped forward, arms loose but alert as his body is almost shaking because of the excitement.
Sendoh jab-stepped, then burst left. Sakuragi slid, chest-first, absorbing the contact. Sendoh spun—Sakuragi didn't bite. He stayed grounded, forcing Sendoh into a fadeaway.
CLANK
Sakuragi boxed out, grabbed the rebound, and grinned. "Not today, pretty boy." passing the ball to Yuji for a turn over.
Hanamichi called for the ball. Sendoh squared up. Sakuragi dribbled once, then twice—then launched a sudden step-back jumper.
SWISH
56–34
Sendoh accelerated, trying to catch Sakuragi off-balance. He faked a crossover, then drove hard. Sakuragi stumbled for half a step—just enough.
Sendoh rose for a silky floater.
56–36
Inbound to Hanamichi as he jogged up, slow and deliberate. Sendoh pressed tighter this time. He faked a handoff to Rukawa, spun off the fake, and drove baseline. Uozumi rotated, seeing that Snedoh got out-witted. Bu....
SWISH...as Hanamichi went past him and did a reverse layup
58–36
Sendoh isolated again. This time, he didn't rush. He backed Hanamichi down, shoulder to chest, pivoted, and hit a high-arcing jumper over Hanamichi's outstretched hand.
58–38
Hanamichi took the inbound and waved everyone off. "Let me handle this." Sendoh crouched low, focused. Hanamichi dribbled between his legs, then exploded forward. Sendoh matched him step for step. Hanamichi stopped on a dime, spun, and—without looking—lobbed the ball high.
Rukawa caught it mid-air and with a powerful wave, slamed the ball into the ring.
BOOOM
60–38
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
"Kaede Rukawa-sama! Kaede Rukawa-sama!"
Sendoh stared at Sakuragi. "You slippery bastard"
Hanamichi shrugged. "I just knew you'd follow me."
Sendoh walked it up. The crowd buzzed. He glanced at the clock—12 seconds.
He crossed over, then again. Hanamichi stayed tight. Sendoh faked a shot, Hanamichi jumped—
Sendoh ducked under, stepped through, and hit a soft bank shot.
60–40.
And so the game continues to be in favor of the Shohoku basketball team. Even when the first half ended and the Ryonan team got a bit of rest. With Coach Taoka trying to lit the flame and making sure the teams morale don't go down too much. His team wasn't able to make a comeback even with Sendoh giving his all it's still not enough especially as Hanamichi locked him down in defense.
BZZZZZZZZZZZT!
The buzzer sounded marking the end of the game. Shohoku's bench erupts. Hanamichi throws his arms up, sweat flying, face lit with wild triumph. Rukawa walks off without a word, towel over his head, but even he allows a small smirk. He is happy with the win but also notice a big problem with himself. Especially comparing to Hanamichi. His STAMINA. If not for Coach Anzai subbing him out mid game and having the bench players all experience a little bit of playing time, he wound't last this long.
Across the court, Ryonan's players slump—jerseys soaked, hands on knees, eyes glazed. The scoreboard is merciless. 122–91.
Sendoh stands alone near half-court, chest heaving, hands on hips. His usually calm eyes are dim. Hanamichi jogs past him, not gloating—just grinning like a kid who finally beat the boss level. Hanamichi and Sendoh locked eyes.
"You're not so cool when you're tired, huh?" Sakuragi mutters, half-teasing, half-proud.
Sendoh doesn't answer. He just nods, barely. His legs feel like concrete. Every cut, every pivot he made was shadowed by the person in front of him. 'This guy, he's a monster. Literally. He's not even breathing that hard. This Bastard.'
In the locker room where the Shohoku basketball team is taking a rest before going home.
"HOHOHOHO, I am very satisfied with the teams' performance in this practice game. Although Ryonan is not the strongest team in Kanagawa, you defeating a strong team like them makes me guaranteed that you are all ready to face stronger teams out there." Suddenly the whole team, everyone in the locker room at the moment, felt the temperature suddenly dropped. The back of their necks feeling the chill of the atmosphere as coach Anzai's usually jolly , calm and approachable voice is gone. Replaced by a chiiling voice that made people think that a demon was speaking "And as such, I will be starting my hands-on training with each and everyone of you once we start training next week. I expect all of you to give your best during the remaining time before the start of the Prefecture tournament. Since once it started, we will not have a lot of time until we finish the tournament and have our break before the Nationals. Am I clear?"
....No one answered, even Hanamichi with his older mentality can not help but be stunned at this moment. As he remember in the anime that the coach was originally the most terrifying coach probably in the whole country before retiring and being semi-retired coach with Shohoku.
"HHMMMM, am I clear?" The coach repeated, snapping them all from their thoughts.
"Yes COACH!!!!"
"Good, HOHOHOHOHO" the coach went back from being the demon to being the budha once more. The team breathed a sigh of relief.
Ayako stepping up to review the teams performance as Haruko handed the score sheet.
"EHEM *cough* Great Job out there team. Now let's review everyone's stats before we fix ourselves to go home.
We got 122-91 with a 31 point lead win. Everyone did their best even the bench members. Good job guys
Chuichiro 5points 5 rebound 2assists 1 steal
Yohei 4 points 2 rebounds 10 assists 4 steals
Kogure 8 points 2 rebounds 3 assists 1 steal
Yuji 12 points 3 rebounds 9 assists 2 steals
Akagi 19 points 11 rebounds 2 assists 1 steal with additional 3 blocks
Rukawa 31 ponts 7 rebounds 5 assists 2 steals with additional 1 block
Sakuragi 43 points 16 rebounds 7 assists 5 steals with additional 2 blocks
With this Hanamichi is also considered the MVP of today's game. Keep it up Sakuragi-kun" Ayako cheered.
"GREAT JOB HANAMICHI/SAKURAGI"
Outside, the night air is cool. The streets around Ryonan High are quiet, save for the distant hum of vending machines and the soft buzz of streetlights. Shohoku's team walks together toward the train station, gym bags slung over shoulders, jerseys damp with victory.
Their footsteps echo on the pavement, a mix of tired thuds and energetic skips. At the station, the team crowds onto the platform, The train arrives with a rush of wind and screeching brakes. They board together, filling a corner of the car with laughter, exhaustion, and the quiet satisfaction of a job well done. Coach Anzai settles into a seat by the window, watching his players with a soft smile.
Hanamichi plops down beside Rukawa, nudging him.
"Hey, admit it. I was amazing." Rukawa doesn't respond. "You're just jealous," Sakuragi mutters, then turns to the window, grinning at his own reflection.
The train pulls away, carrying Shohoku into the night—victorious, chaotic, and more united than ever.
++++++++++++++++++
There we have it. I don't want to spend too many chapters on the practice much because I decided to make Hanamichi OP anyway. No need for drama. Especially it just a practice match. LEMME know what you guys think.
P.S. >>>I read the comments about his hair. So I will not be changing his hair color. Just the style. anyway check out image in comment section.