In the rest of the game, Yōsen shifted their focus to defense.
That was the tactic they were best at, using defense to secure victory.
According to the data, in almost all of Yōsen's games, both teams' final scores usually hovered somewhere between the 80s and 90s.
Of course, the match against Kirisaki Daiichi was the exception.
In every other game, Yōsen had almost always relied on defense to win.
Clearly, they intended to play the same way this time.
But they had underestimated Tōō High's offensive firepower.
There was a reason Tōō High was known as the strongest spear.
They had Daiki Aomine, an offensive powerhouse, Ryo Sakurai, the apology-style three-point shooter, and Shoichi Imayoshi, the squinty-eyed schemer.
The three of them played at an incredibly fast offensive rhythm, and their scoring efficiency was extremely high.
On top of that, they also had the well-rounded Yoshinori Susa and the hot-tempered, never-say-die Kosuke Wakamatsu.
With a lineup like that, Tōō High truly deserved to be called the strongest spear.
Yōsen, on the other hand, had lost their defensive anchor, Atsushi Murasakibara, leaving a huge gap in their shield.
Naturally, Tōō was not going to let that chance slip by. They went straight for the kill while Yōsen was weak.
Daiki Aomine exploded into action, and together with Kosuke Wakamatsu's tough defense, Tōō immediately hit Yōsen with a 9-0 run.
Then Ryo Sakurai followed up with a three plus one, completely igniting their momentum.
A 13-0 run.
That run forced Yōsen High School to stop the game.
Masako Araki hurriedly called a timeout and began going over tactics.
Even she had never expected that her team, which had always been known for its shield, would be hit with a 13-0 run. This was not just a crack in the shield.
At this point, the damn thing had practically been smashed to pieces.
Everyone thought Yōsen might improve a little after the timeout.
But what they never expected was that a certain someone on Tōō's side...
Had completely thrown fair play out the window...
Clack!
The moment Daiki Aomine stepped back onto the court, he entered the Zone. After that, he single-handedly took over Tōō's offensive possessions.
On offense, Daiki Aomine turned into a complete scoring machine.
The Yōsen players could not handle Daiki Aomine at all and were utterly destroyed by him.
On defense, Daiki Aomine relied on his speed to heavily disrupt Yōsen's passing connections.
As a result, Yōsen did not dare pass the ball carelessly.
The situation only got a little better when the ball was in the hands of their point guard, Kensuke Fukui.
At the very least, he could still pass the ball out.
But once the ball ended up in anyone else's hands, then sorry, they basically could not pass it out anymore.
Because of that, Yōsen's offensive rhythm also began to sink.
By the end of the first quarter, the score had already reached an absurd 43-11.
Yōsen trailed by 32 points in a single quarter, and their fighting spirit was almost completely shattered.
Daiki Aomine clocked out after just one quarter and sat on the bench with his eyes closed, resting.
Watching from off the court, Miyamoto Tokima sighed and glanced over at Atsushi Murasakibara.
He noticed that Atsushi Murasakibara had stopped eating snacks and was staring at the court with an ugly expression.
Miyamoto Tokima understood.
After all, Yōsen was the school Atsushi Murasakibara used to attend, and the people there had treated him pretty well.
Though not as well as Miyamoto Tokima did.
Still, watching your former school get brutally crushed right in front of you would put anyone in a bad mood.
Especially someone with Atsushi Murasakibara's childlike mentality.
Atsushi Murasakibara turned his head, looked at Miyamoto Tokima, and said,
"Miyamoto-chin, when we play Aomine, can you give me one quarter?"
Miyamoto Tokima immediately understood what Atsushi Murasakibara was thinking.
He wanted to get revenge himself.
Miyamoto Tokima smiled and said generously,
"Sure."
Atsushi Murasakibara gave him a simple, honest smile and said,
"Thanks, Miyamoto-chin."
Then Atsushi Murasakibara opened another bag of potato chips and started eating.
Clearly, his mood had improved.
As the game continued, the four quarters quickly came to an end.
Although Daiki Aomine never returned to the court after the first quarter, Yōsen had fallen too far behind early on, and their mentality had been shaken.
That caused many of their offensive plays to end in mistakes.
Tōō High's other players seized those chances.
After four quarters, Tōō High School won the game 109-87.
The Yōsen players were deeply dejected, but there was nothing they could do.
After all, they had simply been outmatched.
After the game ended, Kenichi Okamura secretly ran to the restroom to wipe away his tears.
He was already a third-year, and this had been the final game of his high school career.
Unfortunately, it ended in regret.
But life was often like that.
Happy endings existed, of course, but regret was far more common.
... After the match between Tōō and Yōsen ended, the next game was Shūtoku vs. Seihō.
Of course, the outcome was just as obvious.
Shintaro Midorima did not step onto the court for the entire game. Instead, he sat on the bench and watched from start to finish.
The rest of Shūtoku High School gave it everything they had and defeated Seihō.
The Seihō players were helpless, but this was an outcome they had expected.
To put it bluntly, aside from Fukuda Sōgō, there was no other school here they could beat.
After the match between Shūtoku and Seihō ended, the next game was Rakuzan vs. Fukuda Sōgō.
Although the result of this match was also obvious, the members of the Generation of Miracles, along with the members of Kirisaki Daiichi, all came to the venue.
The reason was simple. They all wanted to see how Seijuro Akashi had changed.
For the other members of the Generation of Miracles, Seijuro Akashi was also an opponent worthy of their full attention.
As for Miyamoto Tokima, he simply wanted to see whether Seijuro Akashi differed from the original story.
After all, because of Miyamoto Tokima, the Generation of Miracles... no, it would be more accurate to say everyone from Teikō, including the important characters from the original story, had all improved in strength.
The direction of their growth had also changed drastically from the original story.
After all, even Shintaro Midorima had entered the Zone...
Soon, the match between Rakuzan and Fukuda Sōgō began inside the gymnasium.
Schools such as Tōō, Shūtoku, Kaijō, Seirin, and Kirisaki Daiichi had all arrived to watch the match.
Shuzo Nijimura looked at the spectators around them, then slowly sat down in his seat and sighed.
"There really are a lot of people here."
Miyamoto Tokima still wore his familiar smile. He also glanced around before saying with a smile,
"After all, before we showed up, Rakuzan was basically the biggest favorite to win the championship."
But Miyamoto Tokima quickly changed his tone.
"But now, they aren't anymore..."
...