Chapter Forty-Nine: The Trap
"Tweet!"
The referee's whistle sounded. Halftime ended.
Ryonan 49 - Shoyo 50
In the second quarter without Sendoh on court, Yagami-led Ryonan and Fujima-led Shoyo fought to a draw!
Compared to the first quarter's ending score, Ryonan had actually closed the gap by 1 point.
"Uozumi, you had two personal fouls in the second quarter. Watch your movements in the second half—control your foul count."
"Yes!"
"We'll decide this game in the third quarter. Don't drag the suspense into the final period!"
"Understood!!"
At the other end of the court, Shoyo's rest area.
Hanagata handed Fujima a towel, asking: "Fujima, you alright? Want to rest a quarter?"
Fujima didn't accept the towel. Instead, he stared intently at the tactical board in his hands, brow deeply furrowed.
"No." He said decisively. "Ryonan will likely try to decide the game in the third quarter. We have no room to relax. Once Sendoh returns to the court, the current balance will immediately break. We must prepare countermeasures in advance."
Fujima pondered briefly, continuing his analysis: "The best opportunity would have been building a lead advantage when they might slack off in the second quarter. Just didn't expect that first-year..."
"But there must be a way..." Fujima murmured, his eyes becoming resolute. "Shoyo's goal this year is defeating Kainan and dominating Kanagawa. How could we fall here!"
"Fujima!"
"Captain!"
The players noticed Fujima's grave expression, feeling somewhat worried.
"Relax, I'm fine." Fujima took a deep breath as a conception gradually clarified in his mind. If successfully executed, victory's scales would still tip toward Shoyo!
He clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"Get your spirits up—nothing to panic about!" His voice recovered its usual calm and confidence. "We continue maintaining interior collapse strategy. Don't let Ryonan's unreplicatable offense disrupt our formation."
"Hasegawa, you'll be primary defender on Sendoh Akira in the second half."
"M-me?" Hasegawa seemed somewhat surprised.
"Have confidence in yourself!" Fujima's gaze filled with trust. "Sendoh's merely a second-year. The effort you've put into high school doesn't lose to anyone! Only you can limit his scoring!"
"Yes!"
"I'll lock down Ryonan's backcourt. Correspondingly, Nagano, Takano—you handle wing defense. Apply greater pressure to opponents! The only one you need to watch for cuts is number 13 (Fukuda). When defending others, apply pressure—your movements are too gentle!"
"Yes!" Nagano and Takano responded in unison.
Finally, Fujima pulled Hanagata aside, discussing interior tactics.
"The paint is in your hands, Hanagata."
"Leave it to me." Hanagata adjusted his glasses, eyes sharp.
Fujima surveyed all players, extending his hand: "Let's go! This year is destined to be Shoyo's moment to bloom!"
"YEAH!" All players stacked hands together, roaring in unison, morale surging anew.
"Tweet!"
Fifteen minutes passed. Third quarter began.
Ryonan's ball.
Sendoh returned to the court. Compared to the second quarter, only Ryonan's small forward position changed.
Yagami dribbled forward, immediately giving the first possession to Sendoh.
"Can you stop me?" Sendoh asked with a smile.
"I must stop you." Hasegawa said with a serious expression.
Sendoh suddenly accelerated with a crossover, creating half a body-length before pulling up. The basketball traced a perfect arc—long-range two-pointer swishing through.
Ryonan 51 - Shoyo 50
Offensive transition. Shoyo's offense.
Fujima used a teammate screen to shake Yagami's coverage, launching a three-pointer from outside—also hitting!
Ryonan 51 - Shoyo 53
Yagami immediately organized a counterattack, penetrating and kicking to Fukuda.
Fukuda drove baseline toward the basket, stopped by Takano's foul.
After the sideline inbound, Yagami reorganized offense. Sendoh cut into the paint through off-ball movement. Yagami understood immediately, delivering a precise pass.
After catching, Sendoh drew a double-team, threading the ball into the paint.
Uozumi caught and jumped immediately for a two-handed dunk!
"Smack!"
"Boom!"
Hanagata slapped Uozumi's arm but couldn't prevent the basketball from hammering through the rim.
"Tweet!"
"Shoyo number 5, shooting foul. One free throw."
Uozumi's free throw fell cleanly through.
"Wooo~" Ryonan's bench let out an excited cheer.
Uozumi first glared at his own teammates, then snorted coldly toward Hanagata: "This level of fouling doesn't hurt at all!"
Ryonan 54 - Shoyo 53
Shoyo's offense. Fujima calmly passed to the left wing.
Takano received near the free throw line, using his height advantage to shoot high. Koshino leaped with full effort to contest but struggled to effectively threaten the shot.
The basketball swished through. Shoyo scored 2 more.
Ryonan 54 - Shoyo 55
Ryonan counterattacked quickly.
Fukuda silently cut to the basket. Yagami's eyes were sharp and hands quick, delivering a precise lob.
Fukuda rose skyward, catching the basketball mid-air and violently hammering it through the rim!
"Beautiful dunk!"
Ryonan 56 - Shoyo 55
Shoyo's turn to attack. Fujima continued feeding hot-handed Takano.
Takano shot decisively from the same spot, but this attempt had slightly too much force.
"Clang!" The basketball hit the back rim heavily and bounced up.
"Rebound!" Players from both sides simultaneously charged the paint.
Hanagata quickly judged the trajectory, leaping with full effort.
"This guy!?"
Uozumi immediately sensed something wrong. Hanagata's motion wasn't grabbing the rebound—his single hand reached for the basketball, clearly attempting a putback dunk over him!
"Stop being arrogant!" Uozumi roared, jumping vertically!
"Bang!"
Hanagata lost balance mid-air, knocked to the floor with the ball.
"TWEET—!" The referee's whistle sounded urgently.
"Ryonan number 4, defensive foul!"
"Huh?" Uozumi glared at the referee. "I established position first and jumped straight up. How is this a foul!"
The referee remained unmoved, tone firm: "You expanded your defensive range in the air, made contact with the offensive player first before touching the ball."
"Are you—" Uozumi's fury nearly burst from his chest. He stepped toward the referee, his massive frame carrying intense pressure.
"Uozumi!"
Among Ryonan players on court, only Uozumi was a third-year. Others momentarily didn't know how to stop him. Only Yagami had no such hesitation.
"...Senpai." Yagami added belatedly. "This is a game. Coach Taoka is watching from the sideline."
The referee stared intensely at Uozumi, his right hand imperceptibly hovering over the whistle. If Uozumi showed any more excessive words or actions, he'd unhesitatingly issue a technical foul.
Uozumi looked toward the sideline. Taoka had stood up, gazing this way.
His head cooled somewhat. Finally, he only let out a heavy cold snort, walking aside resentfully.
Shoyo's two free throws.
Hanagata hit both.
"Uozumi, your fouls don't hurt either."
Ryonan 56 - Shoyo 57
"Bastard!" Uozumi cursed quietly.
"Uozumi-senpai, win the game first." Sendoh patted his back. In the first instant, he also hadn't reacted—mainly not expecting Uozumi to lose his composure so suddenly.
"Mm."
Uozumi responded, running toward the frontcourt.
Both sides alternated offensively. As Fujima predicted, with Sendoh on court, Ryonan's offense stabilized considerably.
Meanwhile, Shoyo's two offensive focal points—Fujima tangled by Yagami, Hanagata marked by Uozumi—saw their dual-core威力 greatly reduced, unable to fire freely like Sendoh.
Though Hasegawa defended very hard, this alone wasn't enough to stop his opponent.
Ryonan 72 - Shoyo 68
The score gap gradually widened, but remained within Fujima's controllable range.
As long as—
Thirty seconds remaining. Ryonan's possession.
Yagami controlled time on the perimeter, seeking the safest offensive approach.
Uozumi and Hanagata battled intensely for position in the paint. Suddenly, he felt the pressure behind him seemingly loosen—Hanagata's footwork slowed half a beat.
"Hmph, actually have the mind to watch elsewhere."
Hanagata's gaze looked toward the perimeter, attention clearly on Yagami.
Uozumi pushed backward forcefully, backing to a deeper paint position.
"Give me the ball!"
Yagami saw Uozumi calling for the ball under the basket, decisively lobbing it in.
As long as he wasn't double-teamed, Hanagata similarly couldn't stop Uozumi.
After catching, Uozumi immediately dropped his shoulder creating space, then spun violently, leaping with full force, both hands slamming the ball heavily toward the rim!
"???"
The instant Uozumi caught the ball, Hanagata quickly adjusted his footwork, beating Uozumi by half a step to position himself between Uozumi and the basket. Both arms raised high without any extra movement.
"Bang!"
A heavy sound!
Leaping at full strength, Uozumi crashed solidly into the already-positioned Hanagata.
The massive impact sent Hanagata flying backward past the baseline, landing seated on the floor.
"TWEET—!"
The referee's whistle sounded without hesitation.
"Ryonan number 4, charging foul! Offensive foul!"
Uozumi froze in place.
"Ryonan took the bait." Maki told the team's center Takasago Kazuma. "Remember Hanagata's movements just now. When facing power centers like Uozumi, I'll also have you draw fouls at appropriate times."
"Understood." Takasago nodded.
Ten seconds remaining. Possession changed. Shoyo's offense.
But Shoyo's goal wasn't just this possession. More importantly, Uozumi now had four fouls.
Ten seconds was more than enough time to complete an offensive possession.
Fujima brought the ball forward steadily. Hanagata still seemed affected, slowly following Fujima without establishing interior position early.
Wrong!
Yagami suddenly realized something. Perhaps few Japanese players could do this, but in his previous life's NBA, quite a few players of this type had emerged—
"Watch Hanagata!"
"Oh?" Fujima was surprised by Yagami's keenness.
However, the basketball had already been passed.
Hanagata caught the ball beyond the three-point line. Open space stretched before him.
Sendoh reacted quickly, immediately rotating over, but whether distance or height factors, he could only watch Hanagata release the shot.
"Swish!"
Three-pointer, good!
Ryonan 72 - Shoyo 71
Shoyo instantly cut the score gap to 1 point!
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