The four teams were sitting on the grassy slopes around the artificial pond in Kainan’s lawn.
“We’ll win for sure this time, Maki,” said Uozumi.
“Don’t count it.” Maki grinned.
The schedule for the games had changed due to Coach Anzai’s intervention.
“They’re human after all, Coach Takato. It’s torturous to make them play another game only four hours after the first. I would suggest waiting till evening to play the third and fourth games, and playing the fifth and sixth games tomorrow.”
Jin yawned, and lay back on the grass.
“That last game was even more exhausting than when we played you guys at the regional games.”
The Shohoku team agreed.
“That’s right,” said Takasago. “I think you guys have gotten better than last time. Ryonan, too. I’m actually a little worried about facing Ryonan this evening.”
Kiyota roared with laughter.
“You’ve gotta be kidding! There’s no need to worry. We were born to win.”
This earned him a punch on the head from Maki.
“Don’t be so arrogant.”
Sendoh was lost thought, but had inadvertently been staring at Ayako.
“Oi, Sendoh,” Ryota growled.
No response from Sendoh.
“SENDOH!”
Sendoh snapped out of his reverie.
“What’s up?”
“You were staring at Ayako.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Sendoh smiled.
“Yes, you were. So quit it.”
Ayako smacked Ryota with her paper fan for being rude.
They ate a scrumptious lunch at the cafeteria, talking only of basketball. Last night’s events at the dormitory were utterly forgotten in the excitement. After lunch, Kaede decided to take a nap, and Uozumi, Takenori, Ayako, Ryota, and the Shoyo team went back to the pond, along with Miyamasu, Taksago, and Maki. Kiyota, Jin, Mitsui, Kogure, and the rest of the Ryonan team were watching a scary movie in the media room.
Withal, nobody noticed the shady figure walking down the path toward the dormitory, key in hand.
Everyone returned to the court at 6 PM for the eagerly anticipated basketball games.
The first game was between Shohoku and Shoyo. The two teams warmed up, and got ready to play.
Takenori got the jump ball with ease over Hanagata’s outstretched fingers. But his triumph was short-lived.
Fujima, though small, had enough stamina so that he didn’t have to worry about saving energy for the second half, so he wasted no time in retrieving the ball, which Hanamichi had caught.
“Hahaha! Watch the Genius play!” Hanamichi positioned himself for a jump shot.
Kiyota’s lips were curled into a smile already, and when the ball hit the board and bounced back into Hanamichi’s face, he fell off his seat laughing.
“Gotta check that.” Hikoichi scribbled a quick note in his notebook about Hanamichi’s unimproved performance.
It was Fujima who took possession of the ball, and headed off toward the other end of the court. He made a three-point shot, scoring the first points of the game.
Ryota started off for Shohoku, and passed the ball to Kaede, who went for a fast break, as was his wont. He gracefully evaded Hanagata, and scored.
The score was 3 to 2 in favor of Shoyo.
Hanagata scored his signature fade-away shot, raising Shoyo’s score to five points.
Takenori countered with his own signature move: the famous Gorilla Dunk, as his teammates liked to call it.
Mitsui was antsy at not having scored a single shot yet, so he hastily shot the ball upon receiving it, and missed, much to his dismay. His rivalry with Hasegawa was resurfacing as he struggled to play to his potential. Hasegawa seemed to have improved, too, so Mitsui wasn’t going to be let off easy.
Hanamichi managed to get the rebound, but his joy was short-lived.
Fujima knocked the ball out of his hands when landed from the jump. He dashed off to the other side of the court, and scored.
The score was 7 to 4, certainly not Shohoku’s best start in a basketball game.
Mitsui did his best to keep a steady head, and managed to get a few three-pointers in, until they had surpassed Shoyo.
The score was 19 to 23.
At the end of the first half, the score was 30 to 26 in favor of Shohoku.
Then the second half began.
Kaede now began to show his prowess, increasing Shohoku’s lead to a whole 8 points.
The score was now 37 to 45.
Fujima was not the type to stand around and watch his team lose, so he went forth, and narrowed Shohoku’s lead to only two points.
The score was 56 to 58, still in favor of Shohoku.
Mitsui scored his twenty-fourth point in the last five minutes of the game, but was too exhausted to continue playing.
Kogure subbed in for him.
The score was 69 to 71 when the referee blew his whistle. Shohoku had won. Shoyo was not having a very good day.
The next game was between Kainan and Ryonan. Ryonan had tied with Kainan when they had last faced off, losing only in overtime, and only because Sendoh had been overtired.
“I wonder who’s going to win this time?” Mitsui took a long swig out of a bottle of PowerAde.
“I’d be interested to see,” said Fujima. “In terms of improvement since the Inter Highs, Ryonan certainly comes out on top of Kainan. It remains to be seen if that’s enough for Ryonan.”
Uozumi effortlessly got the jump shot, and hit the ball toward Fukuda. Ryonan’s strategy was to use Fukuda as their initial scorer in order for Sendoh to store up his energy for later. Like Kaede, Sendoh had trouble playing in top form for all forty minutes, and Kainan was known to pick up their pace in the game relatively slowly.
Sendoh was playing point guard this time, as he had against Shohoku, so Ikegami was out on court in place of Uekusa.
Fukuda dunked the ball, impressing everyone, especially his friend from junior high, Jin.
‘He’s really improved,’ thought Jin.
Kiyota meant to pass the ball to Maki, but Sendoh intercepted it, using his height to his advantage. He threw the ball with great force toward Kainan’s basket, where Fukuda jumped up, and scored with an alley-oop.
“It’s just like in the Inter Highs,” observed Takenori. “Ryonan’s taking an early lead, but Kainan will catch up soon, and then Ryonan will be in real trouble.”
Sure enough, when the score was 14 to 3, Kainan started getting serious. It wasn’t long before the score was 17 to 12, and then tied at 23.
The pace at which Kainan caught up was frightening.
Kiyota had yet again managed to evade Uozumi’s defense, and dunk the ball, making Hanamichi fume.
“Don’t lose to him, Boss-monkey!”
With five minutes left in the first half, Sendoh began to get serious as well. Thus with the help of two scorers, a great center and an experienced defender, Ryonan was able to make a comeback.
The score at the end of the first half was 34 to 32.
“Not too bad,” said Coach Taoka. “It’s a good thing we still had the lead at the end of the first half, or we might well be finished. I’m changing strategy now.” He glanced at his childhood rival, Coach Takato, and grinned. “This time, we’re going to be counting on Sendoh and Fukuda to score. Ikegami and Uozumi will take care of defense. We’re going to play offense this time.”
Coach Taoka was impressed with his plan.
‘Just you wait and see, Takato. We’ll beat you this time!’
Sure enough, when Sendoh started showing his true abilities, Kainan was thoroughly taken aback.
‘What’s on your mind, Coach Taoka?’ Coach Takato wondered, seeing the menacingly gleeful look on the Ryonan coach’s face.
The score was now 43 to 40, still in favor of Ryonan.
‘This isn’t what I had planned!’ Coach Takato was getting agitated.
‘If only I’d thought of this during the Inter Highs,’ thought Coach Taoka.
Sendoh had saved his energy for the second half, and was scoring points in abandon.
The score was now 56 to 53. Ryonan had managed to maintain their three-point lead.
Coach Takato and the Kainan team were getting increasingly worried. There were only twelve minutes left.
Sendoh was doing all sorts of maneuvers to score, and Maki was using his three years’ worth of basketball experience to try to thwart him, while Jin shot three-pointers whenever he could.
Kainan finally managed to catch up to Ryonan with three and a half minutes left.
The score was now 71 to 72 in favor of Kainan.
The score was 78 to 80, still in favor of Kainan, with ten seconds left. Both the Shohoku and Shoyo teams were sitting on the edges of their seats. No one was sure what the outcome would be.
Coach Takato began to heave a sigh of relief, and Coach Taoka began to get agitated once again.
Sendoh scored from under both Takasago’s and Maki’s outstretched arms arms, tying the score at 80 when the referee blew the whistle.
“I guess history repeats itself,” said Maki, grinning at Sendoh as the two teams went to the benches for the break before overtime.
“Yeah, it sure does.” Sendoh smiled pleasantly. ‘But this time, we’re not going to lose in overtime.’
In the five minutes’ overtime, both teams played as if their lives depended on it. Funnily enough, at the end of overtime, they had tied once again at 86 points.
Coach Takato burst out laughing.
“Nobody’s managed to tie with us before! Coach Taoka, you’ve trained them well!”
Coach Taoka began laughing as well.
“Of course, Takato! With all the training my team does, we deserved to go to the Inter Highs!”
The players of both teams showered, and repaired to the cafeteria for dinner, talking all the while of basketball.
“For the first time in seventeen years someone has managed to tie with us,” said Maki.
Sendoh just grinned.
“I told you we weren’t going to lose!” he said through a mouthful of spaghetti.
The players’ laughter (except Kaede’s, of course) filled the entire cafeteria.
“So, Fujima,” Maki began, staring at his rival. “It looks like your reign as the second-best player in Kanagawa has come to an end.”
“Yeah, Sendoh has always deserved it anyway.” Fujuma said. “And who’re you calling ‘second-best’?”
Sendoh laughed modestly.
Ayako had been silent the whole time.
“Why are you so silent, Ayako?” Ryota turned to her.
“I’m just tired,” she said. “Being a manager can be tough when I have guys like you to keep an eye on.”
Everyone was exhausted, having played two basketball games in one day, and retired for bed right after dinner. The gym had been cleaned, and the beds had already been laid out.
While everyone slept, the same shady figure as before walked back down the path toward the dormitory.
Everyone awoke at eight the next morning, and ate breakfast groggily, still suffering from yesterday’s exhaustion, too tired to be troubled by thoughts about the dormitory.
“All right, now it’s time for the game between rivals Kainan and Shoyo!” said Coach Takato enthusiastically when they had assembled at the gym two hours later.
The game began. Fujima and Maki had fire in their eyes as they faced off. The other two teams had never seen them play against each other before (except Takenori and Kogure in freshman year), so it was all very exciting for them.
Sendoh turned to Kaede.
“I’m interested in seeing if Maki and Fujima as anything like you and me.”
“H’m,” said Kaede.
Ryota was observing both point guards keenly. Maki and Fujima were both top-notch point guards – the best in the region. Fujima was agile and swift, while Maki relied more on brute force to break through his opponent’s defense.
From what they had seen at the Inter Highs, Ryonan and Shohoku would have thought that Shoyo had lost its glory. What they saw today was quite different. Facing Kainan seemed to give Shoyo more energy and a greater desire to win than they had at the Inter Highs, and it was not difficult to appreciate that Shoyo had qualified had qualified for the National Tournament.
Kainan would score and take the lead, and Shoyo would continually get the points back, and tie the score.
Hanagata was a better center than Takasago, but even he couldn’t stop Maki.
Fujima began going on overdrive, and pretty soon, the entire game was reduced to a one-on-one between the two aces. The other players merely focused on getting the ball to their captains.
At the end of the first half, the score was tied at 27.
“Fujima’s young,” said Coach Takato during the break. “It’s a pity Shoyo doesn’t have a dedicated coach like me, because they won’t be able to focus on strategy. They’re too busy playing. Remember, we are Kainan. We win. Maki,” he said, turning to Maki, “Do whatever you see fit to shut down Fujima. I expect to win with a score over eighty, understand?”
Kiyota swallowed.
‘Eighty fucking points? Shoyo’s even tougher than Ryonan was yesterday!’
Maki stared long and hard at Fujima, grinning broadly.
Fujima’s eyes, too, had a glint in them that clearly said, “I want to win.”
Kainan wasted no time in scoring when the second half began. Kiyota was tiny compared to Takano and Nagano, who guarded the key like twin giants, but he used his swiftness and jumping abilities to dunk the ball.
Jin easily evaded Hasegawa, and shot three-pointers with characteristic accuracy, and Takasago, the only player in Kainan who could match Shoyo in terms of height, did not let anyone get past him.
Shoyo did not take all this lying down. Fujima was so unpredictable as he wove in and out of Kainan’s ranks that even Maki had trouble keeping him away from the basket.
The score was now 54 to 52, in favor of Kainan.
Takasago dunked the ball when Hanagata allowed his defense to falter, raising Kainan’s lead to four points.
Fujima gracefully passed Maki and scored a three-pointer, narrowing Kainan’s lead down to one point.
With six minutes left, the score was 67 to 65 in favor of Kainan.
“We won’t lose this, you guys!” Fujima encouraged his team.
Coach Takato sat fanning himself, a smile plastered on his face.
“Look at the way Fujima plays,” said Coach Taoka to Ryonan and Shohoku from the benches. “He is able to read every one of Maki’s moves, and Maki is able to read his.”
Neither Ryonan nor Shohoku had ever seen Fujima play so aggressively.
With two minutes left, the score was tied at 70.
‘Not good,’ thought Maki.
Fujima smiled to himself.
Fujima scored a three-pointer, raising Shoyo’s score to 73.
With only a minute and a half remaining, Kainan started getting worried.
Kiyota managed to score two points, but just barely.
With thirty seconds left, Kainan was one point behind Shoyo. Kiyota tried his luck at scoring again, but Fujima stole the ball from him.
Fujima positioned himself for a shot, but Maki intercepted the ball and rushed to the other end of the court.
Twenty seconds left...
Maki dashed toward the basket as fast as he could.
The three tallest players of Shoyo created a tight defensive arena in the key.
Ten seconds left, and Maki still hadn’t penetrated.
Five...
Four...
Maki took a shot, and shut his eyes.
‘Come on!’
Three...
Two...
The Kainan bench erupted in cheers and applause.
One...
The referee blew the whistle.
Maki opened his eyes, looked at the scoreboard, and nearly laughed out in relief.
The final score was 74 to 73.
“You really gave us a run for our money there, Fujima,” said Maki.
Fujima merely smiled, and said, “Good luck to Shohoku and Ryonan.”
“All right, listen up,” said Coach Taoka to Ryonan. “We’ll use the same strategy as yesterday, but Shohoku might already know about it. Coach Anzai is a lot sharper than he looks. Uozumi,” he said, turning to the captain, “I want you to keep a cool head. Don’t let them make you foul like last time, understand? Sendoh.” He turned to the ace. “You’re not playing point guard this time. Ryota’s far too swift. You and Fukuda spearhead the offense. As for you, Koshino, I’m sending Ikegami out first.”
Koshino was a little disappointed, but it was far from him to doubt his coach’s wisdom.
“Ikegami, you will be the defensive wall. I want you to guard Mitsui like last time. Wear him out. I expect him to be useless in the second half.”
He smiled to himself.
“We’re going to win for sure this time.”
Meanwhile, Coach Anzai also had an ingenious strategy for his team.
“You’re a strong team.”
Simple and effective.
Then the game began.
Takenori managed to get the jump ball, and hit the ball toward Mitsui.
Mitsui positioned himself for a three-pointer, but found his offense shut down by Ikegami’s superior defense. He had no choice to pass the ball to Ryota.
“Hanamichi!”
Ryota passed the ball to Hanamichi, who did a layup shot.
“The Genius scores the first points for Shohoku!” said Hanamichi.
“Nice pass, Ryota,” said everyone else on the team.
Sendoh threw the ball toward the basket, and Fukuda dunked it.
The score was 2 to 2.
“Nice one, Sendoh!” Uozumi thumped Sendoh on the shoulder, which had the effect of causing Sendoh to stumble forward.
Ryota started off, and this time passed the ball to Kaede.
Sendoh was by Kaede in a flash. The look in his eyes said, “You won’t beat me in this lifetime.”
Rukawa tried tricking Sendoh into backing off so that he could make a dash for the basket, but Sendoh read his move, and his defense did not falter. He managed to get past Sendoh using pure willpower, and scored two more points for Shohoku.
Sendoh took this as a challenged, and responded with a three-pointer.
‘Kaede and Takenori are the only ones who can score for Shohoku,’ mused Coach Taoka. ‘Everyone else has been completely shut down by our superior defense.’
The said players in Shohoku, along with their counterparts in Ryonan, were playing more aggressively than usual. Uozumi was determined not to lose to Takenori ever again, and Sendoh wanted to demonstrate to Kaede that he had a long way to go yet before he could claim to be his equal.
Ryonan took the lead in no time, making the score 21 to 18 in Ryonan’s favor.
Kaede’s defense wasn’t enough to thwart Sendoh.
Even still, at the end of the first half, Shohoku had managed to steal the lead.
The score was 35 to 40.
‘This is good!’ thought Kogure.
“Here I go, Kaede!”
Sendoh charged past Kaede. He did not notice one of Kaede’s shoelaces had come untied, and slipped and fell painfully on his left knee.
“Ouch.” He winced, massaging his knee. “Tie your shoelaces, will you?”
Sendoh was not seriously injured, but he had lost his momentum, making it easier for Kaede to get past him and score.
The score was 50 to 58. Shohoku was taking the lead further and further.
Sendoh ignored the pain in his knee, and endeavored to close the gap.
With only five minutes left, the score was 69 to 73 – still in favor of Shohoku.
Coach Taoka called a timeout at this crucial juncture.
“Sendoh,” he said, “you’re not playing like yourself. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Sendoh smiled, even though the truth was that his knee really hurt.
“If you say so,” said Coach Taoka. “Now go out there and play. We can still win this thing.”
Mitsui’s offense had been virtually shut down, but Ikegami had failed to wear him out completely.
Rukawa wasn’t as tired as Ryonan had expected him to be, since Sendoh hadn’t able to keep up his defense on account of his knee.
Sendoh’s shooting abilities, however, were undiminished. He continued scoring as if he wasn’t injured.
In the last few seconds Sendoh gathered up his last ounces of energy, and dunked the ball.
The score at the end of the game was 87 to 86. Ryonan had won.
Sendoh flashed a toothy smile at the Shohoku team.
“Just like the good old days, huh?” He was referring to the practice game they had played all those months ago.
Sendoh’s knee had to be bandaged to keep the joints in place.
Mitsui commiserated with him, and placed an understanding hand on his shoulder.
“Knee injuries suck.”
Sendoh borrowed a pair of crutches from Kainan’s storage room, and limped to lunch.
“Hey.”
Sendoh turned toward the speaker.
It was Kaede.
“I’m sorry, okay?” he said softly, in a monotone, though not coldly.
Sendoh smiled.
“It was an accident; it wasn’t your fault.”
As everyone ate lunch, the shady figure from before walked toward the dormitory for the third time.
“We’ll win for sure this time, Maki,” said Uozumi.
“Don’t count it.” Maki grinned.
The schedule for the games had changed due to Coach Anzai’s intervention.
“They’re human after all, Coach Takato. It’s torturous to make them play another game only four hours after the first. I would suggest waiting till evening to play the third and fourth games, and playing the fifth and sixth games tomorrow.”
Jin yawned, and lay back on the grass.
“That last game was even more exhausting than when we played you guys at the regional games.”
The Shohoku team agreed.
“That’s right,” said Takasago. “I think you guys have gotten better than last time. Ryonan, too. I’m actually a little worried about facing Ryonan this evening.”
Kiyota roared with laughter.
“You’ve gotta be kidding! There’s no need to worry. We were born to win.”
This earned him a punch on the head from Maki.
“Don’t be so arrogant.”
Sendoh was lost thought, but had inadvertently been staring at Ayako.
“Oi, Sendoh,” Ryota growled.
No response from Sendoh.
“SENDOH!”
Sendoh snapped out of his reverie.
“What’s up?”
“You were staring at Ayako.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Sendoh smiled.
“Yes, you were. So quit it.”
Ayako smacked Ryota with her paper fan for being rude.
They ate a scrumptious lunch at the cafeteria, talking only of basketball. Last night’s events at the dormitory were utterly forgotten in the excitement. After lunch, Kaede decided to take a nap, and Uozumi, Takenori, Ayako, Ryota, and the Shoyo team went back to the pond, along with Miyamasu, Taksago, and Maki. Kiyota, Jin, Mitsui, Kogure, and the rest of the Ryonan team were watching a scary movie in the media room.
Withal, nobody noticed the shady figure walking down the path toward the dormitory, key in hand.
Everyone returned to the court at 6 PM for the eagerly anticipated basketball games.
The first game was between Shohoku and Shoyo. The two teams warmed up, and got ready to play.
Takenori got the jump ball with ease over Hanagata’s outstretched fingers. But his triumph was short-lived.
Fujima, though small, had enough stamina so that he didn’t have to worry about saving energy for the second half, so he wasted no time in retrieving the ball, which Hanamichi had caught.
“Hahaha! Watch the Genius play!” Hanamichi positioned himself for a jump shot.
Kiyota’s lips were curled into a smile already, and when the ball hit the board and bounced back into Hanamichi’s face, he fell off his seat laughing.
“Gotta check that.” Hikoichi scribbled a quick note in his notebook about Hanamichi’s unimproved performance.
It was Fujima who took possession of the ball, and headed off toward the other end of the court. He made a three-point shot, scoring the first points of the game.
Ryota started off for Shohoku, and passed the ball to Kaede, who went for a fast break, as was his wont. He gracefully evaded Hanagata, and scored.
The score was 3 to 2 in favor of Shoyo.
Hanagata scored his signature fade-away shot, raising Shoyo’s score to five points.
Takenori countered with his own signature move: the famous Gorilla Dunk, as his teammates liked to call it.
Mitsui was antsy at not having scored a single shot yet, so he hastily shot the ball upon receiving it, and missed, much to his dismay. His rivalry with Hasegawa was resurfacing as he struggled to play to his potential. Hasegawa seemed to have improved, too, so Mitsui wasn’t going to be let off easy.
Hanamichi managed to get the rebound, but his joy was short-lived.
Fujima knocked the ball out of his hands when landed from the jump. He dashed off to the other side of the court, and scored.
The score was 7 to 4, certainly not Shohoku’s best start in a basketball game.
Mitsui did his best to keep a steady head, and managed to get a few three-pointers in, until they had surpassed Shoyo.
The score was 19 to 23.
At the end of the first half, the score was 30 to 26 in favor of Shohoku.
Then the second half began.
Kaede now began to show his prowess, increasing Shohoku’s lead to a whole 8 points.
The score was now 37 to 45.
Fujima was not the type to stand around and watch his team lose, so he went forth, and narrowed Shohoku’s lead to only two points.
The score was 56 to 58, still in favor of Shohoku.
Mitsui scored his twenty-fourth point in the last five minutes of the game, but was too exhausted to continue playing.
Kogure subbed in for him.
The score was 69 to 71 when the referee blew his whistle. Shohoku had won. Shoyo was not having a very good day.
The next game was between Kainan and Ryonan. Ryonan had tied with Kainan when they had last faced off, losing only in overtime, and only because Sendoh had been overtired.
“I wonder who’s going to win this time?” Mitsui took a long swig out of a bottle of PowerAde.
“I’d be interested to see,” said Fujima. “In terms of improvement since the Inter Highs, Ryonan certainly comes out on top of Kainan. It remains to be seen if that’s enough for Ryonan.”
Uozumi effortlessly got the jump shot, and hit the ball toward Fukuda. Ryonan’s strategy was to use Fukuda as their initial scorer in order for Sendoh to store up his energy for later. Like Kaede, Sendoh had trouble playing in top form for all forty minutes, and Kainan was known to pick up their pace in the game relatively slowly.
Sendoh was playing point guard this time, as he had against Shohoku, so Ikegami was out on court in place of Uekusa.
Fukuda dunked the ball, impressing everyone, especially his friend from junior high, Jin.
‘He’s really improved,’ thought Jin.
Kiyota meant to pass the ball to Maki, but Sendoh intercepted it, using his height to his advantage. He threw the ball with great force toward Kainan’s basket, where Fukuda jumped up, and scored with an alley-oop.
“It’s just like in the Inter Highs,” observed Takenori. “Ryonan’s taking an early lead, but Kainan will catch up soon, and then Ryonan will be in real trouble.”
Sure enough, when the score was 14 to 3, Kainan started getting serious. It wasn’t long before the score was 17 to 12, and then tied at 23.
The pace at which Kainan caught up was frightening.
Kiyota had yet again managed to evade Uozumi’s defense, and dunk the ball, making Hanamichi fume.
“Don’t lose to him, Boss-monkey!”
With five minutes left in the first half, Sendoh began to get serious as well. Thus with the help of two scorers, a great center and an experienced defender, Ryonan was able to make a comeback.
The score at the end of the first half was 34 to 32.
“Not too bad,” said Coach Taoka. “It’s a good thing we still had the lead at the end of the first half, or we might well be finished. I’m changing strategy now.” He glanced at his childhood rival, Coach Takato, and grinned. “This time, we’re going to be counting on Sendoh and Fukuda to score. Ikegami and Uozumi will take care of defense. We’re going to play offense this time.”
Coach Taoka was impressed with his plan.
‘Just you wait and see, Takato. We’ll beat you this time!’
Sure enough, when Sendoh started showing his true abilities, Kainan was thoroughly taken aback.
‘What’s on your mind, Coach Taoka?’ Coach Takato wondered, seeing the menacingly gleeful look on the Ryonan coach’s face.
The score was now 43 to 40, still in favor of Ryonan.
‘This isn’t what I had planned!’ Coach Takato was getting agitated.
‘If only I’d thought of this during the Inter Highs,’ thought Coach Taoka.
Sendoh had saved his energy for the second half, and was scoring points in abandon.
The score was now 56 to 53. Ryonan had managed to maintain their three-point lead.
Coach Takato and the Kainan team were getting increasingly worried. There were only twelve minutes left.
Sendoh was doing all sorts of maneuvers to score, and Maki was using his three years’ worth of basketball experience to try to thwart him, while Jin shot three-pointers whenever he could.
Kainan finally managed to catch up to Ryonan with three and a half minutes left.
The score was now 71 to 72 in favor of Kainan.
The score was 78 to 80, still in favor of Kainan, with ten seconds left. Both the Shohoku and Shoyo teams were sitting on the edges of their seats. No one was sure what the outcome would be.
Coach Takato began to heave a sigh of relief, and Coach Taoka began to get agitated once again.
Sendoh scored from under both Takasago’s and Maki’s outstretched arms arms, tying the score at 80 when the referee blew the whistle.
“I guess history repeats itself,” said Maki, grinning at Sendoh as the two teams went to the benches for the break before overtime.
“Yeah, it sure does.” Sendoh smiled pleasantly. ‘But this time, we’re not going to lose in overtime.’
In the five minutes’ overtime, both teams played as if their lives depended on it. Funnily enough, at the end of overtime, they had tied once again at 86 points.
Coach Takato burst out laughing.
“Nobody’s managed to tie with us before! Coach Taoka, you’ve trained them well!”
Coach Taoka began laughing as well.
“Of course, Takato! With all the training my team does, we deserved to go to the Inter Highs!”
The players of both teams showered, and repaired to the cafeteria for dinner, talking all the while of basketball.
“For the first time in seventeen years someone has managed to tie with us,” said Maki.
Sendoh just grinned.
“I told you we weren’t going to lose!” he said through a mouthful of spaghetti.
The players’ laughter (except Kaede’s, of course) filled the entire cafeteria.
“So, Fujima,” Maki began, staring at his rival. “It looks like your reign as the second-best player in Kanagawa has come to an end.”
“Yeah, Sendoh has always deserved it anyway.” Fujuma said. “And who’re you calling ‘second-best’?”
Sendoh laughed modestly.
Ayako had been silent the whole time.
“Why are you so silent, Ayako?” Ryota turned to her.
“I’m just tired,” she said. “Being a manager can be tough when I have guys like you to keep an eye on.”
Everyone was exhausted, having played two basketball games in one day, and retired for bed right after dinner. The gym had been cleaned, and the beds had already been laid out.
While everyone slept, the same shady figure as before walked back down the path toward the dormitory.
Everyone awoke at eight the next morning, and ate breakfast groggily, still suffering from yesterday’s exhaustion, too tired to be troubled by thoughts about the dormitory.
“All right, now it’s time for the game between rivals Kainan and Shoyo!” said Coach Takato enthusiastically when they had assembled at the gym two hours later.
The game began. Fujima and Maki had fire in their eyes as they faced off. The other two teams had never seen them play against each other before (except Takenori and Kogure in freshman year), so it was all very exciting for them.
Sendoh turned to Kaede.
“I’m interested in seeing if Maki and Fujima as anything like you and me.”
“H’m,” said Kaede.
Ryota was observing both point guards keenly. Maki and Fujima were both top-notch point guards – the best in the region. Fujima was agile and swift, while Maki relied more on brute force to break through his opponent’s defense.
From what they had seen at the Inter Highs, Ryonan and Shohoku would have thought that Shoyo had lost its glory. What they saw today was quite different. Facing Kainan seemed to give Shoyo more energy and a greater desire to win than they had at the Inter Highs, and it was not difficult to appreciate that Shoyo had qualified had qualified for the National Tournament.
Kainan would score and take the lead, and Shoyo would continually get the points back, and tie the score.
Hanagata was a better center than Takasago, but even he couldn’t stop Maki.
Fujima began going on overdrive, and pretty soon, the entire game was reduced to a one-on-one between the two aces. The other players merely focused on getting the ball to their captains.
At the end of the first half, the score was tied at 27.
“Fujima’s young,” said Coach Takato during the break. “It’s a pity Shoyo doesn’t have a dedicated coach like me, because they won’t be able to focus on strategy. They’re too busy playing. Remember, we are Kainan. We win. Maki,” he said, turning to Maki, “Do whatever you see fit to shut down Fujima. I expect to win with a score over eighty, understand?”
Kiyota swallowed.
‘Eighty fucking points? Shoyo’s even tougher than Ryonan was yesterday!’
Maki stared long and hard at Fujima, grinning broadly.
Fujima’s eyes, too, had a glint in them that clearly said, “I want to win.”
Kainan wasted no time in scoring when the second half began. Kiyota was tiny compared to Takano and Nagano, who guarded the key like twin giants, but he used his swiftness and jumping abilities to dunk the ball.
Jin easily evaded Hasegawa, and shot three-pointers with characteristic accuracy, and Takasago, the only player in Kainan who could match Shoyo in terms of height, did not let anyone get past him.
Shoyo did not take all this lying down. Fujima was so unpredictable as he wove in and out of Kainan’s ranks that even Maki had trouble keeping him away from the basket.
The score was now 54 to 52, in favor of Kainan.
Takasago dunked the ball when Hanagata allowed his defense to falter, raising Kainan’s lead to four points.
Fujima gracefully passed Maki and scored a three-pointer, narrowing Kainan’s lead down to one point.
With six minutes left, the score was 67 to 65 in favor of Kainan.
“We won’t lose this, you guys!” Fujima encouraged his team.
Coach Takato sat fanning himself, a smile plastered on his face.
“Look at the way Fujima plays,” said Coach Taoka to Ryonan and Shohoku from the benches. “He is able to read every one of Maki’s moves, and Maki is able to read his.”
Neither Ryonan nor Shohoku had ever seen Fujima play so aggressively.
With two minutes left, the score was tied at 70.
‘Not good,’ thought Maki.
Fujima smiled to himself.
Fujima scored a three-pointer, raising Shoyo’s score to 73.
With only a minute and a half remaining, Kainan started getting worried.
Kiyota managed to score two points, but just barely.
With thirty seconds left, Kainan was one point behind Shoyo. Kiyota tried his luck at scoring again, but Fujima stole the ball from him.
Fujima positioned himself for a shot, but Maki intercepted the ball and rushed to the other end of the court.
Twenty seconds left...
Maki dashed toward the basket as fast as he could.
The three tallest players of Shoyo created a tight defensive arena in the key.
Ten seconds left, and Maki still hadn’t penetrated.
Five...
Four...
Maki took a shot, and shut his eyes.
‘Come on!’
Three...
Two...
The Kainan bench erupted in cheers and applause.
One...
The referee blew the whistle.
Maki opened his eyes, looked at the scoreboard, and nearly laughed out in relief.
The final score was 74 to 73.
“You really gave us a run for our money there, Fujima,” said Maki.
Fujima merely smiled, and said, “Good luck to Shohoku and Ryonan.”
“All right, listen up,” said Coach Taoka to Ryonan. “We’ll use the same strategy as yesterday, but Shohoku might already know about it. Coach Anzai is a lot sharper than he looks. Uozumi,” he said, turning to the captain, “I want you to keep a cool head. Don’t let them make you foul like last time, understand? Sendoh.” He turned to the ace. “You’re not playing point guard this time. Ryota’s far too swift. You and Fukuda spearhead the offense. As for you, Koshino, I’m sending Ikegami out first.”
Koshino was a little disappointed, but it was far from him to doubt his coach’s wisdom.
“Ikegami, you will be the defensive wall. I want you to guard Mitsui like last time. Wear him out. I expect him to be useless in the second half.”
He smiled to himself.
“We’re going to win for sure this time.”
Meanwhile, Coach Anzai also had an ingenious strategy for his team.
“You’re a strong team.”
Simple and effective.
Then the game began.
Takenori managed to get the jump ball, and hit the ball toward Mitsui.
Mitsui positioned himself for a three-pointer, but found his offense shut down by Ikegami’s superior defense. He had no choice to pass the ball to Ryota.
“Hanamichi!”
Ryota passed the ball to Hanamichi, who did a layup shot.
“The Genius scores the first points for Shohoku!” said Hanamichi.
“Nice pass, Ryota,” said everyone else on the team.
Sendoh threw the ball toward the basket, and Fukuda dunked it.
The score was 2 to 2.
“Nice one, Sendoh!” Uozumi thumped Sendoh on the shoulder, which had the effect of causing Sendoh to stumble forward.
Ryota started off, and this time passed the ball to Kaede.
Sendoh was by Kaede in a flash. The look in his eyes said, “You won’t beat me in this lifetime.”
Rukawa tried tricking Sendoh into backing off so that he could make a dash for the basket, but Sendoh read his move, and his defense did not falter. He managed to get past Sendoh using pure willpower, and scored two more points for Shohoku.
Sendoh took this as a challenged, and responded with a three-pointer.
‘Kaede and Takenori are the only ones who can score for Shohoku,’ mused Coach Taoka. ‘Everyone else has been completely shut down by our superior defense.’
The said players in Shohoku, along with their counterparts in Ryonan, were playing more aggressively than usual. Uozumi was determined not to lose to Takenori ever again, and Sendoh wanted to demonstrate to Kaede that he had a long way to go yet before he could claim to be his equal.
Ryonan took the lead in no time, making the score 21 to 18 in Ryonan’s favor.
Kaede’s defense wasn’t enough to thwart Sendoh.
Even still, at the end of the first half, Shohoku had managed to steal the lead.
The score was 35 to 40.
‘This is good!’ thought Kogure.
“Here I go, Kaede!”
Sendoh charged past Kaede. He did not notice one of Kaede’s shoelaces had come untied, and slipped and fell painfully on his left knee.
“Ouch.” He winced, massaging his knee. “Tie your shoelaces, will you?”
Sendoh was not seriously injured, but he had lost his momentum, making it easier for Kaede to get past him and score.
The score was 50 to 58. Shohoku was taking the lead further and further.
Sendoh ignored the pain in his knee, and endeavored to close the gap.
With only five minutes left, the score was 69 to 73 – still in favor of Shohoku.
Coach Taoka called a timeout at this crucial juncture.
“Sendoh,” he said, “you’re not playing like yourself. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Sendoh smiled, even though the truth was that his knee really hurt.
“If you say so,” said Coach Taoka. “Now go out there and play. We can still win this thing.”
Mitsui’s offense had been virtually shut down, but Ikegami had failed to wear him out completely.
Rukawa wasn’t as tired as Ryonan had expected him to be, since Sendoh hadn’t able to keep up his defense on account of his knee.
Sendoh’s shooting abilities, however, were undiminished. He continued scoring as if he wasn’t injured.
In the last few seconds Sendoh gathered up his last ounces of energy, and dunked the ball.
The score at the end of the game was 87 to 86. Ryonan had won.
Sendoh flashed a toothy smile at the Shohoku team.
“Just like the good old days, huh?” He was referring to the practice game they had played all those months ago.
Sendoh’s knee had to be bandaged to keep the joints in place.
Mitsui commiserated with him, and placed an understanding hand on his shoulder.
“Knee injuries suck.”
Sendoh borrowed a pair of crutches from Kainan’s storage room, and limped to lunch.
“Hey.”
Sendoh turned toward the speaker.
It was Kaede.
“I’m sorry, okay?” he said softly, in a monotone, though not coldly.
Sendoh smiled.
“It was an accident; it wasn’t your fault.”
As everyone ate lunch, the shady figure from before walked toward the dormitory for the third time.
◄ Chapter 5 ● Nights at Kainan ● Chapter 7 ►
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