Sakuragi Hanamichi, standing beside the free-throw line, smiled confidently.
For Sakuragi Hanamichi now, free throws are practically a free point; there's absolutely no suspense involved.
Sakuragi Hanamichi took a deep breath and confidently made his move.
With a "whoosh".
The basketball goes into the net.
Sakuragi Hanamichi scored another point for Shohoku.
At this point, Shohoku's score was 9 points, and Sakuragi Hanamichi deserves much credit for it.
However, Ryonan scored 13 points.
Shohoku team is down by 4 points.
Although Sakuragi Hanamichi played very strongly under the basket, Ryonan's Sendoh Akira seized several good counter-attack opportunities, allowing Fukuda Kichijou to score smoothly.
So far in this match, the most eye-catching players have undoubtedly been Sakuragi Hanamichi of Shohoku and Fukuda Kichijou of Ryonan.
Sakuragi Hanamichi is known for his strong rebounding and powerful dunks under the basket.
Fukuda Kichijou scored 8 out of Ryonan's 13 points thanks to his aggressive dribbling and layups!
Sakuragi Hanamichi and Fukuda Kichijou completely overshadowed Ryonan's ace player Sendoh Akira and Shohoku's super rookie Rukawa Kaede.
At that moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi glanced at Rukawa Kaede.
He knew that the reason why Rukawa Kaede hadn't performed exceptionally well since the start of the game was mainly because Rukawa Kaede was deliberately conserving his energy.
Then Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at Sendoh Akira. Rukawa Kaede was conserving his energy to prepare for Sendoh Akira's explosive performance in the second half.
Akira Sendoh is the kind of player who becomes even stronger when facing stronger opponents. Now that Ryonan has Kichijou Fukuda providing a crazy offensive output, Akira Sendoh is naturally happy to assist Kichijou Fukuda and help him score.
Fukuda Kichijo is an extremely hungry player. No one on the field is more eager to get on the field than him. So when he receives a pass from Sendoh Akira, he gets all worked up like a man who has never experienced the taste of a woman in his life!
Their eyes are practically spitting fire!
When people see Kichou Fukuda dribbling and going for a layup, one word will involuntarily come to mind: decisive and ruthless!
Once Fukuda Kichou got the basketball, he didn't hesitate at all. He would either drive aggressively to the basket, make a fake move and then drive to the basket, or rush to the basket, make a fake move and then shoot.
In short, Fukuda Kichou played without hesitation throughout the entire process.
Fukuda Kichou played with great confidence, drive, and fluidity, without any hesitation or slackness.
More importantly, when he scored a point and felt the cheers of the entire audience, he seemed to gain endless energy.
Fukuda Kichijo, with his strong sense of self-esteem and sensitive personality, needs this kind of high recognition under the spotlight!
At that moment, the basketball was passed from Sendoh Akira to Fukuda Kichijou.
Sakuragi Hanamichi bent over, stretched out his hands, and blocked Fukuda Kichijou's path, saying confidently, "Fukuda! This time you..."
Before Sakuragi Hanamichi could finish speaking, Fukuda Kichijou suddenly sprinted with the ball, flashing past Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately lost his temper and yelled, "You stinky Afu! I haven't even finished my lines yet!"
Fukuda Kichijou didn't turn around, but sneered, "Sakuragi Hanamichi, I've already seen through your tactics!"
Tactics?
Sakuragi Hanamichi was a little confused.
He didn't really intend to use any tactics against Fukuda Kichijou; he simply wanted to chat with Fukuda for a bit.
For others, making it into the national tournament is the ultimate goal.
But for Sakuragi Hanamichi, he thoroughly enjoyed every game and wished he could chat with every opponent as much as possible, especially the Ryonan team.
At this moment, Fukuda Kichijou did not give Sakuragi Hanamichi a chance. After dodging Sakuragi Hanamichi, he quickly dribbled the ball for two steps and came to the vicinity of the basketball hoop, where he stopped abruptly and jumped to shoot.
When Fukuda Kichou jumped and made his shooting motion, Sakuragi Hanamichi had only just taken his jumping stance, and Sakuragi Hanamichi was still behind Fukuda Kichou, so Sakuragi Hanamichi had no chance to block Fukuda Kichou's shot.
As Fukuda Kichijou smoothly released the basketball, Sakuragi Hanamichi gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it! Fukuda! I won't let you win this time!"
Fukuda Kichijou seemed to have heard this, and with a smirk, he said dismissively, "Alright! I'm looking forward to it!"
Fukuda Kichijo was very confident about this shot.
But just then!
With a "smack"!
A large hand slapped the basketball that Fukuda Kichou had just released!
Fukuda Kichijou was utterly shocked: "Huh? What?"
Then, the gorilla Takenori Akagi launched a violent attack, slapping the basketball with his bare hand.
The basketball, which was supposed to go in, suddenly went out of bounds.
"Fly swatter! The gorilla's signature move! Hahaha! How was it, Afu? Was it fun?"
Sakuragi Hanamichi laughed maniacally behind Fukuda Kichijou's back.
At the same time, Sakuragi Hanamichi bypassed Fukuda Kichijou, came to Akagi Takenori's side, raised his fist, and excitedly said, "Gorilla! Well done!"
Akagi Takenori seems to have fully accepted the nickname "Gorilla" and no longer blames Sakuragi Hanamichi for it.
Akagi Takenori also extended his fist, which collided with Sakuragi Hanamichi's fist, his expression extremely domineering.
Takenori Akagi, the "King of the Basket," has finally returned to his former glory.
Fukuda Kichijo narrowed his eyes, his face darkening, and said in a deep voice, "Sakuragi Hanamichi, your wicked scheme has indeed succeeded!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi was taken aback and asked, "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Fukuda Kichijou glanced at Sakuragi Hanamichi expressionlessly, snorted coldly, turned around and ran to prepare to receive a pass from his teammate.
Seeing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi said with a completely innocent look, "What is this? I didn't do anything!"
Fukuda Kichijou refused to listen to Sakuragi Hanamichi's explanation. He was convinced that Sakuragi Hanamichi's constant nagging had disturbed his concentration.
This must be Sakuragi Hanamichi's trash-talking tactic!
Everyone says that Sakuragi Hanamichi's greatest strength is this kind of trash talk tactic that has magical damage. Fukuda Kichijou didn't quite believe it before, but now he does.
Sakuragi Hanamichi is such a cunning guy!
"drop!!!"
At that moment, the referee blew his whistle.
The referee gestured to pause the game and shouted, "Ryonan team, call a timeout!"
Coach Taoka stepped out of bounds to welcome the players back.
After sitting down in the chair, Fukuda Kichijou covered his head with a large towel.
The score for Ryonan was mainly achieved by Kichijou Fukuda, but at this moment, a sense of worry welled up in his heart.
He was worried that Coach Taoka was planning to substitute him.
To be honest, normally no one would think that way.
But at that moment, Fukuda Kichijou subconsciously thought that Coach Taoka called a timeout because he had been blocked by Akagi Takenori, and that Coach Taoka was probably planning to substitute him.
People with sensitive personalities are just so fragile inside! They overinterpret even the smallest things.
"Futian!"
At that moment, Coach Taoka looked at Kichijo Fukuda.
Fukuda Kichijou didn't say anything, but wiped his sweat with a towel and looked at Coach Taoka with an indifferent expression.
He was convinced that Coach Taoka intended to substitute him off the field.
Coach Taoka asked, "Fukuda, how did it feel to get blocked by Akagi?"
Fukuda Kichijou sighed inwardly. Just as he had guessed.
That wretched Coach Taoka is still the same as ever, he's going to make things difficult for him again!
Fukuda Kichijo did not answer Coach Taoka's question.
Coach Taoka continued, seeing that Fukuda Kichijou remained silent, "When Akagi is fully in form, his defensive ability under the basket is very strong, even top-notch among high schools nationwide. If you try to go head-to-head with him like this, you're definitely no match for him."
Coach Taoka's tone did not seem to imply any blame for Fukuda Kichijou.
This surprised even Fukuda Kichijou.
how so?
Is Coach Taoka really different from before?
Coach Taoka looked at Jun Uozumi and said, "Uozumi, from now on, when Fukuda dribbles to the basket, you need to try to stop Akagi and help Fukuda out."
Jun Uozumi replied without hesitation, "Yes!"
At the same time, Jun Uozumi patted Kichijou Fukuda on the shoulder and gave him an approving look.
Coach Taoka nodded to Jun Uozumi, then glanced at the other players and said, "As long as Shohoku continues to use one-on-one man-to-man defense, we will continue to focus on scoring around Fukuda."
Upon hearing this, Fukuda Kichijo was shocked and looked at Coach Taoka in disbelief.
At this moment, Coach Taoka also looked at Fukuda Kichijou, his eyes full of approval, and comforted him, "Fukuda, don't be discouraged by getting blocked! Keep it up! You're our main scorer now!"
Fukuda Kichijo never expected that Coach Taoka, who was once so sharp-tongued and utterly detestable, and whom he wished he could strangle, would say such things to him!
With a "whoosh"!
Fukuda Kichijou suddenly stood up.
The large towel on his head fell to the ground, but Fukuda Kichijou completely ignored it.
With a slightly trembling voice, Fukuda Kichijou said firmly, "Coach, don't worry!"
Sendoh Akira, who was standing next to him, smiled slightly.
This is how Ryonan should be!
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