After Sakuragi Hanamichi's scorpion kick dunk went in, the score between Shohoku and Sannoh became 55-52.
Shohoku team is now leading Sannoh team by 3 points again.
Actually, being three points ahead isn't the most important thing.
Most importantly, Rukawa's help defense, Miyagi Ryota's steal, and Sakuragi Hanamichi's scorpion kick reignited the fighting spirit of the Shohoku team.
When the game reaches its crucial moment, it all comes down to fighting spirit!
To everyone's surprise, Kawata Masashi grinned and said, "Haha! That Sakuragi Hanamichi! He's amazing!"
This scene left everyone in the audience completely stunned!
"What did I just see? Is Masashi Kawata laughing?"
"What the hell? Sakuragi Hanamichi helped Shohoku score, but Kawata Masashi is laughing?"
"I don't understand! Shohoku clearly showed their fighting spirit, so why is Kawata Masashi laughing like that?"
Immediately afterwards, the audience noticed that not only was Masashi Kawata smiling, but Eiji Sawakita and Kazunari Fukatsu also seemed to have faint smiles on their faces.
It's just that Masashi Kawata's laughter was the most noticeable.
This made many viewers even more confused.
Coach Domoto, though still reeling from Sakuragi Hanamichi's incredible move, had recovered and smiled slightly: "Sakuragi Hanamichi! You not only ignited the fighting spirit of Shohoku, but you also successfully ignited the fighting spirit of our Sannoh Industrial High School!"
"Ze Bei and his team have been looking for an opponent who will never give up until the very last moment of the battle."
"Your appearance, especially your performance just now, has completely ignited their strongest fighting spirit!"
The reason Coach Domoto substituted super ace Eiji Sawakita in the first half was that Sawakita was not in his strongest fighting state.
Now it's all good!
Coach Domoto no longer needs to worry about the condition of players like Eiji Sawakita.
As it turned out, Coach Domoto's judgment was correct.
In the next few minutes, Masashi Kawata played even more aggressively, while Takenori Akagi still hadn't found his best form.
With his superior physical strength, Matsumoto Minoru outperformed Mitsui Hisashi.
Ryota Miyagi dribbled into the paint but had no chance of scoring. If he was on the outside, his only option was to pass the ball to Kaede Rukawa.
Rukawa Kaede missed a mid-range shot due to Sawakita Eiji's tighter defense, and Nobe Masahiro even managed to grab the rebound thanks to the combined efforts of Kawata Masashi and Nobe Masahiro.
Ryota Miyagi's mid-to-long-range shooting was completely inaccurate.
Although Sakuragi Hanamichi still performed brilliantly, he couldn't carry the team alone!
In just a few minutes, the Shohoku team was overtaken by the Sannoh team again.
At this moment, the scores displayed on the electronic screen are: Shohoku 59 points, Sannoh 66 points.
This time, the Sannoh team pressed their advantage and extended their lead to 7 points.
Moreover, the ball is still in the hands of the Sannoh team. If the Sannoh team scores, the point difference will continue to widen.
"As expected of the three-time national champions, the strongest team, Sannoh Industrial! Sakuragi Hanamichi's aggressive attack just now didn't help Shohoku extend their lead; instead, it fueled Sannoh's fighting spirit!"
"Yes! Sannoh's play was absolutely brilliant!"
"You know what? When Kawata Masashi took that three-pointer just now, I was completely bewildered! Turns out, he was teaming up with Sawakita Eiji!"
"Haha, yeah! I never expected that Masashi Kawata, a big center, would stand outside the three-point line and shoot. He's really reckless!"
The Sannoh fans erupted in cheers once again.
Shohoku fans are worried again.
Sakuragi Hanamichi certainly had confidence in his brothers from Shohoku, but to be honest, he was also anxious as he watched the Sannoh team play more and more fiercely!
Just as Sakuragi Hanamichi was pondering how to reignite the fighting spirit of the Shohoku team.
"ah!!!"
Akagi Takenori suddenly looked up to the sky and roared!
"Oh my god! What happened?"
"I don't know, Akagi Takenori suddenly yelled."
"What is he doing? Why did he suddenly start yelling for no reason!"
The audience was abuzz with discussion, finding it all quite baffling.
At this moment, Takenori Akagi finally understood some things.
That is, whether he can beat Masashi Kawata is actually not important!
The important question is whether Shohoku can beat Sannoh Industrial!
He doesn't need to worry about whether he can beat Masashi Kawata. He just needs to hold his position under the basket, play good defense, and cooperate well with his teammates.
So what if he doesn't score?
As long as Shohoku can score, that's fine!
"We! We absolutely will not lose!" Akagi Takenori roared with all his might, "Come on!!!"
Akagi Takenori's roar sent a shiver down the spines of all the Shohoku fans!
Takenori Akagi, the former soul of the Shohoku team, has finally shown the fighting spirit he should have!
This sudden scene startled Sakuragi Hanamichi at first, but then he broke into a bright smile.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, imitating Akagi Takenori, also shouted!
"Gorilla!"
"This is how you should be!"
"What are you afraid of!"
"You're no worse than Masashi Kawata!"
Masashi Kawada, standing to the side, curled his lip in disdain: "Hmph! What's the use of just shouting?"
At this moment, the basketball is in Kazunari Fukatsu's hands.
Kazunari Fukatsu was also confused by Takenori Akagi's shout, but then he cleverly passed the basketball to Minoru Matsumoto.
Currently, Rukawa Kaede and Sawakita Eiji are essentially keeping each other in check.
Minoru Matsumoto came on in the second half, and he was full of energy. In addition, he also has the ability to be an ace, so whenever Kazunari Fukatsu has an opportunity, he passes the ball to Minoru Matsumoto.
As soon as he got the basketball, Matsumoto Minoru lowered his body and broke through Mitsui Hisashi's defense in an instant.
"Look! Mitsui's movements! They're so stiff!"
"What stiff?! He was acting like he hadn't reacted at all!"
"Is Mitsui really beyond saving?"
At that moment, Mitsui Hisashi was struck dumb.
How could I have been so easily bypassed?
How did I get passed over again?
Matsumoto Minoru had no time to mock Mitsui Hisashi. He passed Mitsui Hisashi and drove straight to the basket, jumping up in one fluid motion.
"Under the basket! That's mine, Akagi Takenori's!"
Takenori Akagi launches a powerful attack; this time, he's determined to stop Minoru Matsumoto's assault!
Minoru Matsumoto wasn't afraid at all when facing Takenori Akagi under the basket.
So what if Akagi Takenori regains his fighting spirit?
Do you think you can stop our Sannoh team's attack just by yelling a few times?
Minoru Matsumoto jumped with the ball and dodged Takenori Akagi's block with a layup.
Matsumoto Minoru said with extreme confidence, "Hmph! Akagi, you can't stop me!"
But the words had barely left his mouth!
Minoru Matsumoto was dumbfounded!
A fiery red figure suddenly appeared before his eyes!
It's the genius Sakuragi Hanamichi!
He never expected that Sakuragi Hanamichi would appear in this position!
Sakuragi Hanamichi shouted, "Under the basket! Shohoku calls the shots!"
boom!!!
Sakuragi Hanamichi's right hand suddenly slapped the basketball that Matsumoto Minoru had just handed him.
Big hot pot!
Sakuragi Hanamichi, standing behind Akagi Takenori, gave Matsumoto Minoru a resounding hot pot!
"drop!!!"
The referee blew his whistle and pointed at the Shohoku team, saying, "The ball belongs to Shohoku!"
Good heavens!
It turns out that Sakuragi Hanamichi not only blocked Matsumoto Minoru's shot, but the ball went out of bounds because it hit Matsumoto Minoru's foot!
At that moment, everyone was shocked.
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