Chapter 85 Shohoku's Collapse
"Smack!"
Uozumi overpowered Akagi and accurately slapped the basketball to Sendoh.
The four members of Xiangbei were stunned for a second, but quickly returned to defense.
Sendoh controlled the ball and launched a fast break to the frontcourt, and Rukawa immediately clung to him, his cold, fox-like eyes burning with fighting spirit.
A ferocious, beast-like aura swept over us!
Sendoh immediately sensed that Rukawa had changed—
In just over two months, Rukawa's defense improved rapidly; his movements became more agile and decisive, leaving no gaps in his defense.
More importantly…
Compared to the last practice match, the immature, middle school-aged look emanating from Rukawa Kaede had vanished.
Instead, it has become like the sharpness and composure of a seasoned veteran, as if he has been through countless battles!
Sendoh did not attack rashly; he controlled the ball steadily and swept across the entire field without making a sound.
Suddenly, he swung his arm—
Sakuragi only felt a blur before his eyes, and Afu, who had been blocking him, swept past him like a phantom!
Sakuragi's eyes widened, and he hurriedly turned around to chase after it, but it was too late!
Before Sakuragi could catch up, Afu had already cut into the basket, leaped up, caught the basketball passed by Sendoh, and slammed it into the hoop!
【Wow! ! ! 】
This teamwork is absolutely amazing!
【Sendoh + Afu, they truly live up to their reputation!】
This combination play is exactly the same as the first goal scored against Hainan!
Rukawa Kaede's gaze turned icy and piercing.
Sendoh shrugged at Rukawa, looking quite innocent.
Shohoku launches an attack.
When Uozumi saw Rukawa break through the defenses, he immediately went to meet him.
"Rukawa Kaede! Don't even think about scoring on my turf!"
He shouted and jumped up, his big hands lunging straight for the basketball in Rukawa Kaede's hands!
Despite Uozumi's block, Rukawa remained expressionless and didn't bother to respond.
But his right hand, which was gripping the basketball, suddenly pulled it into his arms—
Then, with a graceful hand switch, he held the ball with his left hand, easily dodging Uozumi's interception, and pushed the ball toward the basket!
The basketball flew straight towards the basket—
The ball grazed the edge of the rim, spun twice, and then fell perfectly into the net!
[Rukawa Kaede! I love you! Rukawa Kaede! I love you!]
[A reverse layup! Typical Rukawa Kaede!]
The audience was stunned, and the atmosphere was instantly ignited!
Shohoku vs Ryonan, 2-2, the score is tied.
Offense and defense shift.
Sendoh raised an eyebrow casually as he faced the aloof young man who was staring intently at him.
A bounce pass found Uozumi, who backed down Akagi and forced his way to the basket.
He defiantly said to Akagi, "Akagi, let's settle our score today!"
Before Akagi could react, Uozumi turned and, using his height advantage, forced a hook shot. Although his form was stiff, the ball went in!
Seeing Akagi's discomfiture, Mitsui sensed that he was somewhat distracted.
He couldn't help but ask as he ran, "Akagi, is your ankle still not fully healed?"
A hint of unease flashed across Akagi's face, and he glared at Mitsui. "Don't talk nonsense, I'm fine!"
No way!
Mitsui and Miyagi exchanged a glance, silently complaining to each other.
Miyagi kindly advised, "Captain, if your injuries haven't healed yet, don't push yourself."
Mitsui said bluntly, "Yeah, you know, even without you, we can win this game just like we did against Hainan."
Upon hearing this, Akagi's expression changed drastically: "What do you mean? Are you saying I'm dispensable in this match?"
Seeing Akagi's stubbornness, Mitsui rolled his eyes and didn't say anything more.
Shohoku launches an attack, with Miyagi dribbling the ball forward.
Ahead, the fastest runner was none other than Sakuragi!
Miyagi seized the opportunity and passed the ball directly to Sakuragi—
After receiving the ball, Sakuragi easily faked out Afu who was defending him!
The audience was thrilled and chanted:
[Red-haired dunker, slam dunk!]
But Sakuragi suddenly stopped, gripped the basketball, leaped up, and aimed at the basket—
"Whoosh!"
Goal! Score!
The score between Shohoku and Ryonan is tied again, 4-4!
Sakuragi arrogantly spewed a few trash words at Afu, acting like "this genius is the best in the world," but Afu ignored him and turned back to defend.
The players from Ryonan and other high schools were all taken aback!
[Kiyota: That red-haired stinky monkey...did he secretly practice his jump shot?!]
Amu was also shocked, thinking to himself: This Sakuragi, he couldn't even shoot a jump shot during the Hainan game! What kind of monster is this?!
[Yan Yi: Coach, have you noticed that, apart from Akagi-senpai, all the other Shohoku players have gotten taller and stronger? What's going on?]
Coach Taoka: Yes, Hikoichi, it's really strange! Rukawa is only one year younger than Sendoh, but for players of that age, every year should be a huge difference...
[Yan Yi: Yeah! I remember in the practice match two months ago, Sendoh was clearly much stronger! But now, Rukawa is almost 189cm tall, and his build is about the same as Sendoh's!]
This speed is absolutely jaw-dropping!
Coach Taoka looked at the field with a serious expression.
Sendoh tried to use his strength to push Rukawa aside, but the other party remained unmoved.
It seems that Shohoku has definitely put in a lot of effort in training! The physical transformation of each player is definitely a huge advantage for Shohoku.
The match is in full swing.
This time, Sendoh decided to control the ball himself and stop passing it to Uozumi.
Rukawa Kaede immediately and closely guarded Sendoh!
Sendoh glanced at the aloof Rukawa, though he didn't know why Rukawa looked like he was about to devour him.
However, he didn't care, and even expected Rukawa to use all his skills.
Rukawa Kaede thought so too.
Only when they encounter strong opponents can their potential be brought out!
Rukawa Kaede guarded him closely, and Sendoh couldn't shake him off despite several feints. After dribbling past him twice, he suddenly stopped and jumped back, retreating to the three-point line.
With a swift movement, the knife fell—
Ryonan team hits a three-pointer!
[Incredible! Step-back three-pointer!]
[Genius Immortal Path!]
After scoring, Sendoh beckoned to Rukawa with his finger, a gesture full of provocation.
Rukawa Kaede clenched his fists, his already volatile temper completely consumed by rage, his dark fox-like eyes now blazing with fury.
After switching sides, Miyagi hadn't even crossed half-court with the ball when he saw that a certain fox had already positioned himself and was just waiting for him to pass the ball.
Miyagi's eyes flickered, and seeing Hanon nod slightly, he decisively passed the ball to Rukawa.
Although Kanon knew in her heart that Rukawa's catch was most likely a one-way trip—
But she still hopes that in his duel with Sendoh, Rukawa can learn the correct way to play basketball as a team's core player and ace.
Hanon also understood that it was good for the little fox to vent its temper when it flared up.
The other players stepped aside, letting their own ace player face off against their ace player.
Inside the three-point line, Rukawa Kaede, facing Sendoh, received a pass from Miyagi and instantly assumed a driving stance—
Then,
Quickly step back —
"Whoosh!"
The ball seemed to have eyes; it flew straight into the net and passed beautifully!
Xiangbei vs Lingnan, 7:7!
After landing, Rukawa Kaede didn't even look at the basket. He stared coldly at Sendoh, pointed his finger defiantly at the scoreboard, and then turned and left.
Sendoh's lips curled up into a bright smile.
"interesting!"
The audience members stood up from their seats, cheering with excitement.
Wow, that was amazing! A clash of titans between the two teams' centers, a fierce battle between two aces! What a feast for the eyes!
Look! Rukawa Kaede responded with the same three-pointer as Sendoh! That's so cool!
These two star players are truly evenly matched; neither is willing to concede defeat!
Coach Taoka rushed to the sidelines and decisively assigned the team's best defensive player, Ikegami, to do everything he could to stop Rukawa.
Honestly—
He was satisfied with the current situation. Shohoku's decision to let Rukawa Kaede and Sendoh have a one-on-one match was advantageous for Ryonan.
But Coach Taoka never expected that even more surprises awaited him!
The two sides engaged in a fierce battle around their respective centers from the very beginning, but Akagi seemed to be deliberately avoiding Uozumi.
Coach Taoka's eyes lit up!
They immediately launched a fierce attack, directly targeting Shohoku's interior defense, specifically targeting Akagi's weakness!
Coach Taoka beckons again: "Uozumi! You're in charge of keeping Akagi occupied, while the other players make quick cuts and runs to seize every opportunity to attack."
The members of Lingnan nodded in agreement.
After making the arrangements, Coach Taoka sat comfortably on the bench, then turned to look at Shohoku's bench—
Hanon keenly noticed his gaze and smiled at him in a friendly manner.
Coach Taoka simply turned his head away, pretending not to see.
Huayin: ...embarrassing.
Ayako saw it and said with dissatisfaction, "That old man... that Ryonan coach, he's so rude!"
Sakuragi struggled to hold down the Shohoku's inside defense alone.
Fortunately, Miyagi maintained stable control of the game's pace, while Mitsui and Rukawa's scoring abilities remained unaffected.
Therefore, despite being at a disadvantage, Ryonan did not widen the score gap.
In the stands, players from various universities were engaged in heated discussions:
[The situation at Shohoku is dire!]
[I didn't see that coming. Although Akagi wasn't playing well today, Shohoku wasn't falling behind!]
[Indeed, they're not behind yet. But if Akagi really gets defeated by Uozumi, the other team members might be affected. Think about Shohoku's performance after Akagi's injury last time.]
The key issue is that Shohoku's coach is absent; they should be making a substitution at this point.
The bench players from Shohoku kept glancing at Hanon, but Hanon remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic.
Sendoh sprinted with the ball to half-court and skillfully passed it to Uozumi again.
In today's match, the Ryonan team closely surrounded Uozumi and launched a fierce attack together, actively looking for every opportunity to break through the defense.
Because they believed that Uozumi would definitely be able to pass the ball to them today!
Do you enjoy playing basketball?
Uozumi gripped the ball tightly, beaming with joy, and said he was incredibly happy with the match!
Standing at the free-throw line, he could pass the ball whenever he wanted and block whenever he wanted, playing with great flexibility and making Akagi look like a puppet!
Akagi is in a slump right now, completely dominated by Uozumi, which is quite worrying to watch.
However, Shohoku still has Sakuragi as their savior! As long as he can stabilize the situation and provide more support to Akagi, Shohoku's interior defense can hold up.
But to everyone's surprise, Sakuragi also messed up at the crucial moment!
He frequently lost his defensive position and couldn't even get the rebounds!
Sakuragi's desire for the championship was too strong, and his outstanding performance in Hainan made him somewhat arrogant and complacent.
He was determined to completely crush Afu in this match, but unfortunately, Afu was no pushover either!
Sakuragi was distracted and unable to calmly observe and analyze Fuku's offensive habits, resulting in poor defensive performance and further increasing his anxiety.
Afu's attack power was extremely sharp, and Sakuragi suffered setbacks several times.
result--
Sakuragi was too focused on Afu, frequently leaving his defensive position, giving Afu opportunities to penetrate deep into the paint, completely ignoring Akagi's need for his support.
After the opponent scored repeatedly, Sakuragi was eager to regain face on the offensive end, but in his eagerness to succeed, his shots kept hitting the rim, and the team's offensive opportunities were wasted.
The worst part is that Sakuragi was so focused on shooting that he completely forgot about rebounding!
Ultimately, Sakuragi was too obsessed with Fukuro, and as a result, he lost himself.
Miyagi and Mitsui were frustrated that their three teammates were so engrossed in their own playing styles.
They tried to coordinate with their teammates, but often struggled to make effective passes and combinations.
The ending, well, you can imagine—
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