31 Chapter 31 : VS Shinkyo III - Dominating the Game
The rest of the game went easier for Seirin. Now that Kagami is able to think with a cool head, he didn't try to face Otou-san head-on. He uses a different approach now, pressuring Otou-san to force him to take bad shots. Just like right now, Kagami won't let Otou-san face the basket. He keeps forcing Otou-san into the post-up game, and when Otou-san pulled up a shoot, he jumped right away to disturb Otou-san's shooting form.
*Clank!*
"Rebound!"
After training with the team for a month, Kagami knows he can trust Mitobe enough to secure the rebound. And as if trying to prove his thought right, his quiet senpai managed to secure a box-out position under the rim and grabbed the ball in the air, winning the rebounding contest once again.
"Nice rebound, Senpai!"
"Mitobe, here!"
The center didn't grab the ball too long. Instead, right after he hears Izuki's voice, he passed the ball straight to the point guard.
"Kagami-kun!"
"On it!"
Kagami sets a screen to let his senpai get away from his guard, forcing Shinkyo to switch the defense. Now, Izuki is facing Otou-san, while Kagami is dealing with poor Shinkyo's point guard.
For any scorers, it would be quite intimidating to face the center with a height difference of almost 40 cm that towered in front of them. However, Izuki is not a scorer. He is a playmaker. So, after scanning the position of his teammates, he bounced the ball through Otou-san's legs which were received by Hyuga.
"Damn!"
Izuki could hear the curses getting thrown from Otou-san's mouth. However, the tall center from Senegal could still react on time, jumping straight to Hyuga to block the layup attempt.
Unfortunately for Shinkyo, Hyuga is no longer intimidated by Otou-san. He keeps his head calm and is able to observe the situation clearly. When he saw Otou-san is trying to block him, he slides the ball to the free-throw area where Kagami is already waiting, just to get another powerful dunk from the red-hair.
*BAAM!!!*
"YOSSHAA!!!"
"Nice dunk, Kagami-kun!"
"Nice cut-in, Captain!"
They all took their time to celebrate the last dunk. However, it was cut by the sudden curses from Otou-san.
"Damn it! Do your fucking job, you nitwits! I am tired of carrying all your asses here!" His teammates could only lower their heads, feeling ashamed and a bit scared by the sudden outburst from their star player.
Izuki couldn't help but snicker after hearing the same curses all the time anyone get away from Otou-san's guard. With the difference between both teams in terms of quality, it almost looks like Seirin is bullying Shinkyo here.
However, the referee is clearly not amused by the outburst. The whistle was blown right away, and the referee announced his decision.
"Shinkyo Academy #5 first technical foul. One free throw for Seirin Basketball Team and possession change."
The shocked reaction from Otou-san after hearing the decision was priceless. His mouth gaped wide; his eyes bulged out as if they would leave their sockets. However, it only lasts for a second before the outburst is getting worse.
"What the hell, referee! What did I do wrong?!" However, the referee didn't back down. Instead, he sends a stern gaze to Otou-san, there is no hint of afraid in his eyes.
"Restrain your league!" He scolded the center, giving him a stern gaze. "This is your forth time letting out curses like that. While I understand your drive to win, this is still a tournament under the educational ministry banner. We will not tolerate such crass words getting thrown over and over again in this tournament. If you cannot understand that, I will be happy to send you out the court."
Otou-san is enraged by the explanation. He was on the verge of doing something stupid right now. He has already opened his mouth again. However, this time, he was stopped by his teammates.
"Our apologies, Sensei. We will be more careful." Shinkyo's captain bowed to the referee while the other teammates tried to restrain Otou-san.
"Good. Keep him in check. I will not hesitate to punish him more."
Shinkyo's captain nodded furiously, knowing the hidden meaning behind that warning. Getting the first technical foul itself was bad. The team would get a huge amount of fine to pay for that. It would tarnish their reputation in their headmaster's eyes.
However, the second technical foul is different. Not only the amount of money they have to spend much more money for the fine, but the player who gets the second technical foul would also be on suspension, their name would be on the official tournament press release, and this would be noted on their student record book as bad behavior. In another word, it would make things extremely difficult for the players who commit the second technical foul.
It would also make things more difficult for Otou-san if he gets the second technical foul. He is in Japan because of a scholarship program. If his sponsor caught wind of his bad behavior, his scholarship would get threatened and there is a chance he would have to go back to Senegal faster than he thought.
His teammates really just save him from ruining his career.
On the other hand, Seirin players who saw the entire debate on the sideline couldn't help but be impressed with the referee.
"I don't think Japanese referees would be this tough. He is really fearless even though in the face of players way bigger than him." Praised Kagami. Izuki snorted a little before saying,
"Of course, he would be tough. He is trained to be the referee of the new B.League next September. If they couldn't be tough in high school basketball, they didn't have any hope to be the referee of the league." Once again, Izuki shows how well-informed he is, establishing his position as the third-best informant on the team besides Riko and Furihata.
"Okay, enough of that. Let's focus on the game." Hyuga spoke, gaining the attention of his teammates. "After this, we will get one free throw. Kagami-kun, do you want to take it?" Hyuga gives the chance to Kagami as their star player. However, to his surprise, Kagami shook his head slightly.
"Just take it. I don't care about personal stats. And we have already won, by the way." Hyuga nodded while looking at the scoreboard.
62 – 38
02:15
"Thank you, Kagami-kun. Izuki, do you want to take it?" The one mentioned widened his eyes in disbelief.
"Really, Junpei? I can take it?"
"Sure. You deserve it, after all." And Hyuga didn't lie. Besides Kagami, Izuki is the player who was involved the most in Seirin's attack. Right after he went in again for Furihata, he scored 8 points and produced 12 assists in this game. Moreover, once he could track Kuroko's movement, the coordination between those two was unstoppable.
No one knows where the ball would really go, and the moment they could track the ball, it goes already to the basket.
"Okay, just one quarter left and we will win the game. Izuki, slow down the tempo. And Kagami-kun, don't force yourself too much. If we win our second game, our schedule would be hellish. There would be a time we have two games in a day. Always save your energy and don't go for unnecessary risk."
"Yes, Captain!" Izuki nodded. Kagami just shrugged a little before saying,
"I don't really care," Kagami spoke. "I just want to block him head-on once this game. Besides that, I will follow the instruction." Hyuga nodded at his answer. They are already in the third quarter, and Kagami still couldn't stop Otou-san from the head-on situation just for once. Of course, he wouldn't be willing to give up yet.
"Okay, I understand your motivation. Be careful. His emotion is running high. Don't force yourself too much." Kagami nodded at that.
"Yeah, I know."
"Good. Let's go back."
A few moments later, the referee blows the whistle, giving the ball to Izuki for a free throw. He executed it smoothly, adding the score for Seirin.
63 – 38
The game started again with the ball in Izuki's hand. He scanned his teammates' position for a second before he starts dribbling toward Hyuga. When they are facing each other, Izuki handed the ball to his captain and sets the screen immediately, helping Hyuga get away from his guard.
"Shit! Switch defense!" Hyuga's guard shouted, but not fast enough to stop Hyuga from driving toward the basket.
When he was already in the paint area, there are two Shinkyo players who have already waited for him, and Otou-san is also following his movement closely. However, Hyuga didn't lose his calm. He makes eye contact with Kagami on his right side before he moves toward the left side with a smooth euro step.
"Crap! Someone, stop him!"
The warning is just too late. Hyuga is already under the rim, ready for a layup. However, after seeing Otou-san's movement toward him, he changed his mind as he slides the ball into the corner area where Koganei is waiting.
"He is wide open! Damn, where is his guard!"
Koganei took a stance for a three-point shooter. But the moment someone from Shinkyo jumped to block him, he lowered the ball and instead slashes to the basket for another layup. Shinkyo's defense is in a scramble. But once again, someone managed to appear in front of him just in time before he attempted the layup.
"Got you, Bastard!"
However, Koganei showed a cat-like smirk before he released the ball in a floater manner which is kind of weird as it is way too wide from the basket, making his guard wonder what is wrong with him.
But right when the ball fell from its highest point, Mitobe suddenly popped up, catch the ball in the air, and put it back into the basket with ease. Nothing fancy, just a normal alley-oop layup. But it showed how well the coordination between the two senpais from the Seirin team was.
The ball went in, resulting in another two points for Seirin.
65 - 38
"Nice one, Mitobe!"
"Good pass, Koganei!"
They celebrated for a while, but the moment Shinkyo grabbed the ball, they are ready for defense. Now, the ball is in Otou-san while Kagami is guarding him.
"Tch! Just get away from me, pest!" Otou-san gritted his teeth, trying to push forward in a low-post situation. Kagami also did the same, pushing Otou-san back and not letting him get near the rim easily.
After almost ten seconds of battling, Otou-san suddenly makes a spin move to escape from Kagami's guard. And it worked, as he is now free from Kagami.
"HA!" Otou-san grinned in a victorious manner before he jumped to the basket for a dunk. However, what he didn't know is his getting away from Kagami is already in Kagami's plan. The red hair is letting him get away from his guard to face him in the head-on situation once again.
And right before Otou-san slammed the ball down, Kagami jumped, and with his explosive power, he finally can jump high enough to reach the ball from Otou-san.
Otou-san didn't know what happened. But somehow, everything was dark for a second, as he is already under Kagami's shadow. Before he could react to it, the ball was slapped from his hand to the board, making him curse once again.
"SHIT!"
"What the hell?! How can his jump get higher?!"
"Rebound!"
Mitobe once again turned out to be the one who cleaned everyone's mess as he jumped quickly to grab the ball. Kagami's spirit is high right now after he finally stops Otou-san for the first time in this game. However, right after he landed on the ground, an elbow suddenly appeared in front of his face, trying to hit him with the speed of truck. He couldn't react at all, and the next thing happened,
*BUGH!*
"AARGH!!"
The elbow hit his face hard, and he could feel blood coming from his nose. Everyone suddenly turned to see what happened, and when they saw Kagami on the floor holding his nose in pain, Hyuga is the first one to react.
"Kagami-kun!"
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Author note:
NEXT CHAPTER: VS Shinkyo IV - First Win!
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