Chapter 11 - Day 3, Champions Charge (1/2)

It was day three of the Tokyo preliminaries. Shun stood on the court doing his pre-game warmup he looked around the court and gallery, Tokiwadai was warming up on their side of the court while the other team was doing nothing of sorts.

Absence of warming up was detrimental to the team and players, but Middle school sports clubs were like that, most of them were formed for having fun.

There weren't many clubs that looked at their sport as something competitive and strived to excel in them.

Shun: 'Being in a club for having fun is not a bad thing playing with people with similar interests is fun. We can't expect that everybody is playing while aiming for the top.'

Shun: 'This was why the middle school basketball scene became gloomy, teams playing for fun become overwhelmed by Teiko, and Teiko looked like they weren't even trying. It wouldn't have been a problem if the miracles all went to different schools, but because they gathered at Teiko, the situation became so depressing.'

[A/N: The above happens during their second and third-year right now Teiko is just a strong team.]

Shun looked at the team they were going to face in Round 3; they were a team playing for having fun.

Shun: 'Playing for having fun doesn't mean that they are not good. They are better than all the low-level team, they are better than Iwatobi, but they still are too weak for us.'

Shun: 'The current Tokiwadai could only be challenged by Shoei, Teiko, and the teams that will reach the finals.'

Announcer: **The game for Block A, Round 3, Tokiwadai Middle School vs. Sagami Middle School, will begin shortly.**

Coach: ”Huddle!”

Team: ”Yes, Sir!”

Coach: ”Sagami Middle School is a school that focuses on defense, their center is 181 cm tall, and all of their team focuses on defense. I don't want you to play aggressively and tire yourselves; we still have another game to play.”

Team: ”Yes, Sir!”

The result was Tokiwadai's win with a score of 65-34.

Shun contributed Tokiwadai's victory with eighteen points, three rebounds, fifteen steals, two blocks, and nine assists.

The viewers saw the game as a one-sided victory of Tokiwadai, but the experienced people in the stadium could see what truly inspired.

Day 3, had two matches; Round 3 and the semi-finals. The fight to win the semi-finals started in round three itself, Middle School students didn't have a body capable enough to play two games at full strength, to at least have a chance at winning, you required to at least have enough stamina to complete the game.

Tokiwadai started the game with all their starters on the court, but by the end, they only had Kageyama Shun of Tokiwadai's starters on the court. Being a powerhouse school also meant having a deep bench with many substitute players.

Tokiwadai started by moving the ball and increasing the area Sagami needed to defend; they wanted to tire out Sagami's team.