Chapter 106 - Finals: #3 (1/2)
With thirty seconds remaining in the first quarter, Shun looked at the scoreboard.
The score was 26-25 in Tokiwadai's favor, but Shun didn't like the score one bit.
Shun: 'Half-way through the quarter, we were at least five points up, and now we are only one point up.'
Shun looked at the players on the court. All players from both teams were sweating considerably. They looked like that all of them had gone through an intense workout.
Even Shun himself was in a similar situation to them.
All of this was the result of the last few minutes of the game.
Shun recalled the situation on the court in the last minutes.
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Teiko began targetting the other players as they were easier to block and steal.
Shun was making plays such that he would score by himself every other time, and between his scores, he would pass the ball to his teammates to score.
Teiko was able to block and steal almost of Shun's teammates' balls, and then they were able to convert most of them into scores.
Kaitani and Yuki were not able to score once in this game, they were blocked all the time, even when Shun got them the ball they missed or were blocked.
Aone had only scored once in this game, and that was when Shun passed him the ball to evade Murasakibara. Other than that, he had some success with rebounding.
Mibuchi was the only one who was consistent in scoring and was able to score nine-points with three three-pointers.
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Kaitani ran to the basket with the ball with him.
Just when he thought that his path was clear, Murasakibara appeared in front of him like a looming wall.
Kaitani didn't stop and thought of one move that he had practiced the most.
Kaitani stopped half-way through the paint and jumped on one foot, and released the ball in a high-arc.
The commentator commented on Kaitani's move.
Commentator B: ”Kaitani-kun chooses an excellent choice to score over a big player like Murasakibara-kun. A floater is a popular move used by short players to score over tall players.”
But then, Murasakibara wasn't just any tall player. He was THE tall player of middle school basketball.
Murasakibara jumped and got his hand on his ball.
Murasakibara: ”Arere~, that is so low. You need to shoot a lot higher to get around me.”
Kaitani was shocked that Murasakibara blocked his floater shot.
Kaitani: 'He can reach that high! I can't shoot higher than that.'
The crowd was in awe of Murasakibara's height.
Person A: ”He caught the ball so high in the air.”
Person B: ”I didn't notice it before, but his hands are so long. They are like long poles.”
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From the side, Akashi saw him dribble to the basket and decided to follow him for a block.
Mibuchi was behind and set up a screen in case Akashi decided to follow Yuki.
Mibuchi got into a screen posture a step behind Akashi.
Akashi turned to follow Yuki, and effortlessly bypassed Mibuchi's screen with a simple sidestep and then chased behind Yuki.
Mibuchi wasn't expecting Akashi to evade him at all.
Mibuchi: 'It can't be. I was in a blind spot.'
Shun narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue.
Shun: 'His perfect court vision makes him invincible to screens.'
Commentator A: ”That was a skillful evasion of a screen by Akashi-kun. It is like he has eyes behind his head.”
Akashi caught up to Yuki, and when he raised the ball before the jump, Akashi tipped the ball out of Yuki's hand exactly when it was at its most vulnerable.
Yuki tried to grab the ball, but the ball went out of bounds.
Yuki clicked his tongue as he looked back at Akashi.
Commentator A: ”Akashi-kun chased down Yuki-kun and successfully tipped the ball out of his hands. That was a great effort on defense by Teiko's captain.”
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The only reason why Teiko wasn't far ahead of Tokiwadai was that Shun was scoring consistently.
Shun ran with Aomine on his tail. They entered the three-point arc from the right side, and Shun came to an immediate stop and then retreated one step.
Aomine, who had excellent control over his speed, stopped and changed his direction in an instant and moved towards Shun to close the distance between them.
But making space between them wasn't Shun's objective. His objective was to make sure Aomine didn't interfere with him in this play.
As Aomine came towards him, Shun exploded towards him.
Aomine used his hands to avoid falling directly to the ground, and instead, he slid on the ground.
Aomine: ”Dammit!”
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A Tokiwadai student behind Shun's friends stood up and said.
Student A: ”Oo! Ankles!”
Inuzuka stood up, turned around, and raised his hand for a high-five. The student was all for it, and both of them high-fived.
Student A & Inuzuka: ”Yeah!”
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Shun did a base-line drive to the basket, and Murasakibara was there to block him.
Shun smiled as he looked at Murasakibara.
Shun: 'Whoa. I can feel his d.e.s.i.r.e to stop me.'
Shun stopped in front of and dribbled the ball from his front-hand to his back-hand and then jumped the instant the ball switched hands.
Commentator A: ”That was a quick switch!”
Shun kept an eye trained on Murasakibara, and with the ball in his hand away from Murasakibara and basket, he performed the infamous sky-hook shot.
Commentator B: ”Look at that high-arc in that hook shot.”
Kise looked at the ball following a high-arc from a hook shot, but his attention was somewhere else.
He recalled Shun switching the ball between his hands.
Kise: 'He moved the ball away from Murasakibara-cchi to evade his reach. The hook was also so high.'
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