Lance got the ball and begun to dribble it again. He felt troubled by the lack of options to score.
the game is already 0-3 with only 30 seconds on the clock. Time is running out if they couldn't get a score in this possession the second team will start to pile up points against them.
And then he saw Gray at the edge of his view and remembered the three he shot earlier.
'How could I forget?'
Lance remembered the future of basketball. Many things have changed and most of them came from the plays that evolved. But there is one thing that completely flipped the sport.
It is the introduction of an effective long-range offense which made centers completely helpless!
Even a 7-foot center would find it difficult to cross a mid-range distance to stop a jumper.
How about a three?
In this era of the game, such play is overlooked.
But if used correctly, especially with the offensive plays of the future in mind. It can be a surprise attack. A deadly dagger to a game!
Lance smiled and begun to nod.
Gray noticed him before looking at the defense once again. He does not know what Lance is thinking but he felt like something is gonna happen.
Lance dribbled outside the line and saw that no one followed to defend.
'As I have thought. The game style of this Era is still primitive and looks on threes.'
He suddenly smirked and held the ball in two hands before pulling up.
No one expected this.
Lance already had a good look so all that is left is for a good follow through.
Allan stared from the distance and thought, 'A bluff?'
He remembered the faint Lance pulled off earlier which gave Johan a scoring chance earlier. Because of that he somehow deduced that Lance is bluffing but little did he knows that Lance is not bluffing to pull defenders.
His teammates were about to react and noticed Luke and Johan cutting in.
"It's a bluff-"
Lance jumped and released the ball in the air. As it made a good arc, everyone naturally followed its course.
'What!' Allan could not believe that he made the wrong assumption.
And then, the ball grazed the rim and went into the bucket.
*whistle*
The referee raised his hand signifying a three.
3-3
The was game tied.
"Nice call Lance!" Luke exclaimed as he returned to defend.
"Good call!"
"Nice shot!"
Lance just smiled at them before walking towards Gray.
"Expect a pass later on. Try to drop as many threes as you can!" He whispered.
Gray was surprised and nodded. He couldn't understand why but he chose to believe it.
When everyone turned into switched into defense, Allan took the ball from Johan and dribbled down the court.
"We got lucky."
Claude exclaimed as he watched the game.
He couldn't help but think that they would lose whenever Allan held the ball.
Blue team's possession.
Suddenly, Allan began to increase his pace and crossed over a defender.
"No!"
He was fast on his feet and slipped inside the defense.
Nathan tried his best to catch up but before he could even reach Allan, the guy already jumped towards the rim for another dunk!
Everyone did not expect this.
No one.
They could not believe Allan could even move nimbly like what he did.
He handled the ball quite easily and fainted to throw off Nathan's guard.
Bang!
3-5
Before anyone could notice it, Allan already scored twice.
Not even a minute has passed since the game started.
Everyone can only wonder how the game will end.
And then again.
Bang!
Again!
Bang!
Again!
Bang!
The first team could not react as the second team always managed to intercept their offense.
Fin just smiled and looked at Claude.
"The first years looks promising!"
Claude shook his head and looked at Allan.
"I think this game is just a one-sided game."
"One-sided?"
Claude was puzzled with Fin's doubtful tone. He could not understand what he went wrong in his words.
While watching the game at the side he was overwhelmed by the show of dominance of the second group.
Allan leads them in defense and offense. He contributed 11 points already with only 10 minutes on the clock. He was an unstoppable force that dunked on the first team effortlessly with his unguardable height!
Then, there is Jonas who already had 6 points after a couple of successful attacks inside. He was also a headache. Not only was he fast on his feet but also sharp when looking for playmaking.
Lastly, the other three who extended the defense outwards and made it hard for the first team score inside.
The game is completely under control of this solid team.
Claude also thought of how they, the seniors, would fair up against this first-year team.
He can't even dare to claim that they can even win.
Then he looked at Fin who is watching the game seriously but wore a smile on his face.
"I don't think the game is one-sided."
"Why?"
"Watch."
Claude looked at the court and saw Lance charge inside the paint reeling in three defenders with him. His handles are also quite impressive and managed to make faints left and right to get past the defenders.
Allan immediately got in front of him and effortlessly cut off the escape routes trapping him inside the paint.
Claude frowned and looked at the players at play.
Even then as fast as how the play goes it is not that it is hard to see but actually, there is too much space to see what is happening, Claude cannot spot what Fin is trying to say.
"Even though that first year can dribble well, I don't think he can get past a defender like Allan."
"Are you sure?"
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Lance began to drive towards the basket regardless of Allan being there. He jumped off on one foot while flexing his body mid-air to secure the ball and dunk.
When Claude remembered Lance's vertical jump earlier in the test he remembered how freakishly high it is.
"But even then... Allan can reach higher than him."
Fin looked at the sidelines and heard Claude's comment.
'I don't think so.'
When Allan was about to swat the ball out of Lance's hands, he noticed Lance move his feet.
In that instant, Allan's pupils dilated as Lance began to dodge his arms mid-air with a clutch!
And then...
Off the glass...
and in.
Lance landed with two feet and looked at Allan who is in the same is looking at him.
The two of them stared at each other with an ice-cold gaze.
In the background, Claude was surprised by the sudden clutch.
He understood at that moment how Lance managed to pull it off.
Lance has a high vertical which equals more air time. More air time means more time to pull off a shot.
But still, Claude thought that he got lucky as Allan did not expect that to happen. At the end of the day, he believed that skills never equals dominance.
"Still, he can't dominate the game like Allan. Another thing is that Jonas can also do what he just did."
Fin looked at Claude and shook his head.
"Wanna make a bet?"
"Bet?"
"This game is going to be hard fought... Less than 4 point difference in the score I guess?"
"What?"
Claude was astounded by Fin's confident notion and pondered hard as to where he got this confidence that the game isn't one-sided at all.
Fin nudged him and said, "Why don't you look at the score."
"Score?"
Claude looked at the score and was shocked. He tried to recall what happened in the game.
19-18
"What the-"
He quickly looked at his clubmate and asked, "Tell me, how did the score become so close?"
Jerry looked at him and said, "Weren't you watching? The first team has been consistently scoring since the beginning of the game. That first year who plays as the point guard of the first team has been effectively using his teammates well. As of now, out of the 7 effective field goal they made two of them are his for 5 points and 3 of them came from assists."
"What!?"
He looked at Fin and saw the guy smiling widely.
"Claude, you played against Levi from CSH right?"
"Yes... He was very strong."
"Tell me, who is stronger Levi or Allan?"
"No questions asked, its Levi. With his height alone he is already a topnotch center but with his freakish vertical added into the equation, he is a lot more unstoppable than Allan by a long shot!"
"Right?"
Claude nodded but felt puzzled about what Fin is trying to imply.
"What if I told you, we almost won against Levi?"
"You did what?... And what do you mean by 'we'?"
"That point guard helped me to almost win against Levi."
"Who?... You mean that first year!?"
"Yes... That first year."
Claude could not believe it. He knows how difficult it is to score against Levi. When their team and CSH played a practice match, they couldn't even score half the points CSH dropped on them.
"Isn't it just luck?"
"We'll see...", Fin just smiled and looked at Lance's back.
'The game back then should have ended after 12 points but no, the game continued until it stopped at 21-19. It was such a close game despite the opponents' undeniable display of dominance'
Fin closed his eyes and dreamt of how they will fair up in this year's interschool league.
'Surely, it will be different this time.'