After my hot start to the game, Chiben quickly called a timeout and we started heading back to the bench.
Haru:" Damn Kaen, that was insane. I expected nothing less from our super rookie."
"Today's a good shooting day. This might be a one time thing though, just saying." I replied. I didn't want to make any promises and put pressure on myself. I hadn't played in a official match in a while and was still a little rusty during the game.
"That was a good start. We started the game quick and managed to pull away with a 9 point lead. I want you to continue maintaining this lead and increase it if possible. Kaen, you made those 3 shots so I won't say anything about it but I want you to now play as a team. So no more highlight plays, is that clear."
"Yes coach." I said meekly. Damn, the coach ain't giving me any slack for those shots huh.
The timeout then ended and we headed back onto the floor, Shoichi got the inbounded pass and started heading up the court. When I started pressuring him, he passed the ball too Hanamiya who then did a quick crossover on Kotaro. Mitsuhiro Hayakawa or Mitsuhiro set a screen which Kotaro got caught in, leaving Hanamiya wide open.
Yukio tried to step forward to contest but it was too late. Hanamiya released the ball and it fell through the net. Well, no matter how good your defense it, you can't stop every shot.
I then got the ball and went on offense.
"Yo Kotaro, lets get them back." I said.
"Yeah" He replied.
I then swung a pass to Kotaro who did a quick crossover on Hanamiya. Kotaro drove to the basket and when Kosuke stepped forward to defend, Kotaro threw the ball into the air.
At first, Kosuke looked confused as it was quite clear the ball was heading away from the basket. But when he turned behind and saw Kiyoshi looming over him, it was quite clear what was going to happen. Kiyoshi caught the lob from Kotaro and jammed it down hard on top of Kosuke. The crowd went wild and it was another highlight play for our team.
Next possession Shoichi had the ball in hands once again. He stepped to the side and faked a shot. I tried to reach it but missed the ball. Shit, I thought to myself. Shoichi saw his opportunity and started driving. Yukio came over to help on defense and Shoichi kicked the ball to Yukio's man, Kiyoshi Miyaki (We shall go with Miyaki to avoid confusion), who drained a three.
I got the ball and started attacking the basket aggressively. Shoichi tried to push into me as much as possible but I kept my head low and continued attacking. Once Mitsuhiro came over to double team me I dropped a pass to Haru who tossed the ball into the basket.
Then passed the ball to Misuhiro who started backing down Yukio to the basket. Yukio tried to push into him as much as possible but Misuhiro backed him down a sizable amount. He then turned around to shoot a fadeaway but Kiyoshi jumped and swatted the ball out of the air.
I ran after the ball and got control of it before it went our of bounds. I looked up and saw Kotaro running towards the basket, without anyone around him. I tossed the ball to him across half court and he layed it in easily.
Hanamiya started with the ball this round and passed the ball to Miyaki once he crossed half court. Shoichi went over to set a screen and Miyaki drove to the left.
"SWITCH!" I yelled and switched with Yukio. Miyaki was bigger than me and bodied me to the basket. Once he got there he tried to toss the ball in but I saw the ball in his hands and poked it loose.
I got control of the ball and passed the ball to Kiyoshi who then passed the ball to Yukio. Yukio put his head down and drove towards our basket. Once he got into the paint it was just him and Kosuke defending him. Yukio hooked his arm around Kosuke's and jumped into the air. He waited till the ref called blew his whistle before tossing the ball towards the basket. The ball rolled around the rim a few times before falling off.
Damn, that's though luck, that was nearly a three point play. But he still got the free throws anyway. Yukio made both free throws and we headed back to our basket.
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Shoichi got the ball and called for a screen. I tried to fight through the screen but Shoichi managed to get a sizable distance on me. Yukio tried to contest his shot but Shoichi managed to shoot it in time.
When the ball was still in the air, the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the first half. Everybody's eyes were now on the ball, shining with anticipation. The ball then swished through the net and the crowd started cheering. Damn, he really does what you don't want him to do, I thought to myself.
"Good defense Kaen but it was still better offense, get him next time eh." Haru said to me.
"Yeah, it was just three points anyway. The score is not 67-43. If we don't choke or something we got this game in the bag."
Kiyoshi:" Dude, Kaen you have like 20 points by the first half. Tell me, how the hell did you do that in your first game."
"Wait I do? I swear I was passing the ball most of the time. I don't recall scoring that much." I asked. I had been trying to find the open man as much as possible to get the general points for assists. They were the ones that gave the most for every shot taken.
Kiyoshi:" Well, after your 9 point explosion at the start of the game scoring 11 more points shouldn't have been that difficult for you."
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The more power stones I get the faster I will release the next chapter.
Actually nah, I don't want to make any promises.