Teruo walked out of the court near the baseline. The ref handed him the ball. Eiji stood across from Teruo on the court. The two teams would be guarding each other from receiving the ball. The ref blew his whistle, signaling the inbound. Teruo passed the ball to Eiji, inbounding the ball. Teruo ran back onto the court, running toward his hoop. Yusuke would run toward Teruo. Teruo grits his teeth as Eiji passes him the ball. Yusuke stepped in front of Teruo, guarding him. Teruo scoffed,
"Does this brat think he can guard me...!?" Teruo internalized. Teruo stepped to the side, trying to get past Yusuke, but he followed. Teruo shook his head, running forward, pushing Yusuke out of the way. Yusuke fell to the ground on his butt. The ref blew his whistle, signaling a foul on Teruo Ikehara. The Sendai Daiichi coach looked confused,
"What was he doing!?" The coach said, shaking his head. Kazuma walked over, helping Yusuke up. The players walked over to the free-throw line. Yusuke stood on the line and six players four from Kakeru and two from Sendai Daiichi stood on the sideline of the free throw zone. The ref handed Yusuke the ball, blowing his whistle and putting two fingers up for two free-throw attempts. Yusuke nodded, dribbling the ball and looking up at the hoop. He inhaled closing his eyes for a second before opening them again with an exhale.
He lifted his heels, shooting the ball toward the hoop. The ball flew in the air, hitting the backboard and falling into the basket. Kazuma and Takashi would high-five Yusuke for making the first shot.
The ref handed Yusuke the ball for his second attempt. Yusuke dribbled the ball, bending his knees, then shooting them back up, tossing the ball toward the hoop. The ball flew toward the basket, falling through the basket. Teruo caught the ball as it went through the basket. He passed it to Eiji. Eiji dribbled down the court as Kazuma went to steal the ball from him. Eiji dodged him, stepping backward and passing the ball to #55, Masayuki Jin. Jin caught the pass, dribbling down the court for a layup. He made the layup making the score. 4 - 6, Kakeru Highschool, Quarter 1, 9:25.
Takashi walked over to the sideline where the ref handed him the ball. Kakeru spread out with Sendai Daiichi players trying to guard them. Takashi passed the ball to Hidē. Hidē caught the ball, dribbling it toward the hoop. Hidē passed the ball to Kazuma. Kazuma took it up, passing it back to Hidē. Hidē went up to shoot a layup, but Jin blocked the shot.
"What!?" Hidē internalized. Jin grabbed the ball, passing it to #75, Hachiro Sugimoto. Sugimoto ran down the court, shooting from the three-point arc. The ball flew in the air, toward the basket. The ball swished through the hoop making the score. 7 - 6, Sendai Daiichi, Quarter 1, 8:58. Kazuma ran to the sideline to inbound the ball. The ref handed him the ball, blowing the whistle. Kazuma passed the ball to Yusuke but it slipped out of his hands. Sho, Ikehara, Yusuke, and Ryuzaki dove for the ball. Ikehara grabbed the ball. Ryuzaki grabbed the ball in Ikehara's arms, pulling. The two were practically playing tug of war as the ref blew his whistle, signaling a foul on Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki and Ikehara stood up. Ikehara tossed the ball to the ref. The players walked over to the free-throw zone.
"Bastard..." Ryuzaki thought to himself, throwing a dirty look at Ikehara. Ikehara proceeded to make both of his free throws, making the score 9 - 6, Sendai Daiichi, Quarter 1, 8:52.
Hidē passed the ball inbounds to Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki took the ball up, passing it to Yusuke. Yusuke went for the dunk but missed. Ryuazki caught the rebound, running back outside of the three-point arc. He passed the ball to Kazuma who was guarded. Kazuma passed to Hidē who went up, dunking the ball into the hoop. Kakeru then ran back as Sendai Daiichi gained possession of the ball. Teruo dribbled up, crossing multiple Kakeru players. Yusuke and Ryuzaki saw this running toward Teruo. Teruo jumped up to dunk the ball into the hoop. Yusuke and Ryuzaki followed by jumping up and blocking the ball. Ryuzaki caught the ball running toward their hoop. Teruo catching up not far behind him. Ryuzaki looked to both sides of him.
"Kurosawa!" Yusuke shouted. Ryuzaki looked over at Yusuke, seeing he was wide open. Ryuzaki threw the ball at Yusuke. Yusuke caught the ball, shooting a three. The ball swooshed through the hoop, scoring them three points. The score was now 9 - 11, Kakeru High School, Quarter 1, 8:44. Sendai Daiichi inbounded the ball. Ikehara ran down the court but Yusuke stole the ball from him. Yusuke ran down the court to the three-point arc, passing the ball to Kazuma who shot a three, scoring. The score was 9 - 14, Kakeru High School, Quarter 1, 8:38. Jin grabbed the ball, passing it to Sugimoto, who dribbled down the court, shooting a layup and scoring. (11 - 14, SD)
"Coach, can I get back in?" Nori asked. Takeuchi nodded. Nori stood up on the sideline waiting to be subbed in. Sendai Daiichi also had someone on the sideline to be subbed in. The ref blew his whistle signaling the sub-switch. Yoshinori went in for Yusuke and #18 at Sendai Daiichi went in for Hachiro Sugimoto. Yusuke sat down at the bench, taking a drink of water.
"Who's he...?" Yusuke asked, pointing at him. The boy was the same height as Kazuma and had messy brown hair.
"Him? That's a first year at Sendai Daiichi... Don't know his name..." Said Kanero. Yusuke nodded,
"He's the same height as Fujimoto-San..." Yusuke said. The bench chuckled. Kakeru inbounded. Kazuma ran dribbled down the court with the ball. Suddenly, the 1st Year quickly stole the ball, dribbling down the court and shooting a three-pointer. (14, All.) Everyone looked shocked.
"The kid's fast..." Yusuke whispered. Everyone on the bench nodded in agreement.
"But if there's one thing about Kazuma... If he feels disrespected... He adapts..." Nobuyuki said. Kazuma's eyes were shadowed over with his fists clenched.