Arjun was absolutely dominating on the court, and his presence breathed new life into The Greenfield School's team spirit, while The Doon School felt the mounting pressure.
As the second half kicked off, Arjun continued to unleash his arsenal.
To everyone watching, it seemed like Arjun was on fire.
Deep three-pointers, explosive dunks, back-to-the-basket plays followed by crafty up-and-unders, taking on every defender The Doon School threw at him in one-on-one situations.
Arjun wasn't much for passing,he was doing it all himself, and both his teammates and the crowd were loving every minute of it.
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
At the end of the third quarter, when Arjun drew a foul and stepped to the free-throw line, the entire arena erupted in chants of "MVP."
Arjun had won everyone over.
80 to 70.
That quarter, Arjun had led The Greenfield School to a 10-point lead.
The Doon School's offense was tough to stop, but Arjun wasn't planning to win with defense. He just needed to outscore them.
Arjun alone dropped 29 points in that quarter!
In the fourth quarter, Arjun's scoring spree showed no signs of slowing down. The Doon School tried various strategies to defend him, but nothing worked.
No defense seemed to affect Arjun.
His shooting was on fire.
The score gap widened.
The game quickly moved to the final 3 minutes and 11 seconds.
The score was now 107 to 90.
The lead had grown to 17 points.
The Greenfield School had the ball.
Arjun brought it up the court.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
His continuous bursts had him sweating for a reason.
The game wasn't very intense, but Arjun was practically taking every shot himself.
After glancing at the scoreboard, Arjun felt he could sit out after this play.
He squared up one-on-one against Vivek.
He signaled to clear out some space.
Vivek was panting heavily, his shirt soaked with sweat.
Vivek swore, there was no one in the EPBL as strong as Arjun.
He had faced many top EPBL players and even fringe INBL players, but never felt this much pressure.
The skill gap was huge.
Arjun didn't care about Vivek's defense or his mental state.
Facing Vivek, he made a quick change of direction.
Arjun's moves were different from many players,he could break left or right at any moment, and his cuts were sharp!
To the left!
To the right!
After the crossover, he went between his legs!
Arjun used his shoulder to bump Vivek, who staggered and lost his balance, then with that bump, he stumbled back two steps.
Down he went!!
At that moment, the crowd reached its peak!
Arjun smoothly collected the ball and stepped back!
Instead of shooting immediately, he spun around with the ball, looked down at Vivek, and without saying a word, launched a three-pointer a second later!
The Doon School players were stunned,no one expected Vivek to be taken down one-on-one by Arjun.
Vivek, lying on the ground, closed his eyes in despair.
The basketball traced a beautiful arc through the air.
"Swish!"
110 to 90.
The game was locked down!
"Timeout!"
The Doon School was forced to call another timeout!
Arjun raised his three-point gesture high and then walked straight off the court.
"Coach, I need a break," Arjun said.
"Sure, sure, sure," Coach Vikram replied, his smile as bright as a blooming flower.
"Damn, got schooled by you again."
"Holy smokes, Arjun, you're incredible."
"Knocked Vivek right over."
"Man, you're shooting for the stars."
The Greenfield School players crowded around Arjun, celebrating.
"Arjun's so cool, totally shook his opponent."
"Such a stud."
"Did you hear he's still single, ladies? Time to make your move!"
Many female students began to dig into all sorts of gossip about Arjun.
After the first quarter, many students thought The Greenfield School was doomed to a major defeat.
But Arjun's entry in the second quarter was like a superhero saving the planet, rescuing the school.
With his high attractiveness and slick moves, Arjun easily gathered a large following of female fans.
Whether these fans were there for the game or just for his looks was another question.
During this timeout, The Doon School's bench was dead silent.
Their goal was the ISBL championship, and facing such a setback against a lower-ranked team was a huge blow.
How could they compete nationally?
Vivek was utterly crushed tonight.
Arjun had scored 90 points in front of him over three quarters!
Vivek had never faced such a formidable opponent in his basketball career.
In the final minutes, Arjun didn't play again but cheered his teammates from the sidelines.
The game was already in garbage time.
The Doon School was fierce, scoring 10 points in the last three minutes!
The final score was 113 to 103.
The Greenfield School completed a major upset, defeating last season's national champions, The Doon School.
The high score didn't mean the defense was weak.
It was just that The Greenfield School had an offensive powerhouse who scored 90 points in three quarters, while The Doon School had strong team offense...
After the game, Arjun stood up and went over to high-five the opposing players.
"Man, which college are you thinking about? Consider IIT, your skills could get you a special admission based on your basketball prowess," a player from The Doon School asked.
"Hey, I don't need a special admission,I can get in on my exams alone," Arjun confidently replied.
"Your skills are insane."
"We couldn't stop you."
"You blew Vivek away."
...
...
Strong players are respected wherever they go, and The Doon School's team looked at Arjun with new respect.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with them, Arjun returned to his own team.
Coach Vikram brought over some strangers.
"Arjun, these are scouts from the INBL and EPBL,they'd like to have a word with you."
"OK, thanks, Coach."
Vikram cleared the area, giving them space.
"Hello, Arjun, I'm from the Nagpur Knights..."
"I'm from the Pune Pythons!"
"I'm from the Punjab Gladiators!"
"I'm from the Surat Diamonds..."
"I'm from the Indian Institutes of Technology..."
Arjun's talent and ability were evident.
These clubs and universities were all inviting Arjun for tryouts.
One university directly offered a special admission spot, and an INBL club offered a contract with their second team.
From a distance, other players looked on enviously at Arjun.
They all knew, Arjun had made it big!
One game had set him apart from the average student.
Scoring 90 points in three quarters was something usually only seen when professional players hit the courts.
Many onlookers wished they could be like Arjun now, basking in the limelight.
Faced with all these invitations, Arjun shook his head and said, "Sorry, I haven't really thought about my career path yet. I'll get back to you once I've decided."
Arjun tactfully declined all the offers.
The scouts around Arjun didn't push too hard but left their contact information before leaving, waiting for the young man to reach out to them.
"Priya, Arjun is so amazing, even the professional teams are inviting him."
"Sunita, if you mention Arjun one more time, I'm going to sew your mouth shut."
The two cheerleaders, including the beautiful, big-eyed girl named Sunita, discussed from a distance.
...
A/N: The protagonist won't play in the domestic league,this game is just a stepping stone, next up is NCAA.