Chapter 306
In the first match, Ji Yoon-chul and I didn't have a chance to show off our secret weapon.
No, it's fortunate that we didn't have to use it.
This is a kind of performance we prepared to show in the finals.
"Hyung, nice."
"Yoon-chul also handled the rebound well."
I celebrated the victory by bumping fists with Ji Yoon-chul.
The three Titan members who ran to us right away hugged our shoulders and laughed loudly.
"Aren't we really invincible?"
"Everyone seemed to have lost their fighting spirit from the beginning, starting with Karis block shot."
"Wow, but you really jumped high. It's unbelievable."
"Haha, it's all thanks to the dedicated play of our seniors. If it weren't for our seniors, we wouldn't have won."
At my words, the seniors waved their hands.
But the corners of their mouths were going up incredibly.
"Hey, you really don't have to be so humble. You were a total one-man army."
"That's right. If Karis hadn't been there, Jeong-goo would have just passed the ball to the opponent. Seriously."
"But you can't shoot either, so why do you keep doing that to me?"
"I'll shoot better than you."
The friendly atmosphere continued like that.
We defeated Team A and Team E in the following games, and we comfortably advanced to the finals.
The long-awaited finals opponent was Team B.
The member of Team B, who had beaten their opponents by a large margin just as much as we did, was none other than....
"Please take care of me, senior."
"You have to be gentle, okay?"
"Haha, that seems like it's not possible, unfortunately."
Before the final match, I shook hands with Shane, the leader of Haillight, and had a brief conversation.
Shane smiled awkwardly at my words and flipped his bangs.
"You're really good. Have you ever learned basketball?"
"I learned briefly while preparing for
"I used to go to basketball lessons, but I barely have time these days."
Oh, I see.
I kept a polite smile on my face, listening to the story that I wasn't interested in at all.
"I hope we have a good match, senior."
"Don't get hurt and work hard!"
In my heart, I wished that Go Yoon-seok would show up.
However, unfortunately, only Shane and Park Sang-hoo showed up in Haillight.
Ji Yoon-chul must have felt disappointed, as his eyes kept turning to the side.
I whispered, poking the youngest's side.
"Yoon-chul. Your gaze is too obvious towards Go Yoon-seok. You might be suspicious, so be careful."
"Ah. Ah, yes, hyung. I'm sorry."
"I'm also sorry, but I'm satisfied with just that since we're up against Haillight."
"..... Yes."
Fortunately, Ji Yoon-chul regained his usual calm demeanor as soon as he heard me.
"Hyung, we'll definitely win."
"I'm not thinking about anything else but winning either."
"And this time, we'll do it unconditionally. At least twice."
I gave Ji Yoon-chul an evil smile.
"When else would we do it? Throw it high whenever you see the chance. I'll catch it somehow."
"I'll trust you."
Our strategy remains the same.
The Titan trio appropriately consumes stamina and holds on to three opposing defenders as much as possible.
Ji Yoon-chul and I freely swap positions to create space.
And whenever there is an opening, we use a desperate measure.
I pulled up the hem of my basketball uniform and wiped off some sweat.
The keyword for this competition is 'suppression'.
Everything has been going as I have decided so far.
And that would not change in this final.
"Yoon-chul. I will take the jump ball this time."
"Yes."
I gathered my resolve and stood at the center line.
The one who came out to face me was a member of Daybreak, a nine-member group that was on the same team as Haillight.
The fierce eyes that rose upward seemed to represent his will.
He's about the same height as me, so he seems to be confident in height battles.
He's no match for me.
-Thump!
Having won the height battle, I leisurely sent the ball to our camp.
Lee Jeong-gu immediately caught the ball and passed it to me, then quickly crossed to the other side of the court as planned.
'Hmm?'
I noticed something was strange.
Clearly, the previous teams played man-to-man defense, following the Titan members who were moving busily.
Team B didn't follow their movements at all.
Rather, they played zone defense without taking their eyes off me who was holding the ball.
'Did they see through my strategy?'
Watching our last game, I think they came up with a solution of their own.
I took a quick breath as I watched the defense slowly closing in around me.
If you want to surround me like that, try it
With lightning-quick movements, I dribbled left and right and shook off one defender.
As I showed a move to break inside, three defenders, including Shane, surrounded me in an instant,
Anticipating that, I passed the ball to Ji Yoon-chul, who was on the side.
"Whew."
I could hear Ji Yoon-chul taking a deep breath.
He calmly aimed for the rim and threw the ball.
The basketball slid through the net coolly, giving us two precious points.
"Nice shot, Yoon-chul!"
"Okay, okay!"
It's always good to score first. The flow of the game is ours.
However, Team B, led by Shane, carried the ball to our camp without wavering.
I watched Shane's movements one-on-one.
'Breakthrough? Pass? Or shoot?'
Shane, who was killing time by bouncing the ball for a while, jerked his body to the right while I was pondering.
I saw Park Sang-hoo of Haillight running around in the distance, so I expected a pass and prepared to block the ball.
Shane immediately shifted the center of gravity back and switched to a shooting position.
'Oh no!'
As soon as I realized that I had been fooled by the fake move, the ball left Shane's fingertips.
The 3-point shot drew a beautiful parabolic arc and landed accurately in the net.
In an instant, the score was reversed to 3-2.
"....."
"They're good."
"They're not following us. You should follow us a bit to create some space."
The Titan members spoke to me with a slightly worried tone.
But I shook my head.
"The plan is the same. Keep moving and shake the local defenses."
"You won't have much space to break through."
"It's okay, Yoon-chul."
"Yes."
I exchanged glances with Ji Yoon-chul.
An unspoken message that we could make a long pass whenever we had the chance.
A fierce battle of offense and defense ensued for 5 minutes.
I used my physicality to break through the siege and made successive layups.
Shane, who led Team B, stole my timing with his incredible shooting sense.
'I absolutely have to block it once!'
The reason I was able to bring the game to my side so far was because I was able to suppress the opponent's attacks.
Blocking shots or causing a missed pass.
I gritted my teeth.
I absolutely had to block this attack.
Shane, who was dribbling slowly again, confused me by hitting the faint again.
This time, I followed his direction once, twice in a row, but I lost the player at the last shot timing.
Just when I was desperately trying to regain my center of gravity.
-Tuck.
"?!"
"...Finally blocked it."
Ji Yoon-chul, who had appeared on Shane's right side, blocked the ball with his long arms.
Shane's high dribble tempo was bound to be interrupted.
Ji Yoon-chul used both hands to snatch the ball and regain the right to attack.
And at that moment.
I caught Ji Yoon-chul's sparkling eyes for a split second.
The message he was sending me was clear.
Run.
Towards the rim with all your might.
"Kuaa!"
I immediately stood up and changed direction.
So that the center of gravity is directed toward the opponent's court, not ours.
So that all the strength is concentrated on the legs and thighs.
Seeing me shoot forward like a bullet, the Titan members also chased after me.
Struggling to somehow delay the B team players.
But I overtook them and accelerated.
4m. 3m. 2m.
The B team's rim gradually got closer.
Because I was concentrating at the peak, my whole body felt hot.
At that moment, when all the senses in my body were burning, I heard someone shouting in my ear.
The youngest who usually didn't raise his voice.
Ji Yoon-chul, who always maintained a calm and composed tone of speech, shouted at me in a loud voice.
"Break it!"
With that shout, the basketball flew through the wind onto the court.
I kept running, looking back and figuring out where the basketball was.
The moment I finally reached the rim.
I jumped high into the air, caught the ball in the air, and dunked an alley-oop with both hands.
Kwaang!
"Waaaaaa-!"
Thousands of voices rang out in unison.
The moment I created a scene that you would only see at a professional basketball game, the atmosphere in the gym became even hotter.
I held onto the rim for a few seconds, feeling the afterglow of the dunk.
Adrenaline surged through my body, and I felt electricity running from head to toe.
"Karis is crazy!"
"How can you do an alley-oop here? It's crazy. Seriously!"
"The atmosphere is totally different!"
I returned to our camp while receiving compliments from my teammates.
Ji Yoon-chul, who was waiting for me under the goal, greeted me with a big smile.
"Hyung, did I pass well?"
"It was perfect. It couldn't have been more accurate."
"I'm so glad it went well."
Meanwhile, Team B was dumbfounded.
The fierce-eyed member who had competed with me for the jump ball earlier just put both hands on his waist and stared blankly at me.
That was understandable.
Who would think of dunking in an event match between idols, and doing an alley-oop at that?
Shane, who had been maintaining a good pace, seemed to have a slight mental shake.
His flashy dribbling had slowed down a bit, and now I could tell where he was going to carry the ball just from the look in his eyes.
'Unfortunately, it's time to put a period on it.'
I snatched a pass that was noticeably flat out of the air.
As the Titan trio tirelessly dug into the opponent's court, the solid zone defense began to slowly break through.
The moment it changed to man-to-man marking, a space that I had not seen before came into my sight.
"Whew-."
Even my personal marking man had changed.
Now, Shane sensed the situation was dire, so he blocked me by both attacking and defending.
That was actually good.
It was the perfect sacrifice for a spectacular finale.
I slowly moved forward and made Shane step back.
Shane, who had already tasted my strength in the previous competition, didn't rush to attack me.
When I didn't try to post up like before, he saw an opportunity and leaned forward, extending his hand somewhat forcefully.
'This is my chance!'
I just leaned forward and accelerated forward.
Shane, who was surprised by my sudden movement, put his arms back and continued to back away to avoid committing a foul.
I drove Shane right in front of the rim and jumped high right in front of the no-charge semi-circle line.
One hand down for balance.
And the other hand up, tightly holding the ball.
I leaped into the sky like an eagle and mercilessly dunked the ball again with Shane in front of me.
Shane tried desperately to stop me. But his hand couldn't reach me, and he ended up falling backward naturally due to my momentum.
A contest that took place inside the no-charge semi-circle. Of course, no foul was called.
A splendid finish that literally crushes the opponent's will to the ground.
I came down to the court with a proud air.
Then, Ji Yoon-chul, who approached me silently, made eye contact for a few seconds, and we looked at each other and gave each other a high five full of excitement.
"....."
"....."
The tight game was suddenly unbalanced.
Thanks to my great performance, we won the championship with a final score of 30 to 22.
It was a truly 'suppressive' game.
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