On the basketball court,
Fukuda collapsed under the basket,
gasping for breath.
A few days ago, he had read in a magazine about a genius-level player who had emerged in Ryonan.
When he saw in the magazine that this player was stronger than Sendoh, his interest was instantly piqued.
He wanted to challenge this player,
and part of the reason he returned to the basketball team was to compete with Kenichi Uesugi.
However, after today's one-on-one match,
he truly realized the depth of Kenichi Uesugi's strength.
His once-proud offensive skills seemed insignificant in comparison.
No matter what move Fukuda tried,
Uesugi could always read his every move and perfectly anticipate his route.
Even when Fukuda found a rare opportunity to shoot from his blind spot,
Uesugi effortlessly blocked it.
That moment made Fukuda come to a solid conclusion:
this guy was truly a gifted player.
Two days later,
the Kanagawa Prefecture Tournament finally reached its finals.
According to the competition system,
the four teams that had made it to the finals were: Hainan, Buri, Ryonan, and Shohoku.
The tournament would use a round-robin system, with each team facing off against the other three.
The two teams with the best records would advance to the national competition.
After the draw,
Ryonan was set to face Buri in the first game.
The day of the match soon arrived.
The basketball hall was already packed with spectators.
Reporters and cameramen gathered outside, surrounding the basketball court.
As the ace reporter for Basketball Weekly,
Aida Yayoi was also present, watching closely.
Looking at the "Brave and Courageous" banner hanging on Ryonan's side of the court,
Aida couldn't help but silently root for Ryonan in her heart.
After all,
she wanted her brother to compete on the national stage and show the world his talents.
Inside the locker room of Ryonan,
Tanaka Shigeo was giving a passionate speech to the players,
"We've come so far. The next step is the national competition we've always dreamed of!"
"Last year, we fell short."
"But this year, we're stronger, and we won't make the same mistake again!"
"In the next three games, give it your all!"
"Understood?!"
The players responded with a loud, unified, "Understood!"
After Tanaka Shigeo's speech,
he announced the starting lineup for the upcoming game:
"Center: Uozumi Jun,"
"Power forward: Ikegami Ryoji,"
"Small forward: Uesugi Kenichi,"
"Shooting guard: Sendoh Akira,"
"Point guard: Uekusa Tomoyuki."
As the starting lineup was announced,
Fukuda immediately became dissatisfied.
He wanted to challenge Ikegami to a one-on-one duel.
Ikegami, however, was terrified.
Even though Tanaka Shigeo had assured him that Ikegami's role would be crucial against Hainan,
Fukuda remained displeased with the decision.
Just as Tanaka Shigeo was feeling the pressure,
Kenichi Uesugi walked up to Fukuda, whispering something in his ear.
The simple words immediately calmed Fukuda down.
Tanaka Shigeo was curious about what had been said,
and Kenichi Uesugi, smiling, replied,
"I just told him that even I played as a substitute before!"
Tanaka Shigeo immediately understood.
Players who were stronger than Fukuda had also taken on substitute roles.
He figured that Fukuda might now be more willing to accept his position.
Meanwhile, in the locker room of Buri,
their coach was also giving an encouraging speech to his players:
"There are only four teams left, and only two can make it to the national competition."
"We may not be able to beat Hainan, so we'll let that game go."
"But our goal today is to defeat Ryonan and Shohoku with everything we have. We must win this game today!"
At that moment,
a tall player from Buri stood up,
"You don't have to worry, Coach. We didn't lose to them by much last year. And this year, we've improved a lot. We'll definitely beat Ryonan!"
This player was Soma Kei,
Buri's power forward and ace player.
Indeed, Buri was much stronger this year.
Not only were most of their key players still on the team,
but they had also added a promising first-year rookie to their center position: Tokugawa Nagashima.
His arrival had filled a major gap in Buri's interior defense.
And Tokugawa Nagashima had quickly earned the starting center position with his outstanding play during the season.
"Yes, Soma's right," Tokugawa Nagashima added, "We will definitely beat Ryonan today."
His confident words were met with enthusiastic support from the rest of the team.
"Exactly. Uesugi Kenichi is just some media hype,"
one of the players commented.
"Last time they played against Tohoku, they only scored over 100 points. If we had played them, we'd have scored over 200!"
As the voices grew louder,
the atmosphere in the Buri locker room grew charged with energy.
Coach Yoshimura, seeing how fired up his players were, began to envision victory.
"As long as we beat Ryonan today, and then beat Shohoku, we can make it to the national competition."
"Shohoku is weaker than Ryonan, so we won't have any trouble with them!"
Coach Yoshimura's confidence grew as he imagined leading Buri to victory in the national competition.
·····
Finally, the two teams walked out onto the court.
The moment Ryonan and Buri players stepped onto the floor,
the fans erupted into cheers for Ryonan and Kenichi Uesugi.
On the other side, the Buri players, entering from a different tunnel, couldn't help but feel frustrated.
Despite their years of experience in county finals,
they had never felt such a lack of support.
This enraged them, especially after all the confidence they'd shown in the locker room.
They were determined that if they beat Ryonan,
it would be the perfect way to silence the doubters in the stands.
After both teams completed their warm-ups,
the game was finally about to begin.
The starting players from both teams took the court.
Ryonan's starting lineup remained the same, as usual.
Buri kept their starting lineup from the quarterfinals:
center Tokugawa Nagashima, power forward Soma Kei, small forward Kitakumo Takashi, shooting guard Urakami Munei, point guard Katakura Kagetsuna.
As they all took their positions on the court,
Buri's center Tokugawa Nagashima looked up at Uesugi, who stood a full 12 cm taller than him.
Suddenly, all his bold words from the locker room felt hollow.
He began to feel an unsettling doubt.
"This guy is way too tall. I don't think he'll be easy to handle!"