Chapter 12 - VS Kaijo III - Second Quarter

"Good job, everyone!" Riko praised her players on the break before the second quarter. "You defended pretty well. To be honest, I already expected that the gap will be two digits. But as I said, you are doing wonderful."

She lets her players have smugness on their faces before she started talking again.

"But there is still room to improve. Furihata!" Riko turned around to see her first-year point guard. "The pace is still a bit too high. We couldn't coordinate properly for the defense because of that. Try to slow down the tempo."

"Hai, coach!"

"I will put Junpei and Mitobe at the beginning on the bench to let them rest for a bit. Izuki, Kuroko-kun, you are up!" Furihata widened his eyes at the instruction.

"But coach, that means…"

"Yeah, we will play with a small line-up. If we don't, Junpei and Mitobe would burn out and it would be harder for us when we reach the final quarter. So, we will make an adjustment for the defense. Listen here, everyone!"

Everyone suddenly paid their full attention to Riko.

"With this kind of line-up, the only one who can fight in aerial battle is Kagami. So, you will be responsible for whoever comes to the paint area, be it their center, their power forward, or even Kise. Your job is also to grab every rebound you can get and start our counterattack. You don't have to carry us on offense or face Kise every time he has the ball. Just do your job and save your energy."

Kagami nodded firmly. While he didn't like the fact that he will not be facing Kise anymore, he knows the necessity of saving energy, so he will just follow the order.

"As for Kise, I want Furihata-kun and Kuroko-kun to double-team them." Furihata's eyes suddenly flash in understanding.

"Aaah.. I know what your idea is. You want me to lock him down and when he is preoccupied with me, you want Phantom to step up and steal the ball with his misdirection."

"Spot on," Riko smirked, satisfied at Furihata's basketball IQ. Honestly, he is her favorite type of player. Smart and know how to implement the strategy in the court.

"What do you think, Phantom?" Furihata turned around and asked Kuroko who seems to be invisible once again, just to be discovered by Furihata.

"If we want to stop Kise-kun, I think we should try it." He replied with a straight face.

"Good. From the beginning of the first quarter, the only time we stopped Kise is when Furihata pulled his trick, so we basically haven't found a strategy to stop him. With this double team, I am sure we can stop him once or twice. And when Junpei and Mitobe can play again, we will add Kagami-kun to the combination so that it couldn't be predicted. Any comment?" Riko stares at Kagami, Kuroko, and Furihata who would be the main star of her strategy.

"Only one." Furihata raised his hand. "Kise's physical ability is far better than mine, so I probably wouldn't be able to stop him or stale the time until Phantom could do anything."

"I have already thought about that problem too, and honestly, I haven't found any solution yet. All I hope is you can stop him a few times before our starter could play again. Do you think it is possible?"

Furihata pondered for a moment before he sighed.

"It will be hard, but I will do what I can."

Riko nodded, satisfied with the answer. She pondered for a moment before speaking,

"As for our offense, I change my mind. Kuroko-kun and Izuki would be our main playmakers. I will trust both of you to coordinate our team. But that also means I will dump you on Furihata's responsibility to set the tempo. Can both of you do that?"

The duo who was mentioned just look at each other and nodded with eyes burned with determination.

"We will do it, Coach!"

"Good! Koganei, I know I overlook you sometimes. But this time, I need you to be the annoying player. Set a screen, create more space for the other, contest every rebound, defend hard, try to aim for a foul, do everything you can to drain them emotionally. If we couldn't beat them in a normal way, we will force them to go to the foul game. Can you do that?"

Koganei grinned.

"Leave it to me, Coach!"

"Kagami, your main task is under the rim. Just be patient until both Junpei and Mitobe go back to the court, and you can go to Kise once again. Can you do that?"

Seeing as Kagami didn't make any comment and just nod, Riko assumed that the red hair is accepting the order.

"As for Furihata, you will be our main scorer. I noticed earlier that your shoot selection is always good, and your positioning is amazing. You will be our emergency shooting guard. I know your playmaking ability will be wasted, but this time, I need you to score and put the pressure on their defense for at least four to five minutes before I put Junpei back on the court. Are you confident enough to do that?"

Furihata put his hand on his chin, thinking for a moment before he replied,

"Between guarding blondie and scoring, it will be a very demanding task. But if it works, we can have a lead for the first time since the match begin. I cannot guarantee it will work, but I will do it."

"Good! Now, go back to the court and kill them all!"

"Hai, Coach!" Everyone replied with shouts while Furihata is sweatdropped at the command.

'Red and Hyuga-senpai would probably really kill someone from Kaijo if we ended up losing..'

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The second quarter started a moment later, but with a different atmosphere. Everyone on Seirin could feel the heavy pressure from the Kaijo.

"We underestimated you," Kasamatsu spoke. "But it will end now. You will see why we are at the national level this quarter. Don't fall behind."

Several Seirin players feel a goosebump at the speech, but Furihata just rolled his eyes.

'What is that? A protagonist speech?' He exasperated. nevertheless, he still had wariness in his eyes, as with all of them putting their 100% focus on the game, this game will definitely be harder.

"This will get harder. Be ready." Furihata muttered lowly, but not low enough to keep his teammates from hearing. Izuki could only nod, feeling that the rest of the game would be more exhausting than the first quarter.

The game started with Seirin's possession. Izuki is holding the ball, being guarded by Kasamatsu. He felt the pressure from Kasamatsu and couldn't think about how he could score. No, he was forced to think about how to keep the possession, as the defense is getting more intense.

He keeps holding the ball, trying to prevent Kasamatsu from stealing the ball while at the same time searching for Kuroko's presence.

'Tch. Even with my eyes, I still have a hard time finding Kuroko. How the hell did Furihata track him for the entire quarter?'

Izuki gritted his teeth while trying to find a chance. Then suddenly, he could see blue hair flash in the corner of his eyes. He knows that it was Kuroko, so he passes the ball without hesitation.

But that is what Kaijo players want.

Just before Izuki releases the ball, suddenly a blonde appeared in his sight, startling him.

'SHIT!'

Right after the ball is not in his grasp, Kise catches the ball and runs at high speed toward Seirin's rim. He dunked the ball easily without anyone contested the shot, an easy bucket for Kaijo.

"Nice steal, Kise!"

"Nice one!"

The game started again quickly, but this time Furihata came to help Izuki.

"Senpai, here!" He runs quickly to the corner area while still being followed by Moriyama who is guarding him.

Izuki didn't wait for too long and sends the ball to Furihata. Fortunately, unlike the last play, there is no Kise to steal the ball.

Furihata catches the ball and tries to make a three-point shooter. But before he could release the ball, he found his sight blocked by a hand.

"Not that easy, rookie!"

Moriyama extended his hand in the air, trying to block the shoot. However, instead of panicking, Furihata smirked.

"I know."

Right before Moriyama's hand reached the ball, Furihata lowered his body to avoid the block. That was when Moriyama realized what happened.

'He hasn't jumped yet! A triple threat, shit!'

Furihata avoided the block easily and now is dribbling the ball toward the rim without anyone guarding him. Just when he arrived at the paint area, Kise appeared in front of him, trying to stop his attempt.

"A good fake. But it ends now."

"Is that so?"

Instead of facing Kise one-on-one, he sends the ball to the free-throw spot where Koganei, Kagami, Kobori, and Hayakawa are there.

'Why would he pass the ball to the crowd?' Kise wondered for a moment. But he got the answer immediately right after that when Kuroko suddenly appeared in front of everyone and bounced the pass high near the board.

Kagami who is a bit out of position jumped instinctively while extending one hand to grab the ball in the air. Hayakawa and Kobori try to do the same to block the ball, but Kagami crushed both of them completely in the air.

*BAAAAMMM!!!*

Kagami slammed it down to the rim, ignoring the block attempt. Kobori and Hayakawa could only stare at Kagami while they both fell to the ground, couldn't believe for a single moment that they both were bested in the air.

Silence descended on the court before the whistle was blown by the referee.

"Kaijo #10 defensive shooting foul, one free throw for Seirin #10.

Then the cheers exploded from Seirin players.

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