Nationals 24th-17th Match vs Hayama Kotaro

On the day of the match, Hideki was pitted against Hayama, with statistics, Higashitani Middle School, Kotaro Hayama's school whould win, but in the betting odds, Hideki had the favorable matchup due to his 2 Finals appearances and winning experience against other Kings.

As for their playstyle, Hanabira still does their physical defense and Higashitani does it in less than ⅓ of the shot clock, meaning they pass the ball quickly and let Hayama cook, which mostly netted them points.

So for this matchup Coach Yoshida implemented a 3 bigs lineup with Hideki at Small Forward and let Hideki guard Hayama. As for offense, let's hope that when it rains on Hanabira's yard, it pours.

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Before the tip-off, both ace players shook hands and Hayama wanted to say his piece before leaving, "It's super nice I get a chance to dethrone the King before the others do it" Hideki laughed and said "Well let's hope that's what happens"

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At the tip off, Hanabira got the ball and Renji got Hideki open for a Rush A sequence, just to spite Higashitani Middle School and let them have a taste of their own medicine. Since no other players are taller than Hideki except Teiko's Murasakibara, he was able to finish the alley-oop sequence and dunked the ball on two Higashitani players.

The game got on with Hanabira being more physical with Higashitani players as they are not known for their outside shooting, that's why Coach Yoshida used a 3 bigs lineup. Higashitani only was able to punish Hanabira if it's not Hideki guarding them or it's a lucky shot.

But the score is realatively close at 19 to 17 in Hanabira's favor 1 minute before the end of the first quarter, then Hayama's teammate screen Hideki for Hayama to get a little bit of separation and was able to do a far reverse layup so Hideki was not able to reach the ball. After that score, the first quarter ended in a tie, 19 all.

The second quarter started with Higashitani employing that same screen to Hideki so Hayama would be able to get past Hideki and if the separation between the two players is huge, like a meter, then Hayama is lights out either in midrange or inside the paint area. 

But Hideki is not one to lose on this imoprtant battle. He is also cooking for Hanabira, now using a back to the basket playstyle, using his length and usual strength to somewhat overpower Kotaro down low and either pass to an open man or score over Hayama Kotaro.

At this point of his life, Hideki is taller than Kotaro by several centimeters or inches and could score a normal mid-range if he wishes so, it's just that when he's locked into a shooting motion, Higashitani could capitalize and disrupt his shot and try to pass, this is a minor flaw in Hideki's game as his hands are not big enough to change actions fluidly like Teppei, sure he can change an action quickly due to his very OP reaction speed, but his handle on the ball is his limitation. To bypass this, he opts for hookshots or layups.

(A/N: I'm not sure but try to opt out of a picture perfect jump shot and pass the ball. Tried this once in high school but I was unable to pass before I landed on the ground. Which meant I travelled.)

The second quarted or first half ended with another tie at 45 points, Higashitani had the game pace on their leash but Hanabira and Hideki is able to go toe to toe with them, it comes with their deep Nationals experience to this point.

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In the halftime break, both teams were gasping for air but they can still fight for two whole matches today, both team coaches made the decision to rely the game on their aces for them to win the game.

On Higashitani's side, Kotaro was giddy to try his skill against Hideki.

On Hanabira's side, Hideki was excited to face Kotaro and his extensive offensive reportoire.

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In the third quarter, Hanabira got possession of the ball and Hideki pulled his rare play, be the point guard for one possession.

Kotaro was shocked but accepted the challenge. 

Hideki dribbled the ball from his right to left and faked going to the left and swung the ball to the right and took a wide step to his right and began to fade to the right and swished a mid-range jumper. 

Kotaro liked the challenge and as he got the ball, he said "Okay, that was a really cool display Hideki-san, I'll say let's start at 4" Hideki was shocked to hear what he meant and asked himself "Is this a Jojo Reference? But 4 is the bad number" Kotaro got the ball to his right hand and had 4 fingers and his dribble was so strong that it got really fast from a 0 to 80 percent full speed than what Kotaro displayed earlier, he almost left Hideki in the dust and got around the court and jumped for a mid-range of his own, Hideki was able to contest but the shot went in after 3 bounces in the ring.

Hideki just said "Wow, nice dribble move you got there, but I know that's not what you are capable of. Show me 5 next time."

Kotaro just nodded and was now ecstatic to show the full force of his dribble.

In the next play of Higashitani, Kotaro accepted Hideki's challenge and got into 5 fingers, Hideki was completely left behind and is one step behind, as Kotaro jumped he tried to go for a layup, but Hideki's epitaph shown itself and tried to block the shot but, he clutched the ball and did another reverse layup as Hideki's hands cant reach the ball. 

Now Kotaro's 5 finger dribble was a menace to Hanabira, but good thing that Coach Yoshida's words rang true, the 3 bigs was able to contain Kotaro and the ball and it sometimes resulted in turnovers. 

The third quarter ended with 78 to 77 with Higashitani in the lead, but it will all change in the next quarter.

Hideki told Kotaro, "Sure you got good dribble moves but I will still win this game for us" Hideki's teammate screen behind Kotaro, Hideki got past Kotaro and was able to get the ball mid-air for a pop jump shot, which swished the net.

On defense Hideki told Kotaro, "Sorry mate, but your days are numbered, I can now defend against the 5-finger dribble." Kotaro was angry at that statement but did his usual shtick, he did a couple of dribble moves against Hideki but for some reason, Hideki was stuck like glue to Kotaro and Kotaro was not able to get past him, good for him his teammate screened Hideki and got past him for a mid-range jumper but Hideki was fast and was on air after he got past the screen and was able to block the shot.

Kotaro tried and tried again to get past Hideki even using multiple screens to get past Hideki but Hideki knew that Kotaro won't pass the ball due to his pride as Higashitani's ace and if he backed out, it would decrease the team morale, so he constantly forced the issue and the issue blocks him.

The 4th quarter ended and the game buzzer ended with Hanabira prevailing over Higashitani with 102 to 95.

Hideki posted these unbelievable stats:

40 points

18 rebounds

19 assists

12 steals

10 blocks