32 #32 The Match 4/4
'We have to start scoring too, they are stealing too many of our passes, we should forget playing around our PG even though it was our idea to test that guy this way.' C thought while slowly dribbling the ball near the mid-court line.
He glanced to the right where he saw his SG who was completely free and the most distance away from Yuichi. He passed the ball however mid-pass the ball was stolen by someone.
'Impossible!!' C thought as all of his teammates watched this with wide-open mouths.
Yuichi once again scored another 3-pointer with no one in his way to stop him.
"Those passes are so obvious that it hurts my eyes." Yuichi said while passing the C back to his half.
Yuichi wasn't necessarily trying to act arrogant here, he simply meant to say that the abandonment of their PG was far too obvious.
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The game continued and more Yuichi's team scored points, more students started cheering, getting into the game.
The score was currently 82-73 in Yuichi's favor however Yuichi started to notice changes in his teammates. They started to relax their minds and were laxer than previously with the wider point gap got.
Suddenly Yuichi's SF who had a clear shot for 2-point did a very basic mistake and tried to go for a lay-up where their C was waiting to block him. The guy under the rim naturally blocked him with ease and they quickly counter-attacked. Yuichi got back fast enough but he was a few of his teammates getting back too slowly, however, he was sure that they weren't exhausted due to slow pace during the 1st half.
With only Yuichi and Sudo on the defense, they had a lot of passes opportunity but Yuichi didn't even try to stop them and just stood there while looking down, his bangs were obstructing the view of his current expression.
"?" The PG in front of Yuichi was surprised by this change so he feinted to the left before moving to the right however Yuichi never reacted to either his feint or real move.
The PG took the chance and scored 3-pointer while standing right behind Yuichi.
*whoosh*
82-76 with 5 minutes remaining until the end of the 4th quarter.
"What the hell, Iwamura?" Sudo asked with an angered expression since he was defending the rim and Yuichi could have handled any 3-pointers.
"And why the hell do you guys run so slow?!" Sudo shouted at his other teammates.
"We are sorry about that...We should have returned much faster" They replied collectively with sorry expressions.
"Pass it back" Yuichi went for the ball and passed it to his SF before saying with a serious tone.
SF passed it back and they began their attack in a very slow pace which prompted Yuichi's 2 defenders to stop him even before his own 3-point line.
Yuichi kept dribbling the ball very slowly right next to his body but none of them went for the steal and only waited for him to move since they were in advantage there.
Yuichi watched his teammates run around like headless chickens, no one coming to set up the screen or make himself free for the pass, all of them were waiting for him to do all work and pass his 2 defenders. Of course, Yuichi could do that, however, he doesn't like it when his pieces acted unorganized and did not listen.
"*sigh* I won't play on this kind of chaotic court" Yuichi muttered before turning to his own basket and throwing the ball.
*whoosh*
82-78
"What the- hell...?" Everyone was completely surprised and the sounds of cheering or anything in general completely died down.
"Timeout" Yuichi called out, walking towards his bench ignoring everyone's stares.
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'?! What is he doing?' Even Horikita who endured being in this noisy atmosphere was drawn away from her book as she watched Yuichi throw his own-goal and then walking in a relaxed way towards his team's bench.
"What...was that?" Karuizawa asked while glancing at Hirata.
"..." Hirata didn't even hear her question as he stared with his shaky wide-open eyes at Yuichi's back.
"Hirata-kun?!" Matsushita called out when she noticed his expression.
"Ah, I have no idea..." He replied with a confused expression when he finally woke up from his own world.
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"Iwamura, what the hell was that?!" Sudo's short temper started to show off as he grabbed Yuichi's jersey and pulled Yuichi closer.
"Heh" Yuichi actually released a smile.
"What the fuck is funny her-?!" Sudo questioned while shaking with him before Yuichi's bangs finally fallen on the sides, revealing his dull green eyes, emotionlessly staring at Sudo.
"Eh" Sudo instinctively released his grip and took a step back.
"Have all of you finally calm down? If not, I am not playing anymore and promise between us naturally also falls." Yuichi said while observing his teammates' faces.
"..." No one was replying to him so Yuichi sighed.
"Don't lose the focus like previously, just because we are in the lead doesn't mean you can relax, if I have to, I will help them to close that gap so you can focus and be under more pressure." Yuichi said while staring at his teammates.
Everyone nodded but Yuichi wasn't convinced. Yuichi turned towards the court and took a few steps before stopping and glancing behind at his teammates.
"If they score a single point during these last 5 minutes, we will forfeit this entire match." He said before going to the court.
"W-What?! That's impossible!" Everyone except Sudo exclaimed with a disbelieving expression.
"Then you better make it possible. All you need to do is to support Iwamura so he can pass the ball around and create opportunities for us." Sudo said with narrowed eyes and serious expression. Yuichi's talk completely cooled him down and he realized his past mistakes before Yuichi threw his own-goal.
With this matter finished, everyone returned on the court once their timeout ended.
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"Hmph. Splendidly done." Manabu muttered with a serious expression and crossed arms when he saw Yuichi's team returning to the court.
"? Was there a meaning in throwing his own-goal?" Tachibana asked with a confused expression.
"Look at their expressions carefully." Manabu replied.
"?! How?" Tachibana widened her eyes when she focused on this aspect. Before Yuichi's team started playing, all of them had uncertain expressions, during the 3rd quarter, their expressions changed to a more confident while in the last quarter they looked relaxed before Yuichi threw his own-goal.
Currently, all of them had serious expressions, neither confident nor relaxed.
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Yuichi got the ball and dribbled to the mid-court line before he was once again stopped by his 2 defenders.
"What had happened to you, guys?" SG asked with a confused expression.
"I am sorry you had to see that pathetic scene, we will try to make it up to you by not letting you score a single point during those last minutes." Yuichi said with a calm expression.
"Hah?!" PG's face immediately distorted in anger when he heard his words so Yuichi used that chance to get past them from his side.
"Focus!" SG shouted at his teammate but it was too late and Yuichi was half-way past him.
Yuichi continued dribbling the ball towards the post before he was stopped by their C, he dribbled the ball a few times behind his back before passing it to his left from behind without tearing his eyes away from his defender.
The ball was caught by Yuichi's SF who was now free and dribbled close to the post to get lay-up however opponent's C was fast enough to get back and block him mid-air, however, Yuichi's Sf instead of trying to throw the ball into the basket, he threw it slightly in front of it and Yuichi who was already expecting such play was ready for a one-hand dunk.
"Ugh" The opponent's quite large C was knocked down on his ass while Yuichi remained swaying in mid-air while still holding onto the rim for a few seconds before he jumped down. Yuichi extended his hand with an indifferent expression to help him get up and the guy accepted although he was a bit startled from seeing Yuichi's face from the lower angle.
84-78
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Only 3 minutes remaining from the 4th quarter yet every time the core team tried to attack, their passes were intercepted and it was no longer just by Yuichi. Everyone now could steal their passes despite having their individual skills much lower than them.
'Why the hell can they steal our passes so easily?! ...That guy's position?!!' Their C who was still focusing on the game without panicking noticed how Yuichi was changing the positions always, obstructing more than 2 pass options.
'What the hell is he?! Does he see the entire court from above or what?!'
The core team's morale quickly dropped down as they started to panic. The moment they started to panic, they lost the match since their passes were even more readable.
The last 15 seconds...
Yuichi had the ball and dribbled towards his defender, by this time, they completely abandoned double-teaming him since he was still able to get past them anyway. When he was near enough his defender, he passed the ball between his legs to his other hand and performed a quick spin around his defender who had no morale or time to even react.
He was quickly stopped by two other people so he had now a few free teammates to pass the ball however instead of passing he faked the pass and then dived into the right while leaning forward, getting past his second defender right under his spread arm.
He was almost at the post where he was stopped by their C as the last part of their defense.
While running, Yuichi bent his right knee, ready to jump for the lay-up which C immediately noticed as Yuichi's body lowered so he jumped up, however that was his mistake. Yuichi spun around the C who was mid-air and then gently threw the ball into the basket right from the under the rim.
'Tch, fake!'
The match ended with final score 101-78
