30 First Round

Akihiko was awoken to the noise from the back of the car. But when he woke up, he felt hecwas laying on something soft. When he opened his eyes, he saw Alexandra with a soft smile on her face. He was in her lap as he immediately got up.

"Did you have a nice sleep?" Alexandra asked

"Yes, thank you." Akihiko replied

"Un," Alexandra nodded

But suddenly, their conversation was interrupted as they heard someone screaming from the back

"AKIHIKOOOOOOO!"

"YOU DAMN BASTARD!"

"F*** YOU!"

"I'M MENTALLY SCARRED FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE"

"I suddenly hate eating ice cream."

Alexandra looked at Akihiko with a questioning gaze that basically said the words

"What did you do?"

Akihiko raised his shoulders acting like he didn't know anything. Alexandra didn't inquire any further after seeing Akihiko's reaction.

At the same time, the bus came to the stop as every single person on the bus looked at the windows. They were able to see the location of the tournament. It was held in a university campus.

As the bus stopped on the designated parking area, they were also able to see the other school's buses. But all eyes were on their bus because they were basically the last one to arrive. Furthermore, the size of the bus was very eye-catching.

....

"Charlie, look at that bus." A boy with a camera said to a teenager.

"Look it's players are about to exit the bus." Charlie said

The two guys were curious as they were the journalists assigned by their school for this event.

"Blackstone Academy." Charlie said as he read the name that was written on the side of the bus.

"Isn't that the school for really rich kids?" The boy asked

"Yes, it is. I actually did some research on this school and it's safe to say that they are one of the top contenders for this year's championship." Charlie replied

"Though, I heard from my friend from another school that they had a practice game against them." Charlie continued

"And?" the boy asked with full curiousity

"They were utterly demolished, they also said they completely changed the line-up. But they refused to say anything after that."

"There they are!" the boy with the camera interrupted Charlie as he pointed at the players.

The other journalists from other schools also looked at the players

"They're so tall!

"Isn't that Alexandra Garcia?"

"A former WNBA player is with them?!"

When they turned to look at the players, the atmosphere was very tense around them. They had a peculiar presence that surrounded them.

..

Suddenly, Henry came up to Akihiko as he walked beside him and said

"What the f*** did you make me watch?"

"Art."

As Akihiko said that, he passed by Henry and walked beside Alexandra once again.

They quickly entered the gym as they saw the other teams lined up already.

All eyes were on them as they walked to their respective place.

As they sat down they heard a voice coming from the main stage.

It was a pretty big gym, beside the court was the stage.

"Good morning to everyone present here.

Firstly, I welcome you all to the 49th Annual Summer Cup --------------------------------And lastly, I wish each team goodluck."

With that, the tournament has officially begun. The first game was between Blackatone Academy and Rosewood Middle School.

Every person in the arena was curious as Blackstone Academy's players made their way towards the bench.

As Akihiko was tying his shoes, William came up to him and asked a question

"Hey man, you nervous?"

"No, I feel rather excited instead"

"Heh, we aren't going to get real competition until the semi-finals." Nash suddenly commented

Akihiko agreed internally but it was best not to underestimate anyone that was participating in this event.

"Anyways Coach Alex, do you have any info about our opponents?" Akihiko asked

The other members of the team awaited Alexandra's answer

"Hmm, the players that you have to look out for are Jarret Allen and Jamal Murray. They also have a very good shooter named Mike Hunt."

"They're also solid contenders for the championship, but it's better if we eliminate teams such as this early-on."

...

"Bro, who do you think will win this?"

"I don't know yet, I have to see it for myself."

The two brothers were interested upon seeing a prospect of a new competition.

The players finally went to the court for the tip-off. It was against Allen and Jason.

The two jumped as the game started with Jason winning the tip-off easily.

"Damn" Allen commented after losing the tip-off.

Akihiko got the ball as he slowly dribbled it towards front court.

They planned to take it slow as Akihiko was finally met with his defender. Akihiko's defender Ralph went into a defensive position as he waited for Akihiko's move. Suddenly, Akihiko sped up as he drove past Ralph

"What?!"

But Ralph didn't back down as he chased after him. Murray who was the nearest to Akihiko, immediately reacted. Two people were on Akihiko as they expected him to finish.

But unexpectedly, Akihiko threw the ball behind his neck to Nash, who was very wide open.

"Nice Pass!" Nash said as he jumped and shot the ball.

*Swoosh* the ball went in as they officially made their first bucket.

This time Murray got the inbound pass as he quickly got their front court. There he was met with Nash.

Murray immediately did a crossover as he tried to pass Nash, but Nash was still on him. As Murray drove to the rim, he passed the ball to Allen.

Allen then posted up against Jason, but when he did so,

"What is he? A mountain?!"

When he tried to exert his strength, Jason wouldn't even budge. So Allen leaned backward, he then spun with his pivot as he went for a hook shot. But Jason was able to react in time as he shut Allen down with a ferocious block.

Henry got the rebound as he passed it towards Akihiko who was already on the run towards their front court. Akihiko was then met with his defender. But Akihiko just passed the ball to Mike.

Mike then did a simple crossover to a pull-up jumper over his defender.

*Swoosh*

The ball went in as the score was now 5-0

Meanwhile on the other team, Murray approached Allen as he said

"You feel it too? It feels like something is off."

"Actually, I do." Allen replied, they felt like something was wrong. Their opponents are simply amazing but they had a feeling of doubt inside their heads.

Murray got the inbound pass as he dribbled towards front court. Murray then began to drive towards the right side so Nash immediately reacted. But Nash was stopped as Murray set up a screen with Allen.

Murray with the open look, pulled-up and shot the ball from the 3 point line

*Swoosh*

They finally got their first basket of the game as they immediately went back to defense.

This time, Akihiko passed the ball to Nash.

Nash planned for a payback as he held the ball.

Nash was already in the free throw line as first did a jab step. Suddenly, Nash pulled-up and sank the shot once again. Murray didn't have any time to react.

And so, the first half ended with Blackstone academy leading with 40 points while Rosewood had 34. It was nowhere near a blow out but Rosewood Academy felt something was about to happen.

Meanwhile on the other side of the court.

Alexandra announced

"It's time."