Chapter 4__: Yuuki Junior High (3) (Edited)
AN__: Shinji Koganei started playing basketball when he was two. The first gift his parent ever gave him was a basketball. At first, he played alone in his house, learning to dribble and shoot. Then, after he started going to elementary school, he joined the Little League team called The Tokyo Graders. Kagetora Aida was the coach of that little league team and Koganei played alongside Shun Izuki and Junpei Hyuga for four years before joining Yuuki Junior High.
That little league team won many competitions in Tokyo and the Kanto Region, making them one of the best under-12 teams in the nation. Still, it had to be dissolved as Kagetora's business as a gym owner and personal trainer (for pro players) was taking off, making him unable to take care of the kids anymore.
This is another piece of information about this novel. See you next chapter for another one.
Thank You!
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*Loud Cheering sounds*
Around 500 people, mostly students of Yuuki Junior High stood and cheered as the referee was about to throw the ball in the air. Hearing the loud sound, neither Yuuki nor Tatsumo players were affected as they were used to such a scene. Both teams make appearances at the main Competitions regularly. Tatsumo is the best team in the Kyoto region while Yuuki Junior High is one of the country's best teams. However, the referee was a rookie, and this was his third official game. So, the loud cheers surprised him a little while also making him subconscious about not making major errors. Still, he threw the ball after calming down, prompting Asuma and Nebuya to jump simultaneously.
Although Nebuya is recognized as one of the most dominating Centers in the Nation, he is too short compared to Asuma who stands at 193 cm (He is 188 at this point). So, Asuma tipped the ball to his side of the half, prompting Hideki to surge into action and hold it before anybody else could react. Like that, the warm-up game opposing Yuuki Junior High and Tatsumo Junior High officially started.
On Yuuki's side, Mori Hideki and Koganei Shinji started as the team's guards. Kaoru Tomori and Rinnosuke Mitobe were the starting Forwards while Suzuki Asuma began to as the team's Center.
On Tatsumo's side, Dai Moboroshi started at the Small Forward position while Eikichi Nebuya began at the Center position. (The others are too unimportant to be named)
With the ball in his hands, Hideki waited for his teammates to run past the midcourt line before he started dribbling the ball up the court. As the team's captain and point guard, Hideki is very smart and patient on the court, always looking to make the right plays.
So, when he noticed Koganei's defender sagging off him, he decided to make him pay for it. Without wasting any more time, he called Mitobe for a screen. The latter, who stood at the high post, immediately left his position and did a solid screen for Hideki, allowing him to quickly dribble past his defender and drive to the basket.
Tatsumo's Power Forward immediately retreated, trying to cut off Hideki's path to the basket while the player defending Koganei collapsed toward Hideki to try and double-team him. Sensing the latter approaching, Hideki quickly threw the ball to Koganei who sneakily moved from the corner to the wing.
Receiving the ball, Koganei immediately shot the ball using a text-book-like form, surprising every player from Tatsumo Junior High. The ball flew high in the air before dropping into the basket with a swishing sound and prompting the spectators to loudly cheer.
*Loud Cheering Sound*
The referee closest to the shot lifted three of his fingers signaling that it was a three-pointer while Yuuki Junior High players returned to defense, not surprised by their vice-captain scoring that basket.
"Good shot, boy!" Exclaimed Asuma, high-fiving Koganei on his way back to their side of the court.
"Thanks!" Responded Koganei with a happy smile on his face. Although it was an open shot, he felt like his hard work was paying off. A couple of months ago, he would've never dared to shoot that ball. Hell, the ball would've never made it to him since Hideki wouldn't have tried to pass it unless it was the last solution.
"Nice pass, Hideki!" Exclaimed Koganei, seeing Hideki slowly run back on defense. Hearing his teammate's words, Hideki smiled and gave him a high five.
"That was a good shot. I sincerely didn't expect you to score it, but the way he sagged on you was so disgusting that I had to give you the ball." He responded while looking at Nebuya make the inbound pass to his point guard.
"In a couple of minutes, they won't be doing none of that anymore. I can assure you." He responded, looking at Tatsumo's Shooting Guard. The teenager was a little baffled but had to run up the court. Nociting that, Koganei couldn't help but sigh with emotion. 'It feels good to be a shooter. Is this How Midorima feels whenever he makes a shot?' He thought, looking at his hands with a smile.
"I believe you. Now, let's focus. They're coming." Said Hideki, ending the conversation and slightly pushing Koganei toward the person he was supposed to defend. "Don't leave him open. He can shoot the ball well." He added before walking to Tatsumo's point guard who was about to dribble past the mid-court line.
Noticing Hideki waiting for him in his defensive position, the latter immediately passed the ball to Dai Moboroshi on the wing, unwilling to battle with Hideki.
Catching the ball Dai went into his triple-threat stance as Tomori stood in front of him. Most of the time, it is Damien Kawai who starts at the small forward position. However, whenever Yuuki Junior High plays against a team that has a great guard or small forward, Tomori will start in his stead as he is the best perimeter defender on the team.
Although Koganei and Hideki can also claim that title, they are needed on the offensive end, making them unable to fully concentrate on their defensive tasks most of the time. Those assignments are left to Tomori and sometimes Mitobe most of the time.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance after seeing the pesty Tomoriand in front of him, Dai tried to jab-step with his right foot, but Tomori didn't move. So, the former immediately started driving to the basket toward his right. Still, Tomori was running with him, quickly shuffling his feet to keep up with the speedy forward while his hands stayed at the man's hip.
Rushing to the mid-post, Dai suddenly came to a stop and gave Tomori a slight push, creating some space for himself before shooting the ball. unfortunately, Tomori managed to recover and slightly deflect that ball, making it hit the back of the rim. As soon as Dai shot the ball, Asuma boxed Nebuya out while Mitobe positioned himself before jumping up and catching the ball, grabbing his first rebound of the game.
At the same time, both Hideki and Koganei ran past the midcourt line, expecting Mitobe to throw the ball at them and he did.
Catching the ball, Hideki dribbled it to the three-point line with his defender standing in the passing lane between him and Koganei. However, Hideki used a quick in-and-out dribble to dribble past his opponent before driving to the basket and forcing Tatsumo's PG to solely focus on him. That allowed Koganei to cut from the other side. So, when he received the ball, he easily scored a layup, helping his team go up by five to nothing.
Unfortunately, Tatsumo Junior High used a pick-and-roll play and allowed Nebuya to switch on Hideki and score the ball easily in the post. The latter wasn't a good post-defender, after all.
Still, on the offensive end, Hideki used another pick-and-roll with Mitobe and managed to score an open mid-range shot at the elbow, his favorite shooting spot.
Back on the defensive end, Tatsumo tried to do the same play again, but Koganei hurriedly double-teamed Nebuya, forcing him to kick the ball out to his SG on the wing, who then later passed to his PF in the corner when Mitobe rotated to contest the shot.
Seeing the man catch the ball, Koganei ran up to him to contest, while the latter was forced to take the shot as they only had 3 seconds remaining on the clock. Unfortunately, it didn't go in as Asuma boxed Nebuya out and grabbed the board. Still, Tatsumo's players retreated fast enough, not allowing Yuuki another fastbreak opportunity.
About a minute later, after both teams had two scoreless possessions, Koganei received the ball on the wing with 14 seconds to go before the end of the shooting clock. Not in a hurry, he called Mitobe for a screen, his best friend responding and setting an excellent one for him. That screen allowed Koganei to drive to the basket almost unguarded. As he reached the free throw line, Tatsumo's PF stood in front of him trying to stop him. However, that only allowed Mitobe to roll to the basket more easily. So, when Koganei threw the ball in the air, his best friend easily caught it and smashed it into the hoop, bringing the score to 9-2 in Yuuki's favor and creating a sea of cheers as the spectators were greatly stimulated by the play.
You could even notice Mitobe's many brothers and sisters jumping up and down, happy for their big brother.
A few seconds later, Dai used a screen to get rid of Tomori before pulling up for a mid-range shot as Asuma stayed under the basket, refusing to leave Nebuya alone. That shot reduced the point difference to 5 and helped take some pressure off Nebuya who was being closely guarded by both Asuma and Mitobe.
On the offensive end, Hideki held the ball at the top of the key and lifted a finger, calling a certain play. Immediately, everybody sprung into action, getting into position. Asuma stayed on the low block while all the other four players moved outside the three-point line. They were in a 4-out 1-in offense.
Having moved to the slot position, Hideki glanced at Mitobe who immediately cut to the basket, clearing the right side of the court. Noticing his PF get to the low block on the left side and Asuma move up to the left elbow, he immediately passed the ball to Koganei who stood at the wing. The latter caught the ball and stood in a triple-threat position, prompting Tatsumo players to think it was an iso play. So, they were all caught by surprise when Hidekisuddenly started running toward Koganei.
As the two of them completed a dribble handoff, Koganei set a screen, allowing Hideki to easily drive to the basket, the switch coming too late to stop him. Still, as he neared the rim, Tatsumo's PF slid over, trying to help and stop his attempt at a layup. However, that only allowed Hideki to pass the ball to Mitobe who easily scored a layup.
The game continued like that as Dai Moborochi and Nebuya tried their best to even up the score. However, they couldn't do much against a patient, level-headed Yuuki Junior High, who tried their best to move around and make the right plays. With a point guard like Hideki, Kimura didn't have to do that much yelling on the offensive end compared to Tasumo's coach. However, he had to remind his players to rotate on defense whenever they double-teamed Nebuya on the block. That's how Dai Moborosgi managed to get most of his open shots, after all.
So, with three minutes to go before the end of the first quarter, the score was 16 to 10 in Yuuki Junior High's favor. Then, as Koganei drove past his defender with a delayed between-the-legs, Tomori cut to the basket at the right time and received the ball, easily scoring a layup, increasing the point difference to 8, and forcing Tatsumo's coach to call a timeout.
With three minutes to go before the end of the first quarter, the score was 18-10 in Yuuki's favor.
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"Good job, boys. That was some good basketball" Complimented Kimura while high-fiving his returning players. They were doing good and stuck to the game plan they made before the start of the game. Plus, with Hideki and Koganei on the court, they had enough scoring options to keep their opponents at bay.
A couple of seconds later, after everybody sat down, Kimura looked at his players and started talking. "As I said earlier, you did great. I'm surprised you managed to reduce the impact of Dai and Nebuya to this extent. Asuma and Tomori did a great job keeping them out of the paint." He said, prompting smiles to appear on his players' faces, especially on the ones mentioned.
Although this was only a warm-up game, both teams were taking it seriously. They are both national-level teams that often represent their respective prefectures, after all. They don't wanna lose to each other.
"Still, don't settle. They will come back with even more intensity and you have to match it." He continued, prompting his players to turn serious. "Hideki and Tomori can rest for the remainder of this quarter. Kotaro and Damien will come in your place. We need to increase the score difference to double digits before the end of this quarter." He said, looking at Kotaro and Damien who nodded their heads in agreement. Seeing that, he looked at Koganei and continued.
"Koganei, I need you to defend Dai Moborochi for the rest of the quarter. Be a pest around him and don't let him get any easy baskets. On the offensive end, I don't need you to score, Try to find open opportunities for your teammates. However, if you can find opportunities for yourself, do it. Don't force anything, though." Finished Kimura, looking at his assistant coach to add something. Seeing that Takeshi looked at Koganei and spoke.
"They might start looking to force a switch on Kotaro. Try your best to deny that. However, in case they succeed in creating the switch, stay at the nail and block their path to the basket. That will force them toward the baseline where Asuma can slide over to help." He said, making Koganei and Asuma nod their heads in understanding. However, Kotaro looked a little embarrassed. Still, a light tap on the shoulder by Takeshi calmed him down.
"We don't need you to focus on defense too much. Our offense will revolve around you so score as much as you want." Added Takeshi, comforting the teenager a little.
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Back on the court, Tatsumo Junior High's players looked motivated as their PG dribbled the ball up the court. The latter was way shorter and physically weaker than Damien. So, after Damien put a little bit of pressure on him, he was forced to give up the ball and pass it to Dai who almost turned it over as Koganei tried to get to it before him. Fortunately, he managed to catch it and protect it. Still, Koganei's hands were active not letting him dribble the ball at all.
That forced Dai to turn his back on Koganei while calling his teammate for a screen. As Tatsumo's SG set a screen for Dai, the former slightly extended his hand and held Koganei for a few seconds, allowing Dai to force a switch on Kotaro on the wing. The immature referee didn't see that, so Tatsumo Junior High didn't get an illegal screen call.
Seeing that unfold in front of their eyes, the crowd reacted and started booing Dai and his teammates, calling them cowards. Akane, who sat right next to them on the sidelines went as far as to call him trash while her parents tried their best to stop her from standing up.
Dai Moboroshi ignored them and isolated Kotaro on the wing. Seeing that, Koganei (who was now guarding the SG) moved to the nail, ready to return to his man at any moment while being a deterrent to Dai. At the same time, Asuma and Mitobe paid special attention to that side of the court, ready to slide over and help.
With a smooth live between-the-legs dribble, Dai acted as if he was going to drive baseline to the basket, but hit Kotaro with a mean crossover and started driving middle. However, as soon as he took his first step, Koganei slid over and stood in front of him, forcing him to stop. At the same time, Kotaro was coming from the side ready to double-team him. That forced Dai to take to move back to the three-point line and look for a pass. However, Koganei didn't follow and ran back to his man while looking at Dai, infuriating the latter greatly.
'Why didn't he cut to the basket?' Thought Dai Moboroshi while looking at his SG, but the latter looked confused and thought he was being called for a screen. However, Dai hurriedly waved at him telling him not to come to his side. 'If I go baseline their Center might help, but that's my only option.' He thought, did an in-and-out dribble that slightly moved Kotaro's center of gravity before speeding past the latter.
Although Kotaro wasn't that good of a defender, he was much faster than Dai. So, even though Dai managed to shake him up, he caught up to the latter in two steps while Asuma effectively flanked him. However, that did nothing to stop Tatsumo's star player as he suddenly stopped in his steps, shaking Kotaro away and pulling up for a mid-range shot in the short corner that went hollow into the hoop.
*Swish*
"Fuck, yeah!" Dai celebrated the shot and looked at the crowd, mean-mugging them. He thought that would arouse their dissatisfaction and increase the amount of boos he received. However, to his surprise, he received sparse applause from them. That wasn't an easy shot to make, after all.
Since their school's team is a giant in the Junior High basketball world, they get to witness a lot of high-level games. That's why most Yuuki students understand the game of basketball to a certain degree and wouldn't act like casuals. They wouldn't cheer for the opponent, but they would give them their props from time to time, especially if they did some incredible things on the court.
Back on the offensive end, Koganei held the ball at the wing and called Asuma for a screen. The latter came and set a solid one for him. At the same time, on the opposite corner, Mitobe set an excellent flare screen for Kotaro who ran at full speed to the wing.
While Nebuya and Dai retreated to stop Koganei's drive to the basket, the ball had already left the latter's hands and came to Kotaro who was wide open. With a smile, the teenager shot the ball, his defender trying to get a hand on it but it had no effect as it rattled into the rim, helping Yuuki extend their lead to nine points.
A while later, after Nebuya backed Asuma down and scored with a decent Jump Hook, Koganei used another screen and drove to the basket. Dai did his best to go through the screen and stayed near him. So, when he saw his teammate running to help, he almost fainted.
A quick kickout pass ensued, leaving Kotaro open beyond the three-point line. Tatsumo's players did their best to rotate but the confident Kotaro still shot the ball. Unfortunately, it rattled out of the basket with Nebuya securing the defensive rebound.
Tatsumo tried to re-do the same play, but Koganei ran over to double Nebuya, forcing him to kick the ball out once again. After they swung the ball two more times as Yuuki Junior High's players rotated well enough, they missed a long mid-range and were forced to return to defense to avoid a fastbreak.
Back on offense, Koganei called an isolation play for Damien who hadn't touched the ball since he came in. So, a few seconds later, the teenager held the ball in the short corner and started backing his defender down. The latter was way smaller than him. So, there was no way he was getting stopped unless a double team came.
After pushing him back two times, Damien sank his left shoulder to fake a drive toward the middle before spinning back baseline and driving to the basket. In two steps, he reached the paint and jumped up, Tatsumo's PF joining him in the air. However, the latter could do nothing as Damien collided with him in the air before smashing the ball through the basket, completing an amazing dunk and causing the crowd (including Yuuki's bench players) to go nuts, scaring the young referee even more.
Just like that, the two teams went back and forth until the end of the quarter with Yuuki Junior High leading by 9 points.
The rest of the game was also a spitting image of this first quarter. Although Dai Moboroshi and Eikichi Nebuya tried their best to put points on the scoreboard for their team, their supporting cast wasn't good enough to go up against a behemoth like Yuuki Junior High. In their prefecture, they might be the best team. However, that's nothing compared to the competition between Tokyo teams.
Whenever they got close to evening the gap, either Koganei or Hideki would jump up and give them a decisive blow. Whenever the two of them get doubled, Damien and Tomori would cut to the basket, disrupting Tatsumo's defense. At the same time, Asuma and Mitobe worked together and wore Nebuya out in the paint. Although they weren't individually a match to him, they did a number on him and caused him to only get two offensive boards the whole game, an anomaly for Nebuya.
Aside from those individuals, Kotaro led the bench unit and put up points on the board whenever he could. That's his role as the 6th man of the team. In the end, Yuuki Junior High blew Tatsumo Junior High out with a score of 78 to 56.
Koganei scored a team-high 18 points with 8 assists and 2 rebounds while Hideki, the other star of Yuuki, put up a double-double with 17 points and 12 assists. Damien, the third scoring option had 14 points with 5 rebounds off the bench while Kotaro did a decent job and got himself 10 points. The frontcourt duo, Asuma and Mitobe had respectively 6 points with 8 rebounds and 8 points with 10 rebounds. The remaining 5 points came from Tomori, who's not that much of an offensive threat.
On Tatsumo's side, Dai Moboroshi got a game-high 26 points while Nebuya had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Just the two of them had 45 of their team's 56 points, showing how desperate they were while playing against a team like Yuuki. That's why when the game ended, they were both exhausted.
After the two teams stood in lines and thanked each other for the game, Koganei walked up to Dai with a smile on his face. "Good job, you put up a great fight." He said, shaking the latter's hand.
Dai reciprocated the smile as he responded. "You're lucky our seniors graduated last year. Still, you're mid-range got a lot better. I truly didn't know how to guard you at one point of the game." Complimented Dai, surprised by Koganei's progress.
"I worked hard, you know. However, I still have to train harder. I think I made 3 of the 8 shots I took. My other points came from free throws and layups." Retorted Koganei, shaking his head.
"That's almost 50%, what are you talking about?" Asked Dai with a confused look on his face.
"Don't mind him, he can be too much of a perfectionist sometimes." Suddenly interjected Asuma, grabbing Koganei by the shoulders and trying to take him away. Kimura had called for them to gather.
"See you at the Winter Cup, though. I hope you make it out of your prefecture." Added Asuma while waving at Dai and Nebuya who was approaching them.
"You need to worry about yourself." Retorted Nebuya before Dai could respond, clearly annoyed because he lost the game. However, Asuma was not to be outdone.
"Don't worry about us, we got three spots in Tokyo. You only got one over there. I truly hope to see you there, though." He said before quickly turning around and running toward Kimura who was looking at them.
"See you later." Added Koganei while laughing at his friend's words before following him.