Chapter 38

Upon observing that Otsubo-senpai was unable to convert, the other senpais were not particularly bothered. They promptly returned to their defensive positions after witnessing me secure the rebound.

As I landed, I immediately charged towards the other side without waiting for my teammates. Sensing my approach, Yuya-senpai attempted to impede or slow me down, but I effortlessly evaded his defense with a quick behind-the-back move, without even losing my momentum.

Having surpassed Yuya-senpai, I found myself just inside the three-point line with only the older Miyaji in front of me. As I advanced towards him, Miyaji Kiyoshi-senpai wore an irritated smirk on his face, suggesting that he was still angry after I had challenged them or perhaps he felt that I was underestimating them.

Stepping into the paint, I took a single step and leaped up for a dunk. Witnessing my attempt to score against him, Kiyoshi-senpai also jumped to contest my shot and block it. However, while I was still in mid-air, I brought the ball down to my knees, evading his outstretched hand, and swiftly executed an underhand layup with the ball towards my left side.

I released the ball towards the backboard, and it ricocheted into the basket, scoring the shot. As I landed, I smirked at Kiyoshi-senpai, noticing his face contorted in response. He gritted his teeth in irritation and started walking towards me, seemingly ready to give me a piece of his mind. But before he could retaliate, I quickly turned around and got back on defense, further frustrating him as I ran away.

As I returned to the defensive side, I heard Otsubo-senpai scold me, saying, "You shouldn't anger Kiyoshi like that, he's still your senpai."

"Don't worry about it, Otsubo-senpai," I replied with a smile. "I'm just having some fun with all of you. At the end of the day, we're still teammates. I'm just making the game more exciting."

Hearing my response, Otsubo-senpai shook his head. "Maybe you don't understand Kiyoshi's behavior, but trust me, you don't want to get on his bad side."

"Don't worry, senpai. I know what I'm doing," I reassured him. "Besides, it's not like he will hurt me, right?" I said, trying to sound confident. How bad could Miyaji Kiyoshi-senpai's payback really be?

Otsubo-senpai sighed in frustration after hearing my words. He didn't reply, but I could see from his face that I was in for trouble after the game. Initially, I felt nervous, but I tried to console myself. How bad could it possibly be?

The game resumed with Yuya-senpai bringing the ball down the court. They still looked to pass to Otsubo-senpai in the post, but this time Otsubo-senpai didn't rush to back down.

This time, he slowly backed me down, pushing me closer to the basket. As he pushed me down, I made sure to prevent him from spinning towards the baseline. I knew that if he got under the basket with his large body, it would be difficult for me to block his shot. Unlike our previous encounter where he underestimated me, I was certain that he wouldn't make the same mistake this time.

Noticing that I was leaning more towards the baseline, Otsubo-senpai aggressively backed me down with surprising speed, causing me to stumble backward. As I got pushed back, Otsubo-senpai extended his arm towards me to prevent me from jumping and executed a basic hook shot.

With Otsubo-senpai's arm obstructing my jump, it became challenging for me to contest his shot. He effortlessly made the hook shot, tying the game. After seeing his shot go in, Otsubo-senpai calmly jogged back to their court to play defense.

I had initially believed that Otsubo-senpai could only rely on his size to post up, but he unexpectedly showcased finesse moves typically not associated with big men like him.

With his large and strong physique, you would usually assume that he was the type of player who bullies his way inside the paint, and he often does. However, since he couldn't simply overpower me, he used his experience against me. This is what you call a 'veteran move' - it's the result of the accumulated experience he gained throughout high school, which he used to either score an easy shot or draw a foul for easy points.

Going back to the game, this time I wasn't the designated point guard for our team, so I let one of my teammates bring the ball across the half-court line. Unfortunately, this was a mistake on my part. Even before our point guard crossed the half-court line, Yuya-senpai managed to poke the ball out of his hand, resulting in a turnover. Yuya-senpai then made an easy layup, bringing the score to 4-2 in favor of the senpais.

When I witnessed this, I didn't let it bother me too much. I thought that perhaps our point guard was just being too casual with the ball, leading to the turnover and easy basket. So I gave him another chance to redeem himself, and this time he successfully crossed the half-court line. However, as soon as he crossed the half-court line, the Miyaji brothers double-teamed him, and Kiyoshi-senpai stole the ball. Fortunately for our point guard, it wasn't Yuya-senpai who stole the ball again from him, so it was a small victory for him.

Getting back into the game, I had already anticipated that my point guard would turn the ball over. So when Kiyoshi-senpai started double-teaming him, I quickly got back on defense. Kiyoshi-senpai stole the ball and rushed towards our basket. This time, I was determined not to let them score an easy layup, so I positioned myself ahead of him.

Observing that Kiyoshi-senpai was focused on the rim, I anticipated that he would attempt to force a shot against me. Just as he gathered the ball and jumped, I immediately jumped to block his shot. However, I didn't see the ball in Kiyoshi-senpai's hands because before he jumped, he had already passed the ball behind his back to his younger brother, Yuya-senpai. Yuya-senpai caught the pass from his brother and noticed an open lane to the basket, gently laying the ball in.

With Yuya-senpai's layup, the score is now 6-2 in favor of the senpais. As my team regained possession, I made sure to keep the ball away from my point guard as I shooed him away from the inbounder. A teammate passed me the ball, and I took it to the other side of the court.

This time since I was the one bringing the ball down, it was Yuya-senpai who was guarding me as I brought the ball back. He tried to pressure me before I crossed the halfcourt line. However, unlike my point guard, he couldn't easily steal the ball from me since I was taller, longer, and stronger. His only option was to slow me down and hope for an 8-second violation.

But I wasn't in a hurry. I used my body to shield the ball from him and moved towards the halfcourt line. As I did, I kept an eye out for Kiyoshi-senpai, ready in case he decided to double-team me. Luckily, he didn't, and I comfortably crossed the halfcourt line.

As I surveyed the floor, I noticed that all the senpais were focused on me, waiting for my next move while playing man-to-man defense. "Wow, they're really ganging up on me," I thought to myself.

Instead of feeling intimidated, it actually excited me. I prepared myself for an attack, sizing up Yuya-senpai who was standing in front of me. Dribbling the ball slowly between my legs, I waited for Yuya-senpai's reaction. As I closed in on him, Yuya-senpai lowered his center of gravity by squatting, positioning himself to react quickly and prevent me from easily passing by.

Since I didn't get a reaction from my defender, I was forced to create some space. I pounded the ball hard and crossed over to the right, driving towards the right side. Although Yuya-senpai was slightly caught off guard by my speed, he managed to recover and get in front of me to impede my drive.

Seeing Yuya-senpai recover and move to my side, I quickly snatched back the ball and executed a fast spin move to the left. This time, Yuya-senpai didn't have enough time to react due to his momentum working against him.

Having successfully passed Yuya-senpai's defense, I found myself already in the paint with only Otsubo-senpai ahead of me. With just one more dribble, I gathered the ball and jumped high, attempting a dunk.

Seeing me jumping, Otsubo-senpai also jumped to challenge me and prevent me from scoring. However, he didn't anticipate that while he was descending, I was still at the peak of my jump. I forcefully punched the ball towards the ring. In his attempt to foul me and prevent an easy score, Otsubo-senpai could only reach for my arms. Unfortunately for him, I was much stronger than he expected, and I brought the ball down towards the basket.

The referee's whistle sounded as I successfully made the dunk. "Shooting foul, basket counts," the acting referee announced, pointing at Otsubo-senpai.