Tokiwadai vs. Shoei, Part 1

Player's from both teams gathered midcourt, with Kiyoshi and Otsubo in the middle for the tipoff.

Otsubo was taller than Kiyoshi (C). Kiyoshi was the same height as Aone.

[A/N: In the main series, Otsubo is 198 cm tall, and Kiyoshi is 193 cm tall.]

One of the referees of the game raised his hand before he shouted out.

[A/N: The following are the names of Shoei's team members;

Kiyoshi Teppei (Second-year), Center,

Nakamura Taichi (Second-year), Power-forward,

Kajiwara Tarou (Third-year), Point-Guard,

Yane Fuyuto (Third-year), Small-Forward,

and Horikawa Kenya (Third-year), Shooting-Guard]

Referee: "Let the Final match of Block A begin!"

The referee approached the middle of the court before signaling both players to prepare themselves to jump.

After blowing the whistle, he tossed the ball up, which sprung both players into action as they attempted to slap the ball towards one of their team members.

The result was Kiyoshi (C) losing the tip-off, and he was on mark immediately.

Shun who got the ball dribbled it past the half-court, he scanned the court and decided what to do, he did a crossover dribble and moved past his mark with ease.

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[A/N: CROSSOVER DRIBBLE

The crossover involves bouncing the basketball in front of you from one hand to the other.

It's most often used when a player wants to change directions and they're not being tightly guarded by a defender who could poke the ball away.

This is the easiest basketball move for players to perform and is the first move a player will start practicing when they first start learning how to dribble.

]

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But the moment he passed another player was waiting for him in his way, Shun smiled inwardly, and passed the ball to Mibuchi who was at the three-point line.

Shun had checked with his Eagle-Eye, that if he moved past his defender, there was a chance that Mibuchi's mark would move to intercept him.

His guess was correct, and Mibuchi, who was now had the ball was free of his mark, he jumped up and shot a three which went in the basket with a swish.

Tokiwadai, three and Shoei, zero. [A/N: 3-0]

Now it was Shoei's turn to go on the offensive, and their point guard, Kajiwara Tarou, started with the ball as he dribbled down the court.

[A/N: Names of the players in Shoei are all my creations; they are not the official names.]

As he was getting ready to make a play, he was unable to determine a player to pass to due to how well covered his teammates were.

Kajiwara: "This is unreal."

Just then he saw the Nakamura leave his mark and run towards, he seeing that passed to him; Nakamura, charged his way to the court and did a layup, but the moment the ball left his hand, another hand came and smacked the ball out of its original path.

Nakamura saw Otsubo towering above him,

Nakamura: 'Damn, he is tall.'

Aone caught the ball and threw it to Ishida, who made his way to the three-point line and attempted a three which missed, Shun and Mibuchi were below the net, they jumped up to catch the rebound, but suddenly two hands shot up and the ball was caught by Kiyoshi.

Kiyoshi passed the ball to Yane (SF), who worked his way inside and shot from inside the line when he saw that Otsubo and Ishida were already there.

Both teams went back and forth the court scoring and defending. Seven minutes into the game, the score was 22-18, with Tokiwadai in the lead, Shoei called a timeout.

(At, Shoei's Bench.)

Shoei's Coach: "You guys are doing good, keep up the good work, and Nakamura (PF), you are doing a good job keep scoring. Horikawa (SG) I need you to start dropping some threes, and Yane (SF) put some back into defending you are getting pushed around by Mibuchi."

Team: "Yes, Sir!"

(At, Tokiwadai's Bench.)

Coach: "You guys need to pick up the pace, Otsubo you need to be quicker, Kiyoshi (C) is leaving you behind. Aone you are doing good, but be crank up the offense a little more, Kageyama increase the number of passes to Aone. Mibuchi you are doing good keep it up. Ishida, you need to stop Nakamura (PF) from scoring put a little more effort in blocking."

Shun: "Coach, let me go against Nakamura. Ishida-senpai is spending a lot of his time marking Nakamura (PF), and it is reducing his scoring ability."

Coach: "Are you sure you will be able to stop Nakamura (PF)."

Shun: "Yes, Sir"

Coach: "Ok, but if I see it worsening, we are switching back immediately. Now go back."

(Timeout ends.)

The game continued with the ball in Shoei's possession. Kajiwara (PG) dribbled it up to the half-court and immediately passed it off to Nakamura (PF). Shoei wanted to score one in with Nakamura's momentum.

Nakamura (PF), who was ready to race his way inside, was met by Shun.

Nakamura: "Oh, you guys changed marks, did you guys give up defending against me."

Shun smiled but said nothing.

Nakamura tried to go left, and he also tried to get past to Shun's right. It proved to be a fruitless effort when he realized he could not move freely.

He saw Horikawa (SG) from the corner of his eye and was going to pass him, but the moment he shifted his eyes towards Horikawa, Shun stole the ball from him.

Shun then made his way to the hoop and was met by Kiyoshi. Shun raised his body a little and looked at the rim, Kiyoshi thought that he was stopping to shoot, and he too relaxed his speed to match him, but the moment he relaxed Shun lowered his body, rushed pass, and scored two points for his team.

Shun had just performed a simple hesitation dribble, it was a simple movement, but at the correct time, any move could be a deadly weapon.

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[A/N: HESITATION DRIBBLE

The hesitation dribble involves dribbling with speed, slowing down for a split-second, and then exploding past your defender.

It's a straight-line basketball move often used in transition to beat a defender and attack the rim or create a shot for a teammate.

The goal with the hesitation dribble is to trick the defender into thinking you're about to stop. This can be achieved by slightly raising your body, looking up to the rim like you're about to shoot, looking up at a teammate, or a combination.

When a defender notices you slowing down, they'll do the same in order to stay in a good defensive position.

With the defender losing their momentum, you'll be able to explode past them to the rim.

]

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The game resumed, and again the ball was with Nakamura (PF), and again he was faced by Shun, this time he didn't try to speak to him.

Nakamura tried to pass him but couldn't succeed he tried to fake Shun out but still couldn't move ahead. He cursed in his mind before he charged forward, earning himself his first foul of the game.

Kiyoshi: "You got frustrated and did something dumb, calm yourself down because if you keep this up, the coach is going to pull you out of the game."

Nakamura tried to calm down, but after that to the half-time, Nakamura got repeatedly shot down by Shun, and the few times he did pass him, he would have to pass because of keeping the ball with for too long.

Nakamura also gained another foul while attempting to block Mibuchi, who used the 'Earth' shot and earned his team points with a four-point play.

[A/N: 'Earth' shot is simply making a three while purposely drawing in a foul to score in a four-point play.]

The score at half-time was 41-33, with Tokiwadai in the lead.