Chapter 10: Sakuragi, The King Of Rebound.

At the locker, Coach Anzai said to Shohoku players to never falter and just focus on getting into their rhythm, the game is going to turn around into their favor that way.

After a couple of minutes of break, The second half began and this time Sakuragi is going to be the one who will jump in the toss.

[SAKURAGI: Prepare to be surprised, Oda-Kun.]

[ODA: Sakuragi, you're the one who is going to jump? Well then, this is going to be fun.]

The referee toss the ball. Oda and Sakuragi both jump at the same time but Sakuragi's lower body is more developed and more powerful than Oda, he is the one to reached the ball first and he tips the ball towards Miyagi.

Sakuragi lands down on to the floor the same time Oda landed.

[ODA: Damn, you relly have a great leap, Sakuragi?!.]

Before Oda even finishes his sentence, Sakuragi runs to their court and Miyagi do their signal. Miyagi pass the ball after crossing the line, he threw a perfect lob pass to Sakuragi. Sakuragi jumps as high as he can and slams the ball into the rim with two hands.

Mito, Nozomi, Chuichiro, Ohkusu, Haruko, Matsui, Fujii, Maki and the rest of Kainan even Coach Takato, and all of the people in the stadium. Were stunned by what Miyagi and Sakuragi did, that play was a very impactful in the game because it leaves Takezono players in awe.

[TAKEZONO'S COACH: Is he really a high schooler?!.]

[NOBUNAGA: That red head monkey , his jumping ability increases!.]

[MAKI: You notice, Kiyota?.]

[NOBUNAGA: Yeah, it's easy to see. Plus, his legs were so relax the moment he jump and the time he landed. There is no weight on his body.]

[MAKI: Right, that is the reason why he can jump and then sprint down the court.]

Sakuragi and Shohoku gets back on defense fast and Takezono doesn't have the time to suprise them in the offense. Takezono instead sets a play to create a some scoring. Their ball movement was great and efficient, they finally find an open player in the left corner who shoots a three pointer but missed.

[KEITA: Rebound!.]

Oda screens out Daichi, Haruhiko also did the same to Sakuragi. But, it doesn't matter as Sakuragi tips the ball once, then twice and then in the third jump, Sakuragi finally gets the rebound.

[ODA: Damn!.]

[HARUHIKO: Is he really a junior in high school?!.]

The crowd woos and Sakuragi pass the ball to Miyagi.

[SAKURAGI: I'm the King of Rebound!.]

Miyagi stopped and wait for his teammates, Miyagi gets a screen from Daichi, Miyagi attacks the right side and then jumps to pass the ball to Daichi inside. Daichi gets the ball and then goes to shoot it from near the rim but he miss.

Sakuragi jumps and tips in back, he scores again.

SHOHOKU: 61

TAKEZONO: 66

2nd Half 18:23

Sakuragi is being aggressive in the second half and with his new techniques, Sakuragi is slowly becoming unstoppable in the paint.

[SAKURAGI: Hahahaha…. You can't stop the genius, Hanamichi Sakuragi!.]

[RUKAWA: Idiot, you just got lucky.]

[SAKURAGI: What did you say?!.]

Miyagi luckily stopped the two and gets back to defense, Oda tries to scores but he gets blocked by Sakuragi again when he blew past Daichi in the post. Sakuragi runs the floor and Miyagi spots him then threw a pass to him, Sakuragi catches it and jumps for a layup.

[SAKURAGI: COMMONER SHOT!.]

Sakuragi scores again and cuts down the lead into just 3 points, Sakuragi who did not have a double digit scoring in the last year's tournament, now has a 14 points and another double digit rebounds with 3 block shots.

SHOHOKU: 63

TAKEZONO: 66

2nd Half 17:42

Keita attack the defense of Shota but he gets called for a charging foul, Shohoku gets the ball back and Miyagi bringing the ball down.

Daichi gives a screen to Shota in the right wing and Shota runs to the right mid three point lane, Miyagi passes the ball to him. Shota shoots a three pointer and makes it.

SHOHOKU: 66

TAKEZONO: 66

2nd Half 18:20

It's all tied up and nerve began to get into Takezono's, it can be shown through their play in the next possession. The only player who didn't get nervous was their ace player, Tatsumasa Oda.

He schooled Daichi in the post and scores a left handed reverse layup. He uses the rim and backboard to protect his shot against Sakuragi, Oda gets the lead back for his team but it was short live as Rukawa scores a three pointer on the other hand.

SHOHOKU: 69

TAKEZONO: 68

2nd Half 17:35

[ODA: Give me the ball, Takehiro!.]

Oda demanded the ball in the post against Daichi, he blew past Daichi when he spins to the right.

[KEITA: Dunk it, Oda!.]

[TAKEZONO PLAYER #1: GO ODA-SENPAI!.]

Oda attempts to dunk the ball with his right hand but he was blocked by Sakuragi and he falls down to the ground. The ball was about to be out of bounds but Sakuragi saves it and Shota forward pass to Miyagi, Miyagi quickly passes it to Rukawa who scores easily.

[KEITA: Damn, Oda gets thrown into the ground by blocking his shot.]

[HARUHIKO: Red head beast!.]

Sakuragi became unstoppable beast after that, all of the defensive rebounds and offensive rebounds were all grab by Sakuragi and help Shohoku to get a little edge against Takezono.