Chapter 42

A few more minutes passed, and the fourth and final quarter of the game began. It was now Ichigo's team's turn to possess the ball. Ichigo passed the ball inbounds to Takao, who quickly brought it past the halfcourt line.

During this possession, Ichigo and Takao executed a pick-and-roll play. Ichigo set a solid screen to his right side, allowing Takao to burst to the right. Yuya, who was supposed to guard Takao, got left behind due to Ichigo's screen. As a result, Otsubo had to pick up Takao to prevent him from driving in.

Since Otsubo switched to guard Takao, Yuya had to defend against Ichigo. Taking advantage of his position and strength, Ichigo boxed Yuya out of the paint.

Recognizing Ichigo's favorable position, Takao passed the ball high into the paint to prevent Otsubo from deflecting it. Ichigo push Yuya slightly away and skillfully caught the ball and gently laid it into the rim for a smooth layup.

With Ichigo's layup, the score became 64-75, reducing the senpais' lead to eleven points. The game continued as the senpais inbounded the ball. However, as Yuya crossed the halfcourt line, he immediately noticed Ichigo's team's new defensive strategy.

At this moment, Ichigo's team was playing a 2-3 zone defense, with Ichigo positioned in the middle. They had observed that the senpais were not particularly skilled at shooting three-pointers, so they decided to take a risk and focus on stopping shots from inside the paint. Additionally, this defensive formation allowed Ichigo to excel in his preferred role as a help defender.

While Ichigo did a good job of preventing Otsubo from scoring close to the basket, he struggled to quickly rotate and provide help defense. As a result, the more experienced senpais took advantage of this weakness. Similarly, Midorima, who was responsible for guarding Kimura, faced similar challenges. Like Ichigo, he often reacted late in offering help defense, and when he did try to rotate for help, the senpais exploited this by passing the ball to Kimura, who Midorima was supposed to be guarding. This allowed Kimura to easily score points near the basket.

However, with the 2-3 zone defense, Ichigo and Midorima could utilize their length and speed advantages to rotate effectively on defense. Defending in this zone made it much easier for them because, although they were tall, they were not big men. Players like Otsubo and Kimura could use their size and weight to overpower them or post them up.

While they were able to stifle Otsubo and Kimura's offense, it still made them uncomfortable as it wasn't their preferred style of play. At the end of the day, they were perimeter players who felt more comfortable outside the paint.

Seeing the 2-3 defense from Ichigo's team, Yuya wasn't bothered because they were well aware of their weakness, which was their outside shooting. Other teams had already exploited this weakness last year. However, just because teams had taken advantage of it in the past didn't mean that they didn't have a counter for that type of defense. After all, how could they have made it to the Interhigh main tournament if other teams could simply exploit their weakness? So, they had surely come up with a plan to counter the zone defense.

Yuya signaled for a play by standing in the middle of the high post. The seniors immediately went to their positions, with Otsubo positioning himself in the middle of the free-throw line. Yuya quickly passed the ball to Otsubo once he saw his teammates were ready for the play.

As Otsubo caught the ball, the seniors sprang into action. Kimura made a cut toward the baseline on the other side. Due to the zone defense, Midorima couldn't simply follow Kimura, but he stayed close in case he received a pass.

Observing Kimura's cut toward the baseline, Otsubo swiftly passed the ball to him with a bounce pass. Midorima, seeing Otsubo pass to Kimura, immediately rotated to defend. Sensing Midorima's movement, Kimura passed the ball to Kiyoshi, who was cutting inside from beyond the three-point line.

Miyaji Kiyoshi received the ball in an open space as he went up for a layup. However, before he could release the ball toward the basket, he noticed a hand closing in on the ball in his hands. After Otsubo passed to Kimura, Ichigo didn't stay in front of Otsubo. Instead, he moved inside the paint to provide help defense if Kimura attempted to score or passed the ball out.

Ichigo anticipated that Kimura wouldn't take a shot and as he saw him pass to the cutting Kiyoshi, he immediately positioned himself in front of the rim, leaping to block Kiyoshi's shot.

Seeing Ichigo already in front of him, Kiyoshi was momentarily surprised. However, he didn't panic and quickly twisted his body to evade Ichigo, passing the ball to Otsubo, who was waiting in the middle.

Otsubo caught the ball and went up for a dunk. But to his surprise, Midorima blocked his shot, having already rotated after Kimura passed to Kiyoshi.

With Midorima blocking the shot, the ball went loose, landing in the hands of Takao. As Takao caught the ball, he noticed that the seniors were still taken aback by Midorima's block. Taking advantage of the situation, Takao went for a fast break and scored an easy layup, cutting the lead to nine with a score of 66-75.

The senpais were in disbelief after witnessing the incredible defensive play by Ichigo and Midorima. Even Coach Nakatani was surprised by how effective they were in executing zone defense. He hadn't anticipated just how impactful these two players could be on the defensive end when equipped with the right strategy.

Coach Nakatani was already thrilled with the addition of Ichigo and Midorima to the team. Their presence had significantly improved their weakness in outside shooting, especially with the sharpshooting abilities of Midorima.

To the coach's pleasant surprise, Takao also turned out to be a valuable asset to the team, despite not possessing the same level of talent as Ichigo and Midorima. Takao proved himself worthy of being a welcomed addition to the team.

Observing the effectiveness of Ichigo and Midorima in help defense, Coach Nakatani almost have an orgasm. He could only imagine how dominant their team would be this year. Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Coach Nakatani had full confidence that they would once again make it to the main competition in the Interhigh Tournament. They even had the potential to become the champions.

The game resumes as the senpais regain possession. They opt to stick with the same play, with Otsubo positioning himself in the middle of the freethrow circle and the other players executing their previous movements. Kimura once again cuts to the baseline as Otsubo passes the ball to him. As Midorima closes in on him, Kimura passes the ball to Kiyoshi, who is cutting towards the basket. However, instead of driving in, Kiyoshi decides to go for a jumpshot from the elbow.

Before Kiyoshi can take the shot, Takao anticipates his move and manages to strip the ball away. Seizing the opportunity, Ichigo starts sprinting towards the other end of the court, signaling to Takao that he is ready for a pass.

Noticing Ichigo's run, Kiyoshi tries to close in on Takao in order to prevent him from making an easy pass to Ichigo for a score. However, to Kiyoshi's surprise, Takao quickly tosses the ball over his head with force, without even looking in Ichigo's direction. Takao's pass is aimed towards the area near the rim on the other side of the court, as he is confident that Ichigo will reach the ball.

As Takao predicted, despite the strength of the pass, Ichigo manages to catch up to it due to his speed. Finding himself wide open, Ichigo decides to put on a show. He gathers the ball and executes a 360° dunk.

Although Ichigo's 360° dunk may lack the flair typically associated with such moves, it is still impressive to see his athleticism as he effortlessly completes the dunk, making it look easy.

The game continued in that fashion, with Ichigo and Midorima's effectiveness in help defense making it difficult for the senpais to score in the paint. With Ichigo and Midorima predominantly defending the paint, the senpais were forced to shoot from the outside or mid-range. Although they were able to make some shots, shooting was not really their strong suit, resulting in most of their attempts missing the mark.

On the other hand, Ichigo and Midorima remained unstoppable, especially after executing a pick-and-pop play between themselves. This play involved Ichigo handling the ball while Midorima set a screen for him. While Midorima's screen wasn't as effective as those by big men, it still managed to slow down Ichigo's defender.

With Ichigo's defender left behind on defense, Kimura was forced to switch and guard Ichigo. Taking advantage of his speed and quickness, Ichigo easily outplayed Kimura in a one-on-one situation. And if the opposition decided to double-team Ichigo, he could simply pass the ball out to Midorima for an easy three points.

And just like that, Ichigo's team effortlessly takes over the game and secures the lead. The senpais were left helpless against the formidable duo of Midorima and Ichigo. In the end, the game concluded with a score of 99-87 in favor of Ichigo's team.