Takeishi vs Maedai

After the game, Akagi sincerely thanked Mitsui for his advice and took Mitsui's suggestions to heart. At this time, he and Mitsui had no major conflicts and his technical strength was far inferior to Mitsui's. Mitsui's help in improving his own skills and his good relationship with Akagi's best friend Kogure led Akagi to label Mitsui as a good person.

The practice match with Kitamura was very rewarding for everyone in Takeishi. The new players gained confidence and were amazed by Mitsui's strength. The old players and Katsumi experienced some friction but deepened their trust in Mitsui. Katsumi gained the reputation of a sharpshooter. With experience and a strong relationship with the team members, he had become a reliable second trump card. Mitsui had achieved his set goals, so everyone was in a good mood.

But the practice match with Maeda was a bit boring. Miyagi Ryota was indeed an outstanding point guard, with excellent speed, jumping ability, stable ball control, familiarity with his teammates' running positions, and good steals. Unfortunately, Maeda Middle School did not have the same determination to improve as Takeishi. Nango Koichiro, who stood at 183cm tall, was benched and could only wave a towel to cheer for the seniors.

Maeda Middle School's firepower was clearly insufficient to break through Takeishi's defense. Combined with the gap in player strength, Miyagi could only maintain the point difference by sacrificing his own life for layups. However, Ikegami's dedicated guarding and physical confrontation quickly cause trouble to Miyagi, causing him to lose his temper.

Takeishi Junior High School defeated Maeda 65-51 by 14 points. After the game, Mitsui wanted to have a chat with Miyagi, but unfortunately, Miyagi did not like Mitsui at all. In Miyagi's view, the game was lost only because his teammates were not as good as the opponents. The aloof Miyagi had long been the leading point guard in Kanagawa junior high school. In this game, Miyagi also scored 18 points, 11 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. After the game, Miyagi ranked third. Even if someone hesitated for a moment, they would not be rewarded.

Mitsui also hope Miyagi's coach would suggest that Miyagi practice shooting, but he wasn't very clear whether the coach suggestions and good intentions could be conveyed to him. Only time will prove this. Anyway, Miyagi will join Shohoku in at most one year. I will not fight with Miyagi this time, and Miyagi will not be left behind. Shohoku will undoubtedly improve.

With Mitsui filled with expectations for the future, the All-Japan Conference began. As usual, Kanagawa played in a round-robin group stage. Takeishi Middle School, as last year's top four, could wait until the quarterfinals before competing with other teams. While there were no famous junior high schools in Mitsui's group that stood out, he took a look. After the other junior high schools appeared on the roster, their quarterfinal opponent - Minaoka Junior High School - was roughly confirmed because there was a person named Hasegawa Kazushi in the five-person group of that junior high school.

However, Mitsui did not took it seriously. You must know that Mitsui, who was originally in junior high school, could ignore Hasegawa and easily defeat Minaoka Junior High School. Although he now knows that the junior high school is called Minaoka Junior High School, Mitsui now has the perspective of a high school student along with knowledge and Takeishi also has an outstanding new force like Katsumi Ichiro, the team is more powerful than in his previous life! Naturally, he doesn't take it to heart. His goal has been clear from the beginning: to win the championship!