Chapter 54 : VS Shutoku XIII - Back on the Lead!

The next chapter would be the end of the game! Thank you!

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*Fweeeet!*

"Seirin #15 defensive shooting foul, two free-throws for Shutoku #8."

"It has been the sixth foul Seirin committed in the last five sequences, right?" Kise asked his senpai in the audience seat. Kasamatsu just nodded silently without giving any verbal answer. "Why would they do that? There are still five more minutes before the game ended. Are they already giving up this game?"

Noticing a hint of disappointment in Kise's tone, Kasamatsu shook his head.

"You are wrong, Kise." Kaijo's captain finally speaks. "They are not giving up this game yet. They are buying more time for their core players to recover on the bench. They haven't thrown the game yet."

"Are you sure about that?" Kise asked with a dubious tone. "And even if you are right, they are already five points behind Shutoku. With Midorimacchi there, I don't think they could shorten the gap."

Kasamatsu chuckled a little before he replied,

"That's where you are wrong." Now, he got Kise's attention. "The foul game is not only to stale the time, but also to drain Shutoku's players both mentally and physically. Look at Miyaji over there." He pointed his finger at Shutoku's small forward that is panting heavily as he missed his first free throw.

"He is getting frustrated, and I can see why. If you are stuck for almost 24 seconds in four or five sequences in a row that just end as a foul, of course, you will be frustrated. And it is not only him. Kimura and Otsubo also feel the same. I don't know about Midorima, but he is the one who gets fouled the most here. Three times fouled even before he touched the ball. Seirin is targeting him right now."

Kise pondered for a moment, processing what his senpai explains in his brain.

"Will it work, though?" Kise asked once again after a few seconds. "Now they have already committed six fouls in this quarter, every foul would be rewarded as two free throws, not just an inbound situation again. They would need to score more to chase the score. But without Kagamicchi on the court, I doubt they can do that."

Kasamatsu just shrugged as he replied,

"Well, they haven't thrown the game yet and have the confidence to play with this bold strategy. Anything could happen in this game. It would be interesting to see what they would do next."

Kise just nodded his head slightly and decided to put back his focus on the court.

Now the score is 102 – 97 for Shutoku, and Miyaji is about to shoot his second free throw. However, before he could do that, the referee stops him as there is movement on Seirin's bench.

Furihata and Kuroko are standing on the sideline, ready to go back on the court anytime. When the referee signaled them to go in, they went for Koganei and Kawahara.

"Good job, you two."

Furihata gives high fives to both players as they did a really good job in the last three minutes. Even though they didn't produce any big stats like the other players, their defense and hustle are the reason why Seirin could hold Shutoku's lead to only five points. And now, with Furihata and Kuroko back on the court, they are ready to strike back once again.

"Phantom, remember your task, okay?"

Kuroko nodded at Furihata, his brain rewinding what his coach said before they went back to the court.

"Kuroko-kun, defense is still your biggest weakness right now. If you just go invisible, you will be a liability in defense. That's why I will put you as Takao's guard. You don't need to stop him. Just block his passing route to Midorima. Tsuchida and Furihata-kun will trap Takao in the high-post area. Do you understand?"

"Hai, Coach."

Yeah, Kuroko still remembers his assignment. Even though it hurts being called liability, he couldn't deny the truth behind it. Fortunately, his job is only to block the path between Takao and Midorima. As long as he appeared in Takao's eyesight, it would be easy for him to trick Takao into avoiding him.

Now, they are back on the court, watching Miyaji taking the second free throw from their position. And unsurprisingly, the ball didn't go into the basket as it bounced on the board.

"Rebound!"

Tsuchida who is under the rim box-outing Kimura immediately, securing the rebound for Seirin.

"Nice one, Tsuchida!"

"Senpai! Here!"

Hearing Furihata's voice, Tsuchida passed the ball immediately to his Kouhai before he starts running to the opposite side. Furihata grabbed the ball and charged into Shutoku's area quickly before anyone Shutoku players could organize their defense.

"Shit! Midorima, stop him!"

"Already on it!"

Furihata could see a glimpse of Midorima from the corner of his eyes. He knows that even though he is a bit faster, Midorima could chase him down from behind and stop him if he wanted to take a shoot. So, he slowed down for a second, waiting for Midorima to get near to him before he passed the ball back through his legs.

"What?!"

Seeing that the pass is rather weak, Midorima tried to tap the ball to change its direction. However, before he could do that, he was stopped by the screen movement by Kuroko.

"Shit! Takao! Where the hell are you?!"

Midorima couldn't help but curse his teammate out loud. Furihata snickered inwardly as he knows this would happen. He remembers his conversation with Kuroko before they went back to the court.

"Furihata-kun, if there is a fast break situation, can you find me as quickly as possible?"

Furihata looked at Kuroko strangely before he nodded.

"Yes, I can. But what about Takao? Can you get away from him?"

"Don't worry about him. In a fast break situation, his priority would be getting back to his position first. It doesn't matter if he can see me or not, as long as I move the ball faster than before he arrived, he couldn't do anything about it."

After pondering for a moment, Furihata grinned as he asked,

"I have another idea. How about this? If there is a fast break situation, keep follow me from behind and when you see me slowed down, set a screen for me to get away from Midorima. Can you do that?"

Kuroko nodded firmly, no hesitation could be seen in his eyes as he said,

"Yes, I can."

Seeing the strategy worked perfectly, Furihata couldn't stop himself from grinning widely as the ball went back to the high post area where Hyuga arrived. The captain didn't wait for too long before he pulled up a mid-range jump shoot from his area, and a second later,

*Splash!*

"Nice shoot, Captain!"

Shutoku tried to restart the game quickly and takes advantage of Seirin's lowered guard. But as the ball went into Takao, the point guard faces Furihata once again immediately.

"Defense! Go back!"

Takao scanned the entire court quickly, tried to find Midorima before Seirin could organize back their defense. However, the moment he found the shooting guard, his eyes caught a glimpse of the blue-haired boy in Midorima's blind spot.

"Tch!"

Takao clicked his tongue in annoyance. His mind is running quickly, trying to find another player who is in the open position.

'If Kuroko is lurking behind Shin-chan, that means someone must be wide-open. Let's go with that.'

The moment he finds out Miyaji is about to cut inside from the corner area without anyone guarding the small forward, Takao bounced the ball into the paint area, passing through Mitobe and Kimura.

"Nice pass, Takao!"

Right after he received the pass, Miyaji is about to release a floater from the sideline. However, before he could release the ball, Tsuchida suddenly appeared in front of him, tapping his hand a little to block the shoot.

*Fweeeet!*

"Seirin #9 defensive shooting foul, two free-throws for Shutoku #8."

"Damn!"

Miyaji gritted his teeth in frustration as he walked into the free throw area, a realization is coming through his mind.

'The last three plays resulted in me getting fouled, and three out of my four last free throws missed. They are targeting me.'

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he shoots the first free throw.

*Clank!*

It missed again!

"Shit!"

"Don't mind, Miyaji!"

"Calm yourself!"

Miyaji nodded as both Kimura and Otsubo patted his shoulder. He took a deep breath once again, trying to concentrate his mind on the rim. When he shoots his second free throw,

*Splash!*

He sighed in relief as the ball finally went in.

"Nice one, Miyaji!"

"Go back! Defense!"

All Shutoku players are running back to their area, trying to stop another quick fast break. However, this time, Seirin decided to move the ball slowly as Furihata takes his time dribbling the ball through the middle area. But the moment he arrived at Shutoku's area, Midorima is already waiting for him in front of the three-point line.

"No Takao again, huh?" Furiahta raised his eyebrows slightly. Midorima just snorted before he replied,

"He is not ready to face a trickster like you." Hearing that, a twitch could be seen on the corner of Furihata's mouth as he replied,

"Well, thank you for the compliment. But are you ready to face a trickster like me?"

"Don't compare me to a rookie like him. I have faced more troublesome opponent than- WHAT!"

Midorima couldn't believe Furihata would take a quick step back and pull up a three in front of him even before he could finish what he said. He tried to block the shoot, but the step back Furihata takes is enough to create space for the point guard to drain another three.

*Splash!*

As the ball went into the basket, Furihata turned his head back to Midorima again, an amusement could be seen on his face as he said,

"Sorry, I cannot hear you before. What do you want to say? More troublesome opponent than who?"

And right after that, he went back to Seirin's area for the defense without waiting for the answer.

Only one-point lead!

"Are you okay, Shin-chan?" Takao approached him with a concerned face. But all he could see from the green-haired shooting guard is determination burning in his eyes as he muttered,

"He dares to provoke me? And with a three-point out of all the possibilities? Huh? This is interesting." The grin on his face widened as he turned around to the point guard and asked, "Takao, give me the ball."

"Eh? What happened?"

"Don't think too much about it. Just give me the ball."

Seeing he couldn't convince his teammate, Takao just sighed helplessly as he handed the ball to the shooting guard. But the moment Midorima is about to pull up a three from the logo, he was stopped immediately by Hyuga who extended one of his arms high to the sky, trying to block his eyesight.

"Tch!"

Midorima clicked his tongue before he lowered the ball in his hand, trying to go back into the triple threat position. However, right when the ball is about to reach his wrist, someone suddenly slapped the ball from his hand and stripped it of his possession.

"WHAT?!"

When he turned around to see what happened, he saw Kuroko is already running with the ball without anyone on the defense. That's when a realization comes through his mind.

'Damn! I forget about Kuroko! Shit!"

He gritted his teeth as he runs back to the defense as quickly as possible, trying to cover his mistake. But the moment he came close to Kuroko, the blue-haired boy sends the ball through his legs in the same manner as what Furihata did earlier.

"Damn!"

Knowing what is about to happen, Midorima showed his incredible reflex by turning around and closing the distance between himself and Furihata who received the ball immediately.

"Don't think you can pull the same trick on me twice, bastard!"

But Furihata didn't show any sign of panic. Instead, a mischievous smirk could be seen on his face as he replied,

"Of course, I don't think so."

And right after saying that, he bounced the ball back to Kuroko who is in a wide-open position under the rim, ready to get a shoot anytime the ball arrived.

"Damn!"

Kuroko who received the ball put it into the basket with an easy layup, resulting in Seirin taking the lead once again before the game ended.

"Nice one, Kuroko!"

"Good defense, everyone!"

And before the game restarted again, the buzzer rang loudly as the referee announced,

"Shutoku High, time out!"

103 – 105

03:16

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Author note :

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