Beeeep!
"End of the first half! We'll have a ten-minute halftime break before starting the second half."
With the referee's whistle, the first half officially came to a close. Before the buzzer, the scoreboard froze at 40–38.
Comeback had been painfully slow, after all, they were a defense-oriented team.
Rather than focusing on racking up their own points, they excelled at making sure the opponent couldn't score.
In the entire second quarter, Shutoku, home of the famed Generation of Miracles, only managed to put up 17 points. From the moment Akashi Asuka stepped onto the court until the quarter ended, Shutoku had scored just eight points.
That alone spoke volumes about Seiho's defensive prowess.
=========
"Tch… this is trouble."
Coach Nakatani Masaaki of Shutoku glanced at the second-quarter scoring and frowned deeply.
"Seiho's defense was already at a national level… but once that No. 11 rookie came on, they cranked it up another two… no, maybe even three tiers."
"In the latter half of the second quarter, even Otsubo and Kimura together couldn't grab a single rebound."
"In this situation, breaking through their inside defense looks… pretty much impossible."
Nakatani rubbed his chin in thought. Akashi Asuka's sudden appearance had completely blindsided Shutoku, because who would've thought that, in high school, outside the Generation of Miracles, there was someone capable of stopping one of their members?
At this point, there seemed to be only one option left…
"Midorima, in the second half, I'm giving you full shooting freedom."
"Huh?"
Before Midorima could respond, other players reacted first. "Coach, you mean… that move? But this is just a practice match, there's no need to reveal our trump card so soon!"
Nakatani shook his head. "Revealing it now isn't necessarily a bad thing. If things keep going at this pace, we'll likely face Seiho again in the nationals. If we can't find their weakness now, then hiding our trump card is meaningless."
Once they heard the decision, the Shutoku players kept quiet.
Ten minutes was enough for everyone to recover a good amount of stamina.
The second half began quickly.
Because Shutoku had won the opening tip in the first quarter, they had first possession in the first and fourth quarters, while Seiho had it in the second and third.
In the opening play of the third quarter, Seiho went for an alley-oop. Akashi Asuka caught the pass and slammed it home. Otsubo Taisuke and Kimura Shinsuke tried to stop him, but his raw power sent both of them flying.
40–40.
Seiho had tied the score.
"Yosshaaa!"
The Seiho players slapped hands in celebration and started jogging back to defend.
But after just a few steps, Akashi suddenly sensed something off, Midorima Shintaro hadn't followed.
That guy… don't tell me,
He snapped his head around, and in the next instant, his pupils reflected the sight of Midorima standing under his own basket… already in the shooting motion.
Whoosh!
The basketball soared into the air like fireworks, reached its apex, and then plummeted like a comet, straight through Seiho's hoop.
At that moment, Seiho's players hadn't even made it back into the paint.
"Huh?"
Their expressions froze.
In an instant, the entire court fell silent.
Starters, bench players, even the second-stringers training on the side all stared, dumbfounded.
Even Coach Matsumoto Yukinori and Kitayama Yuzuki on the bench were slack-jawed, their eyes wide in disbelief.
"Uwaaaah!"
"What was that?! A full-court shot?"
"Can a human even shoot from that far? And the strength needed to launch a basketball that distance…!"
After five or six seconds of stunned silence, the arena exploded like a lit fuse.
It wasn't just the basketball club members,
Plenty of other students had come to watch from the second floor. They might not have known much about basketball, but they absolutely understood how unbelievable that shot was.
Third-years Tsutomu Iwamura and Kasuga Ryuhei stared wide-eyed at Tsugawa Tomoki and Akashi Asuka. "He was already this scary back in middle school?"
Tsugawa shook his head in shock. "No. Back in middle school, his range was only half-court. I'm guessing he evolved again after entering high school."
Akashi looked at Midorima standing under the basket, his lips parting slightly, but no words came out.
He'd known Midorima could shoot full-court threes, but knowing it and seeing it were worlds apart.
If he had to put it in words,
Before, he'd simply thought it was ridiculous.
Now? It's ridiculous, opening the door for ridiculous, welcome home, ridiculous!
He had always thought the hardest part about a full-court three was accuracy. But seeing it now, he realized, accuracy wasn't even the main issue.
The real question was: How much strength do you even need to shoot from that far?
Bweeeep!
43–40.
The referee's whistle announced the basket was good.
At the sound, Seiho finally snapped out of their shock.
"Iwamura," someone called, "Akashi's on Midorima for the rest of the game."
As expected of a national-level player, Iwamura reacted instantly.
Midorima's full-court shot was visually spectacular, but under the right conditions, it might actually be the easiest Generation of Miracles attack to defend.
Not that Akashi needed telling, he already planned to do just that.
Next possession, Seiho immediately counterattacked. Shutoku's defense was decent, but still a notch below Seiho's.
43–42.
A two-pointer might be worth less than a three, but it kept their momentum alive.
Shutoku came back on offense, but Akashi shadowed Midorima step for step. Despite several cuts, Midorima couldn't shake him.
The shot clock was about to expire when Akashi suddenly felt someone block his path from the side.
"A screen!"
Akashi's heart jolted, and he reacted instantly.
He darted around Takao Kazunari's pick and rushed toward Midorima. But Midorima had clearly planned this, so he didn't shoot immediately. Instead, he created extra separation before finally releasing the ball.
Akashi was a step too late.
Whoosh!
The ball left Midorima's fingertips, sailing just beyond Akashi's reach by ten centimeters, tracing a perfect arc before falling like a comet.
Swishhh,
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250 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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