Halftime - Kuzuryu High Locker Room
The team sat on benches, breathing heavily but energized. The scoreboard read 38-32 in their favor—a six-point lead against a veteran second-round Inter-High team.
Nao stood before them with her clipboard, but her usual serious expression was softened by pride.
"That was excellent basketball," she said. "Sora, you scored 20 points on elite efficiency. Kenji, 18 points with a mix of isolation and transition scoring. Chiaki, your decision-making has been perfect—6 assists already. Momoharu, your rebounding and transition fills have been crucial."
She paused, then her expression became more serious.
"But we have a problem. Chiaki, you've been playing the entire first half. Your legs are going to give out in the third quarter if we don't rest you. Same with Yasuhara—you're not conditioned for this intensity yet."
Chiaki, who was indeed breathing heavily, nodded. "Yeah... I'm pretty gassed."
Yasuhara's face was flushed, sweat pouring down. "I can keep going—"
"No," Nao said firmly. "You'll cramp up or worse. I'm benching both of you to start the third quarter."
"But who runs the offense?" Momoharu asked. "Chiaki's our point-forward, our decision-maker."
Nao looked at Sora, who was the only one not breathing hard—his enhanced stamina from the Miyagi integration keeping him fresh.
"Sora," she said. "You're taking over both roles. Scorer and playmaker."
Sora's eyes widened. "Both?"
"You have the court vision from your training. You have the speed to push the pace even faster in transition. And you have the scoring ability to keep them honest." Nao's voice was confident. "This is your team for the third quarter. Kenji will still handle isolation scoring, but you're the primary ball-handler and decision-maker."
Kenji looked at Sora, then nodded. "Works for me. I'll play off you."
"Can you do it?" Nao asked Sora directly.
Sora's determination blazed in his eyes. "Yes. Absolutely."
-----
Kitasumi High Locker Room
Coach Koga was animated, drawing on the whiteboard with quick, aggressive strokes.
"They're beating us with their system," he said. "That motion offense with that point guard as the gravitational force is creating too much space. And when we focus on him, that shooting guard kills us in isolation."
"So what do we do?" Tarou asked, his competitive fire burning.
"We speed them up," Koga said. "Force turnovers. Press full-court. Make them uncomfortable. They're running a complex system—let's see if they can execute it under pressure."
He looked at Tarou. "And you need to take over offensively. You're our ace. Show them why."
Tarou's grin was predatory. "Don't worry, Coach. I've just been warming up."
---
Both teams returned to the court, and immediately Kitasumi noticed the lineup change.
Chiaki and Yasuhara were on the bench. In their places: Nabe and Chucky.
"They're resting their point-forward," Hasebe observed. "Who's running their offense now?"
The answer came immediately as Sora took the ball from Momoharu's in bound pass and pushed it up the court himself.
His speed—that elite 113 rating—was even more noticeable now without Chiaki's slower pace controlling the tempo.
He crossed half-court in what felt like three dribbles, attacking before Kitasumi's defense could fully set.
Tarou scrambled to pick him up, but Sora had already made his read.
Momoharu was trailing the play. Kenji was filling the right wing. The defense was caught in rotation.
Sora drove middle, drawing two defenders like magnets, then delivered a perfect bounce pass to Momoharu cutting to the rim.
Momoharu caught it and threw down a thunderous dunk.
40-32, Kuzuryu.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Momoharu roared.
Kitasumi immediately pressed full-court, just as Coach Koga had ordered.
Two defenders swarmed Sora as he tried to inbound the ball to himself.
But Sora's enhanced court vision from the Izuki integration saw the trap developing. He quickly passed to Nabe on the sideline, then sprinted up the court.
Nabe, panicking slightly under pressure, immediately returned the pass to Sora once he was free.
Sora caught it at half-court with defenders closing in from both sides.
Most players would call timeout. Most players would play it safe.
Sora attacked.
His speed allowed him to split the double-team with a lightning-quick crossover. One defender lunged and missed completely. The other tried to recover but Sora was already gone.
Now it was a three-on-two fast break.
Sora pushed the ball himself, his dribbling secure despite the speed. His Eagle Eye saw everything—Kenji on the left, Momoharu trailing right, the two defenders scrambling to cover three offensive threats.
The defenders committed to Sora, trying to cut off his drive.
At the last possible second, Sora delivered a no-look pass to Kenji on the wing.
Kenji caught it in rhythm and drained the open three-pointer.
43-32, Kuzuryu.
Eleven-point lead.
"TIMEOUT!" Coach Koga called immediately.
----
Kitasumi Bench
"They're faster without their point-forward," Koga said, frustration evident. "That first-year is running the show himself now. We can't press him—he's too quick."
"Then what do we do?" Konishi asked.
"Pick-and-roll defense," Koga said. "When he runs ball screens, we HAVE to switch. We can't let him get downhill. And Tarou—"
"I know, Coach. My turn to take over."
-----
Tarou brought the ball up with renewed aggression. His body language screamed that he was done playing around.
He waved everyone to the weak side, clearing out the left side of the court completely.
"ONE-ON-ONE!" he called out.
Sora got into his defensive stance—low, balanced, hands active. Despite his size disadvantage, his lateral quickness gave him a fighting chance.
Tarou attacked with a series of sophisticated moves—jab step, inside-out dribble, hesitation. Each move designed to break down Sora's defense.
But Sora stayed in front, his enhanced defensive footwork from Nao's training camp allowing him to slide with each move.
Frustrated, Tarou used his size advantage, backing Sora down closer to the basket.
Sora fought through it, not giving ground easily.
Finally, Tarou spun baseline and elevated for his signature stop-and-go shot.
Sora contested as best he could, but Tarou's release was too high, his form too irregular.
SWISH.
43-34, Kuzuryu.
"Nice defense, Sora!" Nao called from the bench. "He had to work for that!"
Sora brought the ball up, and this time he called for a pick-and-roll, signaling Momoharu to come set a screen at the top of the key.
Momoharu set a solid screen on Sora's defender. Kitasumi switched, putting Konishi—their 196cm center—on Sora.
Perfect, Sora thought.
He immediately attacked the slower, bigger defender with his speed. Konishi backpedaled, trying to stay in front, but Sora's quickness was too much.
When Konishi's feet got tangled trying to keep up, Sora had a clear path to the rim.
But help was coming—Tarou rotating over from the weak side.
Sora used his enhanced court vision to see it all developing. Instead of forcing a contested layup, he made a subtle wraparound pass to Momoharu rolling to the basket.
Momoharu caught it and slammed it home with authority.
45-34, Kuzuryu.
"PICK-AND-ROLL!" Nao was shouting from the bench. "THAT'S HOW YOU ATTACK SWITCHES!"
Over the next several possessions, the game turned into an absolute shootout.
Tarou answered with a deep three-pointer, his confidence sky-high.
45-37.
But Sora immediately responded. He ran another pick-and-roll, this time rejecting the screen and pulling up from 34 feet.
SWISH.
48-37.
Kitasumi pushed the pace themselves now, trying to match Kuzuryu's tempo. Tarou caught fire, hitting another isolation jumper over Kenji's contest.
48-39.
Sora brought the ball up, and this time Kenji called for it.
The pass came, and Kenji went into full isolation mode—series of crossovers, hesitation, then a devastating euro-step that left his defender stumbling. He finished with a smooth floater.
50-39.
"YEAH!" Kenji pumped his fist.
Tarou refused to let his team fall behind. He drove hard to the rim, absorbed contact from Nabe, and finished through it.
And-one.
Free throw: SWISH.
50-42.
The scoring continued at a blistering pace:
SORA had a Pick-and-roll with Momoharu, attacks the switch, makes a brilliant pocket pass to Momoharu for a dunk. 52-42.
TAROU continued to Isolate Sora, as he hits another stop-and-go jumper.52-44.
KENJI: Transition three-pointer off a Sora assist. 55-44.
KITASUMI: Konishi post-up, powerful hook shot. 55-46.
SORA: Runs off a double screen, catches Kenji's pass, drains a three-pointer. 58-46.
TAROU: Pulls up from deep, matching Sora's range. SWISH. 58-49.
The pace was absolutely frenetic now. Both teams were running, gunning, and putting up shots in rapid succession.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Sora ran another pick-and-roll. This time, when they switched, he didn't attack immediately. Instead, he used his enhanced court vision to survey the entire floor.
Kenji was cutting baseline. The defense hadn't rotated yet.
Sora delivered a pinpoint pass that hit Kenji perfectly in stride.
Kenji elevated and finished with a reverse layup over Konishi's contest.
60-49.
Tarou brought the ball up, clearly exhausted but refusing to stop. He pulled up from 25 feet—matching Sora's deep range.
SWISH.
60-52.
Sora answered immediately, running a pick-and-roll that created space. He pulled up from deep with complete confidence.
BANG.
63-52.
Kitasumi's next possession, Tarou drove and dished to an open shooter for a three-pointer.
63-55.
With thirty seconds left in the quarter, Sora pushed the pace one more time. He attacked in transition, drew the defense, then made a spectacular behind-the-back pass to Kenji streaking to the rim.
Kenji caught it and threw down a powerful dunk.
65-55.
Tarou managed one more bucket before the quarter ended—a mid-range jumper over Sora's contest.
65-57.
END OF THIRD QUARTER
Third Quarter Stats:
Sora Kurumatani: +15 points (now 35 total), +6 assists (now 10 total) Kenji Natsume: +13 points (now 31 total) Tarou Kabachi: +15 points (now 31 total)
As both teams headed to their benches, the crowd was on its feet. This wasn't just a practice match anymore—this was elite basketball.
"TWENTY-SEVEN POINTS!" Nabe was screaming. "WE SCORED TWENTY-SEVEN POINTS IN ONE QUARTER!"
"And they scored twenty-five," Nao pointed out, though she was smiling. "But we're up eight. We're executing perfectly."
Sora's jersey was soaked with sweat despite his enhanced stamina. Running the offense while being the primary scorer was exhausting, even for him.
But his eyes were still blazing with determination.
"One more quarter," he said to his teammates. "One more quarter and we prove we're for real."
Kenji nodded, his own competitive fire matching Sora's. "Let's finish this."
Across the court, Tarou was saying the same thing to his team.
"One more quarter. We're down eight, but I'm just getting warmed up. Time to show them why we made it to the second round of Inter-High last year."
The final quarter was about to begin.
And it was going to be a war.