Chapter 16: Practice Game; Second Half
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NOTICE: Read the Auxiliary chapter, "Kyōsen Private Middle School", for more information about the players of Kyōsen and their coach. This auxiliary chapter may contain spoilers so please read it with caution. Do note that some of the abilities listed in there will be introduced to you guys at a later date/chapter.
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Inside one of the gyms of Kyōsen Private Middle School, an unexpectedly heated practice match have passed the 2 minute mark. Only 8 more minutes of game time remains and the atmosphere inside the gymnasium is only getting more heated as time went on.
During the last half a minute, both teams got a possession on the ball each. After a few attempts for a shot behind the arc, Hyuuga finally landed a three point shot. Meanwhile, Seiji's teammates got blocked by Akagi and Wakamatsu a few times before Seiji finally put an end to it by pulling off an elbow jumper¹.
From then on, everyone on each team did their best to score, with Seiji getting most of the passes and making all of them in his team. Team Kyōsen started the third minute of the match by executing one of their passing routines. Izuki first drove by Izanagi and successfully got the attention of Takeo who immediately tried to stop him.
Izuki then kicked the ball to Hyuuga who faked a three, fooling his defender, before passing the ball with a bounce pass to the now free Wakamatsu. Wakamatsu scored with an easy layup because Tomotsu(C) was pinned down by Akagi.
"Alright team! Nice execution! Let's go back to defend! Tighten your defense!"
"OSU!!"
On Team Seiji, Izanagi have the ball on his hands as he instructed his teammates about what they should do next. Since Toru is being tightly guarded by Hyuuga and Fukuda is the only weak point of the opposition that they could target, Izanagi decided to once again go for a play using Seiji.
In this possession, Team Seiji scored a three point shot, courtesy of Seiji who once again managed to score another one on Fukuda. Coupled with the fact that his defender, Fukuda, isn't that great in the defensive end of the game, Seiji is just too fast for him to even attempt to contest Seiji's shot. Seiji created some separation by using his ball handling and took the shot off the dribble.
The next possession, Team Kyōsen once again performed the same routine, this time it was Izuki who got the points for his team with an easy finger roll layup. Izanagi and Takeo got fooled by Izuki, thinking that he was once again going for a pass to Hyuuga, resulting in Izuki's easy path to the basket.
The game is now 12-11, in favor of Team Seiji. Team Seiji got the points back with another beyond the arc pull up jumper by Seiji. Toru attempted a three point shot but it was a tough shot that Hyuuga contested so it missed. Thankfully, the ball bounced off the rim and fell just near Seiji, 15-11.
From the other team, Hyuuga answered with a three point shot of his own. It was a contested shot but Hyuuga had no issues sinking that in. Team Kyōsen celebrated for a moment but they didn't notice Izanagi who will be inbounding the ball is holding the basketball as if he's a pitcher on a baseball match.
With an accurate and precise throw that any baseball team would want their pitcher to always do, Izanagi threw the ball to the already running Seiji. Akagi was the first one to notice this fast break as he bellowed, "FASTBREAK!"
Wakamatsu was the fastest among Team Kyōsen as he tried to catch up to the already far away Seiji. He also didn't forget to boisterously complain at Seiji for doing such a 'sneaky' play.
"Oiiii! Get back here you little runt! Damn it, how could you do such a thing while we're in the middle of celebrating!"
Seiji fired back at him as he held onto the ball, ready to score an easy lay up.
"It's your fault for celebrating too much and not focusing on the match!"
With that, Team Seiji once again widened the lead, 17-14. Team Kyōsen immediately tried to get back the points with Fukuda trying to switch defenders with Hyuuga. However, it didn't work as Seiji stuck to Fukuda like glue.
Due to his frustration, Fukuda recklessly ran towards the paint. However, Seiji defended him well and he wasn't able to move around freely. Even with that in mind, Fukuda still forced the shot. He used his right foot as his pivot and turned around to fake a jumpshot. Inexperienced as he is, Seiji fell for Fukuda's fake that could even fool those who are already good at the game and jumped for a block.
However, Fukuda used this opportunity to once again spin using his right foot as a pivot and tried to go for an open jumper. Fukuda is already smiling from ear to ear, thinking that his shot would sink in but he was surprised when Seiji once again jumped up after landing, effectively blocking Fukuda's vision on the rim. Left with no other choice, Fukuda went for a hail mary, leaning his upper body slightly backwards before throwing the ball to the hoop haphazardly using his right hand.
The ball rolled around the rim for a second before it sank in, giving Team Kyōsen two points.
"Good job, Fukuda. However…"
*bonk*
Akagi hit Fukuda on the head, leaving a visible bump on top of Fukuda's curly mess of a head.
"…DON'T ATTEMPT A TOUGH SHOT LIKE THAT, MORON!"
The game went on with both teams scoring three points each after two ball possessions. The last 12 seconds of minute 5 ended with a midrange shot from Izanagi who finally scored his first basket of the game.
From minute 6 and onwards, the game became even more competitive as shot blocks came one after another. After another two handed dunk from Akagi, no team managed to score for half a minute. Akagi and Wakamatsu blocked a shot attempt from Seiji's teammate while Seiji blocked the three point attempt of Hyuuga.
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While the game is getting more and more heated, the spectators gradually grew until the whole gym is filled with students from every year level.
"Who are those players on the yellow jersey? They can actually maintain a lead against our school's basketball team who went to the quarterfinals of the Nationals last year."
"I heard that those are just freshmen of our school. The four guys are decent players but they aren't enough to go toe to toe against our school's basketball team."
"I know right. The one who's carried this team of freshmen up until now is that awesome dude with great handles, touch, and defense."
"He's also fast too! Did you just see him flash from his mark to Hyuuga in a matter of seconds!?"
"I know man. The guy's got mad skills."
While the boys are having their conversation, a group of girls from the other side of the gym is screaming their lungs out as they all squealed in delight whenever Seiji had the ball on his hands.
"Kyaa~! How dreamy. Who's that freshman over there? He's so hot!"
"I know right! He's absolutely my type of guy!"
Just near these girls, Mia is holding down an already fuming in rage Rena.
"Don't stop me, Mia! I'm just gonna teach these vixens a liiiitle bit of lesson. It's just a slight touch on the cheeks, nothing more!"
"No, Rena-sama. That's not gonna be a slight touch but a slap, isn't it?"
"No~, I'm gonna tear that girl to shreds once I get my hands on her! How dare she have any thoughts on my Seiji-sama!"
"No, Seiji-kun isn't yours. Besides, Rena-sama, Seiji-kun will get angry if he sees you behaving like this. I'm sure he'll ignore you for the better half of this year if that were to happen."
This made Rena pause as she turned around to face Mia stiffly.
"Y-You're lying right?"
"This happened to you in the past so you should know if I'm lying Rena-sama."
"Hai… I'll behave."
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Back at the practice match, the match is at its peak. If in the first 5 minutes of the match, both teams managed to score 24-21, in favor of Team Seiji, the latter half of the 10 minutes match turned into a pretty intense one as both teams committed some very crucial turnovers. This happened often to Team Seiji as the four on Seiji's team are not as experienced as the opposition when it comes to intense games like this.
That being said, Seiji still pushed through and did his best in both the defensive and offensive end of the game. He blocked shots, fought for rebounds — both offensive and defensive, and took on the role of a relay point for passes.
He drew in the defenders and created space for his teammates to take comfortable shots, resulting in him raking some assists.
On Team Kyōsen's side, captain Akagi is telling his team to tighten their defense.
"Team, get ready to defend! It's the last minute of the game! Tighten your defense!"
"Osu Captain!"
Meanwhile, on Team Seiji's side, Izanagi handed the ball over to Seiji and let him do his thing.
"We already have a two point lead but it's not enough for us to ensure a win. We can take a quick three and then maintain a 5 point lead until the game ends or we can waste time and take better scoring options."
"We'll go with the first idea."
With that being said, Seiji leisurely walked past the half court and casually pulled up a three point attempt in transition, 27 feet away from the hoop. Fukuda was waiting to pick him up at the three point line but he was bewildered when he saw him pull up from that deep.
He never saw this guy miss so he tried his best to contest the shot but the distance between them was almost 8 feet away. There was no way he could make it, not when Seiji is already in the air, ready to release the ball.
"Aaack!"
*swoosh*
Fukuda never reached the ball as it already created a parabola in the air. With just the right amount of backspin and a beautiful parabola, the ball went in the hoop, hitting nothing but net.
*swish*
Fukuda glanced at Seiji when he saw the shot sink in.
"How far is your range, really? Can 12 year olds really pull up from that deep?"
"It's practice. A lot of it."
Well, his abilities have a lot of contribution for it to become possible but Fukuda didn't need to know about it.
After that astonishing shot, Team Kyōsen still fought to the bitter end but they just couldn't close the gap. When they scored some points, Seiji will just take it back the next possession. When they tried to double team him, he just passed by them with ease and then passed the ball to a very free teammate.
"Haa… haa… haa… this was a lot harder than I thought. We lost to a bunch of freshmen," Wakamatsu murmured.
"We didn't lose to just a bunch of freshmen. We lost to a bunch of freshmen and a monster," Hyuuga said, trying to correct Wakamatsu.
"He really was a monster just like you said, Hyuuga," Izuki said.
"Well, that's just how he is ever since…"
All of them, including Akagi and Fukuda, directed their gaze at Seiji who is celebrating with his teammates.
"Well, team, a loss is a loss. In fact, we should be happy since we'll have a strong addition to our team! Let's go and congratulate our juniors!"
Team Kyōsen then congratulated Team Seiji, marking the end of the practice match. Team Seiji won with the score of 42-37, a five point lead.
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To be continued…
「Arisugawa Seiji's Stats」
(21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, 8 assists, and 1 steal)
[A/N¹: An elbow jumper is the move that Chris Paul is quite well known for doing a few times each match. It's when he pulls up just in front of the edge of that box inside the perimeter.]
[A/N²: How is it? This is my first time writing a match so there's definitely a lot I can improve on. However, for now, please bear with this kind of match. As I said in the intro, I barely know anything about basketball and all of this that I just wrote are all just knowledge I picked up from some reading materials and videos.]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
JadePanda003
JadePanda003 I apologize for the unintentional cut between the match.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone