Chapter 235: The Shards of the Backboard's Tempered Glass, Glimmering With Starlight!

The first to react was Mingchang's captain, who forced down the pounding in his chest and clapped hard, rallying his teammates.

"Everyone…"

"Don't mind it!"

"What we need to do now is defend—defense first. On offense… avoid number 4, and look for chances attacking from other positions."

The Mingchang players pulled themselves together after that alley-oop dunk, but the center who had just been on the receiving end of it was clearly still in a daze.

"Right."

"He's just… just a first-year!"

"Even if that number 4 is a monster, he's only one person!"

……

Mingchang Academy inbounds from the baseline.

On this play, Mingchang's point guard brought the ball up the court under the tight marking of He Xiuyang, then drifted to the left half and fed it inside to Mingchang's captain, their most reliable finisher.

Defending him was Tsuchiya Dahe, who had already locked down the power forward spot at Senjinkan, while Yukimiya Kazuma, thanks to his 'ultra-wide defensive range' from practice games, had naturally been pushed into the center position.

Tsuchiya Dahe said coolly: "Bring it!"

Bang!

Bang!

Mingchang's captain, playing power forward, used a very orthodox back-to-the-basket offensive style; in pure muscle-on-muscle terms, his third-year body had a slight edge over Tsuchiya Dahe.

Another muffled thud as he backed down Tsuchiya.

Then, a spin toward the rim!

Jump!

But…

Behind him was Tsuchiya Dahe chasing back, and in front of him was Yukimiya Kazuma, who had taken a single stride and come flying over.

The two of them, one in front and one behind, sandwiched Mingchang's captain like the meat in a hamburger, and under the Bai Chidengguang of the gym, both leapt up—two shadows swallowing him whole!

Smack!

With a crisp sound like a hand slapping a watermelon, Yukimiya's one hand sealed off the layup, then swatted the ball flying far away!

"Fast break!"

Mingchang's captain, who had just enjoyed the full luxury combo of the 196 duo, the instant he was blocked wanted to turn and tell his teammates to fall back on defense—but it was already too late.

By the time he turned around, Senjinkan's number 12 was already running with an arrogant look on his face into their half, and at 183 cm in the paint, with Yukimiya Kazuma's brilliance fresh in everyone's mind, he finished with a plain, ordinary dunk, slamming the ball through the hoop.

Long Tian Zhang, wearing the number 12 jersey, caught the ball as it bounced off the floor with one hand, then under the stunned stares of the Mingchang players, handed the ball back to them.

This move was the same one Yukimiya Kazuma had used in that middle-school match between Tochiku and Bai Shui-kan to make Long Tian Zhang so furious his scalp tingled—but it had also seared itself firmly into his memory.

Long Tian Zhang: "!"

He finally got to use it!

And on a high school court, no less!

The Mingchang player who got the ball instinctively said "thanks," and once he realized what he'd done, his spirits sank even further.

Senjinkan vs. Mingchang.

4–0.

It was only four points, but Senjinkan's two violent punches right out of the gate carried a meaning that went far beyond just two baskets.

"Nice work, Long Tian!"

"So cocky!"

"Let's go!"

"Stealing Yukimiya's move…?"

Long Tian Zhang tuned out one discordant voice from someone with the surname 'Naga,' passed in front of the Senjinkan bench, then rejoined his teammates, accepting their encouragement.

On the Mingchang Academy side, by contrast, all the sharpness they'd had when they first stepped onto the court was gone.

Seeing this,

Mingchang Academy's coach made a snap decision and called a timeout, halting the game.

At the sight of this, the crowd in the stands immediately began buzzing with discussion.

"They called a timeout?"

"Senjinkan is terrifying this year."

"Worthy of his reputation—Yukimiya Kazuma!"

"That alley-oop dunk was just too much…"

"Did you see that defense just now? From one side of the paint to the other, one step and he was there—his speed was scary!"

……

The timeout Mingchang Academy called was, on one hand, to let the players regain their confidence, and on the other to disrupt the opponents' rhythm. The coach, with a grave expression, was telling his players:

"Don't keep thinking they're just first-years and you can pull away easily!"

"Be patient, play for shooting percentage, slow the offense down!"

"Bring the bigs up high, set more screens for the guards!"

"Attack the mismatch on the roll!"

"Understood?"

"Yes!"

"Understood!"

Mingchang inbounds, the game continues.

After a brief pause, Meishou Academy's mindset steadied somewhat, and they patiently ran their best pick-and-roll offense on the court, but under Yukimiya Kazuma's terrifying 'ultra-wide-range defense,' they still couldn't score.

Yukimiya Kazuma played with ease — on offense, 'passing-control master' on low energy output; on defense, 'ultra-wide-range defense' going all out.

The point gap kept growing.

Mm…

Or rather, as the game went on, it was always Izumi-kan scoring.

The Meishou Academy players were dumbfounded — after a pick-and-roll freed their small forward, he forced up a hurried shot against Dakou Longzhi's defense and ended up getting stripped outright.