Rebirth in KurokoNoBasket

Otsubo: "Kageyama-kun, you did great with defending Nakamura. We now have an eight-point lead."     

Shun: "Thank you, Otsubo-senpai."     

Aone too patted his back to show support in his silent way.     

Coach: "You guys did well in the first half, Aone, you did well in scoring points. Mibuchi, that three while drawing a foul, was beautifully executed."     

Mibuchi: "Thank you, Coach."     

Coach: "Now, you already know what to do in the second, keep performing like this, and we will win without any hiccups."     

Shun would have agreed, but he knew that Kiyoshi Teppei hadn't done anything special in the first half, so he was not getting his hopes up about winning without hiccups.     

And, Shun was right Kiyoshi Teppei did change in the second half.     

(Second half, start.)     

Shoei started with the ball in the second half, Kajiwara (PG) dribbled to the half-court and immediately passed it to Kiyoshi (C), Kiyoshi charged his way through the defenders and was met by Otsubo under the hoop.     

Kiyoshi did a quick spin on his pivot foot and moved past Otsubo to score points for his team.     

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[A/N: SPIN MOVE     

It involves planting your inside foot and reverse-pivoting around a defender while dragging the basketball with you.     

This can be a difficult move for young players to execute, but it's quick and effective when a player has put in the work practicing it.     

It's important that players ensure their hand stays on top of the basketball. If the hand slips under, referees will whistle the dribbler for a carrying violation.     

]     

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For the next few minutes, Shoei kept passing to Kiyoshi who kept scoring, Kiyoshi used his big hands to keep the ball in contact with his hand long enough to gain an advantage in post-plays, he kept making layups with incredible timing and precision.     

Kiyoshi (C) was still losing to Otsubo in rebounds, but he was crushing him in the offense.     

Shun decided that it was time to start the plan for the second half, but before that, they had to stop Kiyoshi from racking in more points so that Shoei didn't get back their momentum.     

Shun switched mark with Otsubo, for when Shoei had the ball, Shun was now going to defend against Kiyoshi (C).     

Shun was having trouble pressuring Kiyoshi in the post because he kept pushing Shun around with pure power. Shun didn't like it, but he had no choice, a competition of power against a Center was not his cup of tea, he was going to wait till Kiyoshi decided to make a play.     

Shun had seen enough of Kiyoshi's game to create a profile on him using Perfect Copy, so he knew what he preferred in which situation.     

Kiyoshi, who was now in a good spot, jumped up and tried to put in an Overhand layup, but Shun knew that Kiyoshi would try to do that as Kiyoshi liked to do an overhand layup from the current position.     

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[A/N: OVERHEAD LAYUP     

It's similar to a regular jump shot in that a player gets their hand under the ball and "shoots" it off the backboard.     

]     

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Shun reacted quickly, as his reflexes boosted by God-Speed Impulse were put to work and blocked the ball.     

From then on out Shun repeatedly blocked Kiyoshi, while Kiyoshi did put in a few in because of the height difference.     

The competition between the two was thrilling to watch, people liked that Kiyoshi alone was pressuring the champions, and people also liked that a first-year rookie was defending against a popular player like Kiyoshi.     

The competition between them had the stadium at the edge of their seats.     

Shun looked at the clock and decided that this was enough, and Shoei's morale was down, as there two best players were put down repeatedly.     

Tokiwadai's plan for the second half started in the first half, Shun kept on passing to Aone, so that the defense would concentrate on him, because of that Aone was leading in scoring in the first half.     

Shun could now see that the defense of Shoei was slightly tilted towards Aone, which indicated that they were expecting the pass to go to Aone.     

Shun betrayed their expectation and passed the ball to Mibuchi, and he scored, for the last few minutes of the game, the Shoei team with a crippled offense tried their best to defend but because of the onslaught from Shun, who passed to Mibuchi and Ishida kept on putting down shots from far away.     

The score gap kept increasing to the point that Shoei couldn't make a comeback, but even in that situation Kyoshi didn't give up.     

Shun: 'Yes! That is how you should play a sport, you don't lose till the last second of the game. Kiyoshi Teppei and Shoei Middle School you have my respect, but the one to win this match will be Tokiwadai.'     

Shun is the last seconds of the match decided to go to the basket on his own he was met by Kiyoshi, who wanted to play and give it his all till the end of the game.     

Shun stopped near Kiyoshi and posted up with his back to the rim and with good timing, he jumped up and put it in the basket with a simple hook shot, because it was the first time he had used the hook in the game, Kiyoshi wasn't able to react in time, and the ball bounced off the backboard and went into the net.     

The referee blew his whistle and which indicated the end of the game.     

Tokiwadai won the Block A finals with the score, 77-61. They won the game with a sixteen point lead.     

Shun went up to Kiyoshi and offered his hand to Kiyoshi, who took it.     

Shun: "It was a good game, you almost had us at the start of the second half."     

Kiyoshi: "Yes, but you guys didn't let the gap decrease, and by the end of the game the gap increased even more."     

Shun: "Let's play again sometime."     

Kiyoshi smiled as replied,     

Kiyoshi: "Yeah, I would like that."     

The coach decided to treat the team to food as a reward for their victory, but Shun excused himself as his parent had come to see the game and he was going to have lunch with them.     

Shun met with his mother and father. Shun's mother hugged her son tightly,     

Mom: "Oh my sweet little boy, you played so well, when did you become so good. Mom was really happy seeing you play. I should have come to more of your games."     

Shun: "Mom! I am sweaty, don't hug me, and I am not little anymore I am taller than you."     

Mom: "Hmph! You will always be my little boy, no matter how tall you become."     

Dad: "Ok, that is enough. Shun, you played well, we are very proud of you. You even did the warmup and stretches properly. Dad was very happy seeing you do those seriously."     

Shun: "Thanks, Dad. Now, let's go eat something I am hungry."     

Mom: "Oh! I know the perfect place near here, they serve healthy and delicious options."     

Father and son could only shake their heads, and listen to the nutritionist in the family, as she went on and on about food.