Chapter 114: Not Wasting Time ④
The last quarter was fiercely contested. If Class 10 scored a basket, Class 1 would immediately tie it. Rebounding had always been the domain of taller players.
For everyone else in Class 10 and Class 1, of course, they all hoped their class would win. As the match drew to a close, everyone became incredibly excited, cheering for their classmates without pause. The screams of the girls and the whistles of the boys were incessant.
Li Kai, who was assisting, glanced at the scoreboard with frustration. They had caught up by four points, and were still four points behind! Damn it! There were only three minutes left! In these three minutes, they had to score two baskets, and these two baskets had to be two-pointers or three-pointers! And after scoring, they couldn’t let the other team get the rebound; it had to be their own players who grabbed the ball! Otherwise, they would be counter-attacked!
Nie Qiu looked at Huang Yan. Huang Yan squeezed Nie Qiu’s hand with one hand and waved a small flag with the other, shouting and screaming. The noisy and chaotic sounds in her ears transported Nie Qiu back to that era of youth, full of passion. She took the small flag that the girl had handed her earlier and, together with Huang Yan, loudly cheered for their classmates. Joining the screams of the other girls from Class 10, she shouted, “Go Li Kai! Go Luo Xu! GO! GO! GO! Class 10 will win! Class 10 will win!”
Li Kai received the pass from Zhang Haiyang, dribbled the ball, and shot from outside the three-point line. The basketball flew towards the basket in a parabola, and amidst the anticipation of Class 10, it spun on the rim.
“In! In! In!” The students of Class 10 stared at the basket, repeating the words as if doing so would make the basketball instantly go in.
“Failure! Failure! Failure!” The students of Class 1 also prayed continuously, watching the basketball on the rim.
The voices of the two classes drowned out the bell for the end of morning self-study. The scoreboard showed two minutes remaining. Since they had come to the sports field after class started, the match would end a few minutes later than the usual dismissal time.
Most of the students in the teaching building could hear the noise from the sports field. Many of them walked out of their classrooms and stood on the balconies, watching the match. More boys who loved basketball rushed out of the teaching building and onto the sports field.
After spinning a few times, the basketball rolled out of bounds. Li Kai cursed in frustration. His gaze inadvertently swept over Nie Qiu, who, with Huang Yan, had flushed cheeks from excitement and was jumping up and down. In that instant, Li Kai felt his head swell and his face turn red. He was standing outside the three-point line, the basketball was still in mid-air, and he saw that from that direction, from that angle, he could do it. As long as he was fast enough, as long as he jumped high enough, he could definitely grab the rebound and send the ball into the basket again!
Absolutely! Absolutely not let Class 1 get the rebound again! Even if they had to fight until the last second, they had to win!
With this thought, Li Kai, from outside the three-point line, burned past Ai Si Yuan, who was defending him, and rushed towards the basket. Then he jumped and caught the falling basketball.
In his eyes, he had merely ducked under Ai Si Yuan’s armpit and rushed to the basket. But in the eyes of others, it was completely different.
After receiving the ball, Li Kai could have shot from under the basket, but time did not allow it. If he shot from under the basket, they would only get one point! With three more points needed for another basket, they would only tie. What he wanted was to win! He had to win!
Li Kai dribbled the ball, under Ai Si Yuan’s defense, and stood outside the three-point line again. After a fake move, he squatted, then jumped, his movements fluid.
Ai Si Yuan lunged to the side, raising his hand to block, but at that moment, Li Kai had already jumped.
The angle of his jump was quite poor. Ge Bai was in front of him. Ge Bai, at 1.8 meters, was like a wall. For third-year junior high students, 1.8 meters was considered tall. However, he still jumped, and he jumped very high. In that instant, even Ge Bai couldn’t help but step back. He had an illusion that if he didn’t step back, this person might even jump over his head.
This was, of course, just an illusion. Even in the NBA, the record for the highest running jump was only around 1.6 meters, and the vertical jump would naturally be lower. But even if someone jumped just half a body length above you, you would feel a sense of pressure.
And at this moment, Ge Bai had that feeling.
So, he retreated, and then he felt a shocking force from above his head. Ge Bai only felt it, but others who saw this scene were even more shocked!
When watching basketball, girls watch for handsome guys, that’s undeniable. But for boys, it’s different. What boy doesn’t love basketball? Even bookworms know the rules of basketball, and even if they don’t understand all the nuances, they’ve seen others play.
In just over ten seconds, from receiving the ball to dribbling it to the three-point line, then jumping to shoot, in just over ten seconds, he put the basketball into the basket with thunderous force.
They didn’t know if such a scene existed in the NBA, or if it could be seen on other courts, but for junior high students, such a shot was simply professional level, simply a superstar standard!
Regardless of whether the ball went in or not, in terms of speed, it was already incredibly cool. Moreover… the ball went in!
At this moment, not only the boys and girls watching on the sports field were excited, but even the teachers who had come were stunned. The Physical Education Teacher, Teacher Ge, was one of them!
Below him was Ge Bai, who was 1.8 meters tall, and Ge Bai was Class 1’s power forward! A member of the school basketball team!
Behind him was Ai Si Yuan, who was about the same height as him. Ai Si Yuan was Class 1’s class monitor and the coach for last year’s third-year school sports basketball championship.
Not only were Class 10 and Class 1 stunned, but even the students who had come to watch were frozen. Even the disciplinary director, who had come to stop the commotion, was stunned.
Li Kai didn’t care if others were stunned or frozen. He had no other feelings; his mind was filled with only four words: must win!
As soon as the ball left his hands, Li Kai landed from the air and shouted, “Ah Xu! Ma Xin! Go for the rebound!”
On the court, apart from Ai Si Yuan and Ge Bai, who were shocked, everyone else was focused on positioning and had overlooked Li Kai’s performance. On the basketball court, the only thing they could pay attention to was the basketball. From the moment the ball entered the basket, everyone except Li Kai, Ge Bai, and Ai Si Yuan rushed to the basket to fight for the rebound.
Both classes had five players. Class 1 was missing Ai Si Yuan and Ge Bai, while Class 10 was only missing Li Kai… Therefore, among the remaining players, there were defensive gaps; no one could guard two people simultaneously! Luo Xu dodged Zhang Qidi. Just as Zhang Qidi was about to catch up, Ma Xin blocked Zhang Qidi.
Luo Xu jumped up, caught the basketball falling from the basket, and then threw it back to Li Kai, who was still standing outside the three-point line.
Ai Si Yuan and Ge Bai snapped back to reality when they saw the ball return to Li Kai’s hands and quickly moved to block. Luo Xu ran as fast as possible to the three-point line and cut in to block Ge Bai, easing Li Kai’s burden.
Author’s note: I don’t know if everyone has watched Slam Dunk 《》. I really liked it when I was a kid and recently rewatched it.
