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墨書 Inktalez
Today is Saturday, and it's also the day we play against Twenty-Four Middle School at our home court. After A Fei and I arrived at the school gym, A Fei hurriedly asked Teacher Qiu about Hejiang's situation. We learned from Teacher Qiu that Hejiang High School had narrowly defeated City No. 1 High School 108-10 in overtime yesterday, once again overcoming their opponent and achieving a strong start in the league. A Fei nodded respectfully upon hearing this: "It seems Jiang Lingfeng is really strong. If we get the chance to face Hejiang, I definitely want to have a good match with this senior." That look reminded me of the scene when Zhongqi Senior faced Jiang Lingfeng; it seems that truly great players do not make others jealous but earn their respect.
We felt relatively relaxed going into the match against Twenty-Four Middle School. This optimistic grouping gave us enough time to adapt. This time, Ouyang and A Fei started in positions one and two, which shows that Teacher Qiu really wants to develop A Fei into the best swingman. Zhou Litong played in position three, and combined with our inside twin towers, it was a shame I was stuck on the bench. Sigh! It really echoes the saying from the underworld: "You always have to pay back what you owe." After playing as a starter for so long, being a substitute feels far away. The referee blew the whistle, and the game began; both teams' players took to the court. Huh? It seems that Twenty-Four Middle School has replaced two team members this time: one who matched up with A Fei looked rather silly with a watermelon haircut and eyebrows shaped like a "8". The one matched up with Zhou Litong wasn't much better—a big oaf. It looks like Twenty-Four Middle School's basketball team really has no one left; they actually brought in these two "fools" as substitutes. That makes winning against them feel even easier. The jump ball began! Bing Ge jumped to Ouyang, who started organizing the offense, dribbling a couple of steps before quickly passing to Zhou Litong. Zhou Litong tried to shake off the big oaf for a shot, but the big oaf clung to him like glue, refusing to let go. Zhou Litong had no choice but to pass back to Ouyang, who was running without the ball. Unexpectedly, this big oaf actually showed some defensive skills; Ouyang's three-point shot missed, but Bing Ge grabbed the rebound and dunked it in. The opposing team quickly inbounded; that watermelon head organized an attack while A Fei rushed over to defend. To our surprise, the watermelon head jumped from beyond the three-point line and scored! The watermelon head has some guts; it turns out Twenty-Four Middle School still has these two unremarkable secret weapons—one offense and one defense combination. However, their weakness inside still allowed us to end the first quarter leading 19-0.
"I didn't expect that last time they hid some of their strength and main players against us," Teacher Qiu said. "Zhongqi, you're up; Ji Fang, you take position two; Cheng Fei, you switch to position three. We must effectively limit their counterattacks in the second quarter." Teacher Qiu realized the consequences of underestimating our opponents and quickly sent in our absolute main players. As the second quarter began, the watermelon head assisted and scored on all fronts—first assisting the big oaf for a long-range shot, then using a shooting fake to draw a foul from Ji Fang. After making both free throws, Teacher Qiu called for a timeout. "The Thunder Combo is doing well," someone from their bench shouted as their players walked off the court. Thunder Combo? Yes, those two "fools"? I looked at them in confusion. "Those two fierce players are really well-coordinated," A Fei said. I quickly told everyone, "I got it! Those two fools... no, those two players seem to be called 'Thunder Combo.'"
"What?" Teacher Qiu, Bing Ge, and Zhongqi Senior were surprised when they heard me say that. "What's wrong?" I asked along with Ouyang and A Fei, who were all confused first-year students. Just as Teacher Qiu was about to say something else, the timeout ended; I still couldn't get on the court—so frustrating!
When we returned to the court, Zhongqi Senior clearly intensified his defense against the watermelon head; it felt like this was Zhongqi Senior's first time defending someone so tightly outside of Jiang Lingfeng—could this watermelon head really be significant? Who exactly are these "foolish duo"? Just as I was thinking about this, the big oaf made a straightforward block that left Zhang Jun dazed; then the watermelon head received a fast break pass and scored easily on us right after we had just inbounded from our backcourt when the referee blew his whistle signaling halftime had ended—the score was tied at 45-45! We were back at square one; who would win now became uncertain.
As we walked into the locker room, we couldn't wait to ask Teacher Qiu about this so-called "Thunder Combo." How could they turn what was once an easy target like Twenty-Four Middle School into a team that could compete with us? Teacher Qiu sighed: "I didn't expect those two at Twenty-Four Middle School; that watermelon head seems to be named Song Huajing while that tall and sturdy guy should be Lu Lei. I've never seen either of them before; 'Thunder Combo' was last season's efficiency kings in City High League—truly impressive—but since their team only placed eighth last season, not many paid attention to them. I didn't expect they'd transfer to Twenty-Four Middle School this year."
"I've heard of them too; they topped last season's efficiency rankings! I've wanted to see this duo for ages but didn't expect we'd end up in the same group," Zhongqi Senior said as he approached me. Wow! I didn't realize these two fools had such impressive backgrounds! I noticed A Fei's gaze sharpened slightly...
In this away game rematch, I felt our real competition had begun. Teacher Qiu substituted me for Ji Fang, who wasn't performing well. The opposing team inbounded; Song Huajing controlled against Zhongqi Senior. Suddenly accelerating to break free from Zhongqi Senior for a drive but unexpectedly got stripped by Zhongqi Senior's quick hands! Zhongqi Senior quickly passed it to me as I sprinted toward their basket; I easily scored! The opposing team didn't back down either—Lu Lei charged through for a successful three-pointer and made an additional free throw afterward as we initiated our "cannon fire" strategy after inbounding from our backcourt. Receiving a pass from Zhongqi Senior, I drove straight into their paint but suddenly felt my hand loosen—the ball was stolen by Song Huajing who quickly rotated over for help defense! At this moment there were thirteen seconds left in the third quarter—we led 66-65 by just one point! Song Huajing adjusted his dribble while letting time run down before quickly passing it to Lu Lei at an angle of forty-five degrees; Lu Lei caught it and shot—it went in! They tied it up! Were we headed for overtime?! Just as they were about to celebrate, however, the referee indicated Lu Lei stepped out of bounds—it only counted as two points! Their coach frantically argued with the referee while he insisted Lu Lei stepped out—the sideline referee confirmed it too—upholding his call meant we still led by one point with four seconds left in regulation! We had possession now; after inbounding there wasn’t even enough time left for them to foul us! The game ended with us narrowly defeating Twenty-Four Middle School 78-77 while securing our second consecutive victory in group play!
Afterward, we all breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed we had underestimated our opponents before; no team is an easy target! This season’s City High League truly is filled with hidden talents—winning against an unknown team like Twenty-Four Middle School was tougher than expected! We genuinely don’t know how far we can go this season now—the lofty ambitions we held before have been shaken by harsh reality—we can’t help but wonder: Who will be next season’s rising underdog?
After returning home around two in the afternoon, my new ringtone rang out: “Charming smiles attract attention…” It was Pang Hao calling me. “Hey, Pang Hao.” “Hey Jie, are you home?” Pang Hao asked me. “Yeah, just got home.” “Call A Fei out to play—we’re at Lake City Park,” Pang Hao said. After thinking about it for a moment since I had nothing else planned anyway going out would be nice—a good way to relax before facing Shinan High School at home next week! I knocked on A Fei’s door: “Jie! Come on in!” A Fei opened up his door. “Don’t go inside yet—Pang Hao wants us to go play at Lake City Park—let’s go!” I pulled him outside while shouting back into Aunt Yu’s house who was mopping: “Aunt Yu! A Fei and I are going out for a bit!” “Come back early!” Aunt Yu shouted after us.
“I’m exhausted after that game—I thought I’d get some rest but you dragged me out…” Once outside A Fei complained non-stop while I reassured him: “Oh come on—you can rest tonight! You’re such a big guy—don’t be so delicate! Aren’t you bored staying home all day?” A Fei still wanted to say something but ultimately didn’t come out.
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