"Brother Jie, you look so cool! I love you!" Situ Yanan lost control of his emotions again, and Shuai Dong was also tirelessly playing along with him. Did he want to play a duet? I noticed that Xia Ying was sitting there calmly, her face showing no expression, but I could feel the jealousy in the air. Xia Ying, I will explain everything to you after the game, but before that, I need to fight for honor and dignity! There are forty seconds left in the first half, which means we each have one more chance to attack. Fantasi is controlling the ball as the Point Guard. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fantasi's Center lingering outside the three-point line. Their Center's three-point shot is a major weapon for the team, but if Fantasi relies too much on the Center's three-point shooting as an offensive point, I don't think that's a wise move. I crawled near the Center and waited for my chance. Sure enough, the Point Guard controlled the ball for a while before passing it to the Center. Like a snake, I suddenly struck and intercepted the ball mid-air; Fantasi was too anxious with that play.
I quickly circled around to the three-point line and charged towards the basket. The Fantasi forward closely followed me on defense. I passed the ball behind my back to A Fei at the free-throw line. A Fei caught it and made a hook shot. With fourteen seconds left in the half, we led by two points. After a quick inbound pass from Fantasi, their Point Guard went one-on-one against Jiang Lingfeng. The Point Guard maneuvered around Jiang Lingfeng and received a screen from their Center. Jiang Lingfeng was pinned down by the Center, allowing Fantasi's Point Guard to sprint towards the basket and leap high from inside the key for a layup; he wanted to show off his dunk! A Fei and I rushed up to try for a block, but unfortunately, we were still too far away and could only watch as he slammed it home. With two seconds left in the half, we inbounded the ball and Jiang Lingfeng tossed it towards the basket. With a "beep," the half ended just in time; the ball bounced twice on the rim before flying out of bounds. The first half ended with a score of 00-00. We were in for a tough battle again; why is every game so hard? The scores are always so close. Given how things are going now, are we going to have to fight until the last moment to determine who wins? This is a severe test for us!
"Welcome back, Universe Strong Team Dream Chasers!" As we walked off the court, Situ Yanan led our cheerleading squad in enthusiastic applause. "Yanan Sister, you really did great; your cheerleading was very powerful," I couldn't help but compliment her. Suddenly, I remembered Xia Ying and quickly searched for her with my eyes. Xia Ying was sitting at the edge of the cheerleading squad, looking expressionless in that corner. "Cookie, what's wrong?" I turned back from my seat on the bench to address her in the stands. Xia Ying didn't respond. "You guys are amazing! Each one of you is a super soldier!" Situ Yanan chimed in from behind us. I smiled but didn't reply and turned back to Jiang Lingfeng: "Jie, A Fei, in the second half Fantasi will definitely focus on their Center's core play, so A Fei you need to pay attention to defense. Jie, you should assist when necessary; after all, Fantasi's Center has a significant height advantage..."
So Jiang Lingfeng can also take on a coaching role; no wonder he has such rich combat experience and basketball IQ. Is it true that excellent point guards often transition into coaching after retiring? Perhaps so. The three-minute halftime break passed quickly as the referee blew his whistle signaling us back onto the court. We huddled together and shouted: "Dream Chasers, let's go!" Then we rushed onto the court as Fantasi got possession first in this decisive moment. We had fought hard for over half a month just to win this game; we couldn't afford to slack off now.
We all brought our best defensive game as they started their possession. The Point Guard received the ball and passed it to their forward; I quickly chased after him closely defending him. The Fantasi forward backed me down before suddenly using "Lingbo Microstep." I hurriedly followed him to his right side but unfortunately he pulled back to his left for a layup that went in! I stood there stunned—was Fantasi's forward's "Lingbo Microstep" truly unbeatable? After we inbounded, Jiang Lingfeng quickly penetrated into the key area while Fantasi's Point Guard chased him from behind trying to defend him. Jiang Lingfeng went straight up for a layup; their Guard jumped up from behind him trying to swat at Jiang Lingfeng's ball with force. Seeing this, Jiang Lingfeng switched from his right hand to his left hand and executed his signature bridge layup, releasing it just as their arm slammed into his shoulder.
A Fei lost his balance and fell down while the ball spun around several times on the rim before finally dropping through netting as the referee signaled a blocking foul against Fantasy Team awarding us a free throw opportunity. We rushed over to help Jiang Lingfeng up; once he stood up he shook his head and gave us an "I'm fine" gesture as he slowly walked toward the free-throw line. "Fantasi plays dirty! Fantasi is so despicable!" Situ Yanan shouted from below again. It seemed like Fantasi had grown accustomed to Situ Yanan's sarcasm and insults as they shook their heads with helpless smiles.
Jiang Lingfeng dribbled and adjusted himself before confidently sinking his free throw shot. According to Street Basketball rules, after completing free throws we still retained possession of the ball. Jiang Lingfeng signaled for a timeout as both teams gradually walked off court; there were four minutes remaining in total with us leading by three points at 18-15.
"With four minutes left in this game, it seems like they're going to unleash their killer move..." After returning from timeout Jiang Lingfeng addressed us; I knew he meant their Center's long-range shooting ability. Casually glancing over at their bench across from us revealed they were watching us too—especially that big-headed forward glaring at me with almost explosive intensity! I stuck my tongue out at them—serves you right for your exaggerated defense!
As soon as referee blew his whistle signaling timeout was over we returned to court holding onto our balls heading toward right wing outside of three-point line for an inbound pass. After passing it in Jiang Lingfeng took one step while dribbling between his legs into key area’s edge before starting an extravagant display of dribbling tricks while their Point Guard looked bewildered; suddenly he passed me the ball through his legs! Since time was running low on our shot clock after receiving it I took one step forward then quickly stepped back for a jump shot—swish! Finally after playing most of this half we managed to stretch our lead out by five points—it wasn’t easy! We were now just over three minutes away from victory—the championship was within reach! Dream Chasers must hold onto this lead until time runs out—we must persevere!
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