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We were very happy in the Locker Room atmosphere. Li Kanglin and Tu Lei even spontaneously performed a Latin dance, while A Fei silently sat aside, staring blankly at the silver Eagle around his neck. I remembered that A Fei had never taken off this Eagle since he put it on. Ouyang was sitting nearby, covering his face with a white towel. "Brother Ouyang, isn't it time for a moment of silence?" I walked over, and Ouyang remained motionless: "Dead? I'm just conserving my energy." Wow! After just over a quarter of play, he already needed to conserve energy; that's impressive. "Everyone, don't get cocky. Yueli High School may be a strong team in Xingtai, but as far as I know, they are definitely not one of the top teams. In the past four years, Leap High School has finished sixth in the Xingtai City High School League for three consecutive years. This summer, they finally broke through to the semifinals, but only two players from yesterday's lineup have experience in the summer league Team; the other ten players are all new to the Team. So this year should be considered the first year of rebuilding for Leap High School."
After hearing this, we nodded in understanding. Yueli High School was also facing challenges brought about by their updates and changes. I wondered if we would encounter similar issues next year at Yulin. Regardless, we had to perform well in this game and showcase the spirit of Yulin High School! When halftime ended, we returned to the court. The players from Yueli High School were already on the field as we began our journey into the third quarter. All three of us swordsmen took to the court alongside Li Kanglin and Lu Yinghao; this was our strongest lineup with both inside and outside players being quite luxurious. After we inbounded the ball, I started our first offensive play. As I approached the frontcourt and bent down to control the ball outside the three-point line, Ouyang circled around wanting the ball. Just as I was about to pass it out, their Shooting Guard came out to block me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw A Fei rushing in from the right side, so I took the opportunity to pass him the ball. A Fei received it and drove straight to the basket; when an opponent blocked him, A Fei passed it behind his back to Lu Yinghao, who caught it under the basket and jumped up for a powerful dunk.
The players on our bench stood up and applauded us as we collided chests in celebration. Lu Yinghao's strong body nearly knocked us over, but at that moment we were all too excited to care. In the third quarter, our passing among the three swordsmen flowed smoothly like water. Lu Yinghao and Li Kanglin firmly controlled the paint area while A Fei was on fire, completing two high-difficulty floaters in the key area. By the end of the third quarter, our score had changed to 85-71, leading by fourteen points. As we walked off the court, Ouyang pounded his chest twice as if trying to break through his ribcage; after last season's frustrations in the City High League, he finally had a chance to show off his skills again. "Great job, team! This is exactly the momentum we wanted to see!" After leaving the court, Teacher Qiu was particularly excited; however, since Yueli High School's players were relatively new, our lead did have some discount and inflation.
In the fourth quarter, all our bench players came on for some practice and performed exceptionally well—perhaps due to their excitement. Our advantage became unassailable as there were only three minutes left in the game; we led Yueli High School from Xingtai by seventeen points at 96-79. Teacher Qiu substituted all three of us out and sent in Liu Xiao, Tu Lei, Wei Weiwei, Li Kanglin, and Lu Yinghao—a tall new generation lineup. Although Liu Xiao held his own against Yueli High School's point guard, he couldn't gain an advantage either; their point guard had solid fundamentals and was clearly a rare talent. Liu Xiao received an inbound pass and sprinted to the arc before passing it to Wei Weiwei, who missed a mid-range shot. Li Kanglin grabbed the rebound and scored on a second-chance layup despite two opponents being aggressive on defense; perhaps they lacked physicality compared to Li Kanglin and Lu Yinghao's height. After all, Li Kanglin was an experienced player who had competed in a city-wide tournament before; although Lu Yinghao lacked major tournament experience, he was still a third-year player.
As Yueli High School's Point Guard failed on their final attack, we led 100-84 comfortably into the last minute of play. The opposing team called their final timeout; as their organizing Point Guard left the court, he turned back to glance at us—not with jealousy or hatred but with admiration and respect. "This game actually entered garbage time after three quarters ended," Teacher Qiu said as he pulled our second-string players off too—only training newcomers now. Du stood at 6 feet tall and weighed 154 pounds; he was an outside shooter who relied on speed. Once on court for just one minute, he contributed all of our team's scoring with a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer. In contrast, Fang Cheng at 6 feet 1 inch playing forward seemed somewhat overshadowed but still demonstrated notable explosiveness when he broke through double coverage for an assist.
After receiving an inbound pass from half-court center circle position, Du attempted a long-distance three-pointer but missed; when the referee blew his whistle signaling time expired, we ultimately won decisively against Yueli High School with a score of 105-90—securing our second consecutive victory in this tournament while firmly sitting atop the leaderboard. Upon returning to the Locker Room after that match, Teacher Qiu informed us that we would continue on to play against Yuce High School next—back-to-back games! But that was fine; after this match we could quickly return to Cangzhou. I heard that Yuce's strength is similar to Leap High School's; I wonder if they mean this newly rebuilt Leap High School or its former iron-blooded powerhouse version? Regardless of that detail now—we had no reason to fear anyone because we had strength behind us! Over these past two years plus many experiences—losses, injuries—this time it was finally time for us to reap rewards! I felt like I was growing step by step; ever since separating from Xia Ying I felt like I matured significantly—I realized how ridiculous my previous childishness had been—I had grown up now—not bound by anything nor disturbed by anyone.
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