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墨書 Inktalez
Today is the day of our competition. We are ready to go. Xia Ying called me early in the morning to ask when the match would start. The five of us gathered at Lijing Park. After asking the organizer, we headed to the designated court number one. I don't know why, but as we walked over, I didn't feel much pressure; instead, I felt relaxed. I turned my head to look at A Fei and Jiang Lingfeng, and they both had relaxed expressions and smiles on their faces as well. When we arrived at court number one, we found that Youlong Team had not yet arrived, so we picked up the ball to practice. Street Basketball, also known as half-court basketball, is played on one half of a basketball court. It's just a matter of space; both teams share one front court and shoot at the same hoop. The freedom is greater, with fewer strict rules than full-court basketball. Overall, playing Street Basketball is both fun and relaxing.
After a while, Youlong Team arrived. All three members were about the same height, around 178 cm. Soon after, the referee signaled that the match was about to begin and started flipping a coin. Youlong Team won the right to serve first, and after serving from the center circle, the game officially started. "Dream Chasers, go! Dream Chasers will win!" Xia Ying and Sha Xiaomei shouted from the sidelines. They were quite good as cheerleaders.
The hairstyles of the three members of Youlong Team were interesting; the captain had a buzz cut, one had long flowing hair, and another had a head full of golden curls that reminded me of Golden Lion from The Legend of the Condor Heroes. After serving, Golden Lion held the ball. I went up to defend him and saw him suddenly turn around and roll the ball from his right arm to his left hand before passing it to Buzz Cut. This scene stunned me: so this is how you can play in a match! However, although their moves were flashy, our fundamentals were much more solid.
After we served, Jiang Lingfeng brought the ball to the perimeter and quickly passed it to A Fei at the top of the arc. A Fei jumped for a three-pointer after receiving the pass—score! After their serve, I saw that Golden Lion was about to pass the ball to Buzz Cut on the right side, so I rushed over to try to steal it. To my surprise, the ball magically disappeared from Golden Lion's hands; he reached behind his back with his left hand to catch it and passed it to Long-Haired on the left side. Long-Haired attempted a layup but was blocked by A Fei. After Jiang Lingfeng grabbed the rebound, he passed it out to me waiting outside the three-point line. I received the ball and made a mid-range shot—score! "Yeah! Dream Chasers are awesome!" Xia Ying and Sha Xiaomei cheered.
Although I made that shot, I was still somewhat impressed by Golden Lion's flashy style; it was both stylish and confusing for opponents. The game continued with Buzz Cut going for a layup. A Fei quickly moved up to block him but unexpectedly Buzz Cut switched from his right hand to his left behind his back for a layup attempt. "He traveled!" I shouted, but the referee ignored me and signaled for play to continue. The ball bounced off the rim; after Jiang Lingfeng grabbed another rebound, he passed it out to me again. I drove hard towards the basket as Golden Lion rushed over trying to steal my ball. Realizing his intention, I took a quick step back and held onto the ball with both hands. To my surprise, he still came over trying to grab it; neither of us was willing to let go as we both fell to the ground.
The referee blew his whistle signaling a jump ball between us. We started jumping from the center circle; each team occupied half of it. The referee tossed the ball into the air—Jiang Lingfeng and Buzz Cut jumped high for it. Jiang Lingfeng tapped it into my hands; after catching it quickly, I passed it out to A Fei waiting outside the three-point line. A Fei received it and took a jump shot from three—score! The score was now 19-16 with only two minutes left in the game.
Youlong Team served from zero degrees outside of three-point range; Golden Lion received it and executed two beautiful crossovers before attempting to break through my defense. I stayed close behind him when he unexpectedly passed behind his back between his legs to Long-Haired who immediately went for a three-pointer—score! We quickly served again; A Fei passed it to Jiang Lingfeng who controlled it outside of three-point range before I ran around in front for an open pass. After receiving it, Long-Haired and Golden Lion came together to double-team me while Jiang Lingfeng took advantage of this opportunity and ran behind me. I made a side bounce pass behind my back to him—now I was playing with some flair too! Jiang Lingfeng faced an open basket for an easy score.
With only one minute left in the game, we led by three points with a score of 11-8. "Dream Chasers will win!" Xia Ying and Sha Xiaomei shouted enthusiastically as loyal cheerleaders do. Without any timeouts available for adjustments, we were struggling with this rhythm since Youlong Team was at least one level stronger than Wolf Fang Team.
The game continued with Youlong Team's three players moving quickly around us; Buzz Cut received a pass at free-throw line position but missed his jump shot attempt. A Fei grabbed another rebound and passed it out to me again; I passed it back out beyond three-point range where Jiang Lingfeng caught it quickly returned it back to me again at free-throw line position where I jumped up for another shot—score! 18! With thirty seconds remaining in this match, my basket pretty much secured our victory.
After Youlong Team served again, Golden Lion quickly attacked inside again while I rushed forward on defense; he made an underhanded pass out towards Long-Haired at forty-five degrees who immediately launched another three-pointer—score! To my surprise Long-Haired also had long-range shooting skills.
With eighteen seconds remaining in this match and a score of 1-1 (the suspense returned), we served again as Jiang Lingfeng controlled it while circling around beyond three-point range before returning towards frontcourt where he suddenly accelerated towards the basket from left side while Long-Haired defended against him; Jiang Lingfeng used his signature move for an easy layup scoring just as there were only three seconds left in this match—we led by four points now with Youlong Team's defeat already sealed.
Sure enough after receiving their inbound pass Golden Lion casually tossed up a shot towards our basket just as time expired—the referee blew his whistle signaling that time was up! In conclusion we defeated Youlong Team 51-50 advancing into this tournament's top sixteen knockout stage.
"We won!" Xia Ying and Sha Xiaomei cheered loudly as we walked off court; they gave A Fei and me big hugs in celebration while Jiang Lingfeng awkwardly smiled beside us saying “Please wait!” Just as we were about to leave court Youlong Team suddenly called out to us.
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