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墨書 Inktalez
After we took the court, we made the first serve. Zhongqi Senior organized the offense while holding the ball. Upon reaching the front court, he suddenly bounced a pass to Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun took a mid-range shot and scored, bringing the score to 8790, just three points behind! After Thirteen Middle School served, Kobe dribbled past half court and made a super long-distance high shot over the opposing Center, Zhou Wenming, Li Kanglin, and Tu Lei, who all jumped simultaneously to contest for the ball. Tu Lei emerged with the ball in his arms. After landing, Zhou Wenming approached to steal it. Tu Lei hugged the ball with both hands and spun on one foot to pass it out. Zhongqi Senior received the ball and ran to the free-throw line before passing it to Wu Zhi Kai, who confidently took a three-pointer from the top of the arc and scored!
9090! We tied the game! Finally, with just one minute left in the match, we equalized. I waved my towel from the sidelines, and Wu Zhi Kai also raised his arm and shouted. After Thirteen Middle School served again, Kobe drove straight into the paint and scored over Li Kanglin and Tu Lei, regaining the lead! We quickly served and launched a fast break. Zhongqi Senior dribbled to the right wing and took a three-pointer that went in, making it 99. With thirty seconds left in the game, we took the lead again! Coach Luo Qixing called a timeout, and our players stepped off the court.
"With thirty seconds left, both teams have one offensive opportunity each. Thirteen Middle School will definitely use up all twenty-four seconds before shooting, so you need to defend against their attack as much as possible. But make sure not to commit a foul that gives them free throws..." Teacher Qiu laid out our final strategy. The pressure should be on them now because if we defend their shot successfully, they will lose. Even if they score this time, we still have one chance for a game-winning shot; our fate is still in our hands!
After the timeout ended, both teams returned to the court. Kobe, Zhou Wenming, and Shooting Guard were whispering among themselves as they entered. The opposing Center moved to serve from the backcourt. After receiving the ball, Kobe dribbled slowly forward, seemingly wasting time. Zhongqi Senior stepped up to block him. Kobe passed behind his back to Shooting Guard, who faked a shot from beyond the arc. Wu Zhi Kai wisely recognized Shooting Guard's intention and did not jump. Shooting Guard then passed high to Zhou Wenming, who caught it and attempted a powerful dunk but was interfered with by Li Kanglin and Tu Chuanfeng. The ball bounced off the floor and was picked up by Kobe, who jumped up and shot—scoring! 994; we were down by one point again with less than ten seconds left on the clock. Teacher Qiu decisively called another timeout.
"They managed to score in the end," Teacher Qiu said. "It's okay; ten seconds is enough time for us to set up an offense. Zhongqi, it's your turn now; Zhang Jun and Zhi Kai will move along the wings waiting for opportunities while Kang Lin positions himself under the basket for support. Tu Lei will roam near the free-throw line; don't be nervous—have confidence in yourselves." Teacher Qiu patted their shoulders as our five players looked serious; there was no sign of relaxation on their faces. It was understandable; at this critical moment, no one could afford to let their guard down.
After the timeout ended, I watched our players take to the court again. Seeing their backs gave me a sense of "Wolf Tooth Mountain Five Warriors." It felt quite heroic in a way. Once on court again, Li Kanglin served while Zhongqi Senior brought the ball past half court. Holding it in his right hand with his left hand pointing upwards with an index finger, Wu Zhi Kai quickly ran out to screen for Kobe. Zhongqi Senior seized this opportunity to rush toward the free-throw line before stopping abruptly for a step-back jumper that hit the rim twice before going in—9594! There was just one and a half seconds left in regulation time when Zhongqi Senior made a game-winning shot!
After Thirteen Middle School served again, as soon as Kobe received the ball, the referee blew the final whistle signaling the end of the match. We ultimately defeated Thirteen Middle School by one point! Although our record became four wins and one loss like theirs, we still finished second in our group due to having fewer points scored away from home—our hard-fought victory felt futile all of a sudden! We repeated last year's fate; I wondered when we would finally shed this "eternal second place" title.
As we walked into the locker room, no one seemed too dejected; instead, there was a sense of relief because we had accomplished our mission: avenging our loss against Thirteen Middle School from a week ago at home. It proved that we succeeded! I wondered how things were going in other groups—would our opponent be Defending Champion Experiment Three or Rookie Team City No. 2 led by Chu Yuetao? I really couldn't make any predictions; Experiment Three had lost most of their main players from previous seasons after winning two consecutive championships this year—if they made it into the top eight it would already be impressive—but I couldn't deny that their backup players still had extraordinary strength. On the other hand, if we faced City No. 2's rookie team led by Chu Yuetao, I would feel uneasy because we had faced Fiery Fox led by him in Street Basketball Championship; thus we knew very well about their three players' capabilities—not to be underestimated.
By noon when we returned to school after dispersing back to our respective classrooms, A Fei and I were approached by Shuai Dong before we even entered our classroom; Haoshuai came over asking us eagerly: "So? Did you win or lose?" I scratched my head: "Well... we won! Zhongqi Senior made a game-winning shot against Thirteen Middle School but..." Haoshuai asked anxiously: "But what? Oh man, you're killing me here!" A Fei slowly added: "But ultimately we couldn't secure first place in our group; we still advanced as second." Upon hearing A Fei's words, Haoshuai nodded thoughtfully before smiling at us and leaving. Watching his back made me feel like he had many things weighing on his mind—he exuded a maturity that didn't match his real age—but I sensed he was somewhat hard to approach; although he seemed friendly with everyone, I felt he had some depth behind his intentions.
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