Chapter 125 - Ryonan vs Meiko Industrial
July 6th. Round Two of the national tournament.
The reporters moved in before Meiko Industrial had even finished their warm-up, clustering around the largest figure on the court with microphones and recording devices extended.
Morishige Hiroshi blinked at them and nodded with the patient, slightly puzzled expression of someone who had been told this would happen and had not quite understood why.
"First, can we confirm - you're really only sixteen?"
Morishige looked at the reporter with mild confusion. His age wasn't a secret. Adults asked very strange questions.
"I'll be sixteen after my birthday this month," he said.
"And when did you start playing basketball?"
"Summer of my second year in middle school."
The reporters exchanged glances.
"That's - only two years of experience?"
"Hiroshi!" Coach Tamura's voice cut across from the court. "Get over here and warm up!"
"Okay, coach."
Morishige had already started to turn away when another reporter stepped in front of him. "One more question, please. Are there any centers at this tournament you're particularly watching? Sannoh Industrial's Kawata Masashi, who's considered the number one center in the country? Or Murasakibara Atsushi, your fellow first-year with the Generation of Miracles? Or today's opponent, the two-meter center Uozumi Jun?"
Morishige's expression shifted to something more visibly uncertain. "Hm? Who are they?"
The reporter blinked. "You don't know any of them?"
"Um... I think coach mentioned someone with purple hair. Said we were similar somehow." He frowned, trying to recover the memory.
"Let's go, Hiroshi." Tamura had run out of patience. He got between Morishige and the reporters and pushed his center toward the tunnel. "You've said enough foolish things for one morning."
"I didn't say anything, coach," Morishige said, genuinely puzzled, as he was guided away.
Captain Miyamoto Kenta followed them, sighing quietly. That was just how Morishige was. No social awareness, no filter, and no apparent recognition that half the things he said without any particular intent could easily be read as deliberate disrespect toward players who had been working their whole careers toward a reputation he couldn't even acknowledge.
The reporters pivoted to Miyamoto immediately.
"Captain Miyamoto! Meiko Industrial is in the national tournament for the first time. What's the team's goal?"
Miyamoto gathered himself and thought for a moment before answering. "We're not looking too far ahead. Focusing on the game in front of us is what matters most. For today, reaching the final four would be a success."
---
Ryonan's bench area. Coach Taoka had just finished explaining the starting lineup.
"First time in the starting five," Sendoh said, looking at Hikoichi with an easy smile. "Give it everything."
"Yes! I will, Sendoh-senpai!"
"Don't worry about the boards," Uozumi said, patting his chest. "I won't give them a single easy rebound."
Ikegami pressed his hand down on the top of Hikoichi's head. "If you play badly I'm coming after you. Get aggressive on defense too - don't drag the rest of us down."
"Understood! Thank you, Uozumi-senpai, Ikegami-senpai!"
Hikoichi turned to Yagami with full excitement visible on his face. "Sorato! We're finally starting together!"
"Yeah." Yagami received this without visible surprise. "Don't tighten up. Stay loose. Be ready to shoot the moment you get the look."
"Got it!"
---
The referee walked to center court and sent the ball straight up.
National Tournament, Round Two. Ryonan High School versus Meiko Industrial. Official start.
Ryonan starting lineup: Point guard Sendoh Akira, 190cm, 82kg. Shooting guard Aida Hikoichi, 166cm, 60kg. Small forward Yagami Sorato, 190cm, 80kg. Power forward Ikegami Ryoji, 183cm, 76kg. Center Uozumi Jun, 202cm, 96kg.
Meiko Industrial starting lineup: Point guard Miyamoto Kenta, 175cm, 68kg. Shooting guard Sasaki Sho, 183cm, 72kg. Small forward Takeuchi Kazuya, 190cm, 81kg. Power forward Shimizu Yohei, 197cm, 92kg. Center Morishige Hiroshi, 199cm, 100kg.
Two enormous figures rose from the circle simultaneously.
Uozumi had the height advantage. It didn't matter. Morishige's explosive elevation was a different category of athleticism - he got to the ball half a step faster despite starting from a lower absolute height.
His fingertip redirected the ball toward Meiko's backcourt.
Miyamoto received the tap cleanly. Meiko with first possession.
Ryonan got back fast. No open transition. They had been through this before - against Yousen, they had lost the tip and handled it. This was the same.
Miyamoto walked the ball up without urgency. Meiko's offense ended with Morishige. His job was to deliver the ball to the right position and let that process complete itself.
Coach Taoka's eyes sharpened on the sideline.
Morishige established position in the paint, reached for the entry pass. Miyamoto delivered it high.
The moment the ball left Miyamoto's hands, Uozumi drove into Morishige's lower back with full weight and Ikegami abandoned his man and collapsed from the wing.
From the very first touch. Ryonan had built the double-team off everything they had learned against Murasakibara.
Morishige received the ball and began backing toward the basket -
He didn't move Uozumi.
For a fraction of a second, surprise registered on his face.
In that instant Ikegami cut around his body, hand snapping up.
The ball came loose.
Shimizu moved to recover it. A faster hand was already there.
"Counter!"
Yagami gathered the loose ball, changed direction to shed Takeuchi's pressure, and launched a long outlet pass toward Ryonan's attacking half.
Sendoh was already across halfcourt. He jumped and caught it in stride. Sasaki swept around to get in front of him.
Sendoh drove his body weight into his first step, dropped his shoulder, and went left of Sasaki with a single decisive move. Miyamoto was waiting ahead.
Sendoh stopped. His body compressed for one instant and then shot forward again, continuing left.
Miyamoto adjusted fast. He slid across and cut off the lane.
The ball had already left Sendoh's hand.
Hikoichi caught it with completely clear space around him.
He breathed in. No adjustment needed. His knees bent, he rose, and released from beyond the arc.
Nothing but net.
Ryonan 3, Meiko 0.
The noise came down from the stands.
"Hikoichi!!!" The loudest voice from the Ryonan section was unmistakably Ikegami's. The shot had been more unexpected than anything Ikegami had imagined.
"Not bad," Sendoh said, glancing at Yagami before his expression returned to its usual relaxed setting.
In the press area along the sideline, Aida Yayoi had already been shocked to see her brother's name in the starting lineup. She had not expected the first points of the game to come off his foot.
"Did you get it?" she called across to Nakamura.
"Got every frame, senpai," he said, amused. He hadn't previously had the impression that Yayoi paid much specific attention to her brother's games. Apparently he had been wrong about that.
On the Meiko sideline, Tamura's voice went out immediately.
"Hiroshi! Shake it off and get back! When the ball is taken, you run!"
"I'm running, coach," Morishige said, sounding mildly put out.
"You're fine, Hiroshi," Miyamoto called, recovering the ball off the baseline. "Get it back right away."
"Okay."
Possession change. Meiko on offense.
Morishige's first attack had produced a turnover. Most of the crowd found this confusing. Meiko gave no indication of changing their approach.
Miyamoto received the inbound, got across halfcourt, and found the entry pass lane.
Morishige caught the ball in the paint with the double-team arriving again.
This time there was no hesitation and no pause. He drove hard back into Uozumi's positioning, felt the center of gravity shift downward as Uozumi dug in, and without any setup or fake - using his right foot as a pivot - half-turned left and floated the ball off the glass.
"What?"
The motion had been completely fluid. No wasted movement, no preparation time. For a player his size it created a momentary visual dissonance - something so compact and efficient from a frame that large.
The ball rolled in.
Ryonan 3, Meiko 2.
"He has post technique?" Coach Taoka's voice was genuinely startled. Everything from Meiko's previous game had been dunks and blocks. Nothing had suggested footwork.
"His basketball feels pure," Fukuda said quietly from the bench seat beside him. He had picked up something in the way Morishige moved - a recognition of something familiar in the approach.
Coach Taoka heard the word and sat with it for a moment. Pure. If that was the right description, then perhaps even Murasakibara from Yousen might...
Possession change. Ryonan on offense.
Sendoh pushed across halfcourt, Miyamoto applying pressure immediately. Sendoh's between-the-legs crossover into a front-change created barely half a step of space - enough. He broke through the three-point line into the paint.
Shimizu read the drive and rotated out of the paint to cut off the angle.
The pass moved through the gap.
Yagami received it off Ikegami's off-ball screen, already in motion toward the paint. Morishige had tracked everything and was closing - the defensive range was genuinely fast for a player of that mass.
Yagami rose into the contest, leaned back to create separation, and put the ball up over Morishige's reaching hand.
In off the glass.
Ryonan 5, Meiko 2.
Up in the stands, the Yousen players had found seats with a clear view of Court A. The second game was between Sannoh and Toyotama on Court B, which was the higher-profile matchup by most measurements. But Himuro Tatsuya couldn't quite look away from this one.
"Why did Yagami go to the mid-range there? He's got a strong three-ball, and with Sendoh running the offense he doesn't have to worry about the pass. He didn't need to go that deep."
"He's measuring the guy's defensive range." Murasakibara said it without looking up from his snack.
Himuro turned. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said." Murasakibara's expression suggested he found being asked to elaborate annoying. "He's comparing me to that guy. His range."
The unspoken rest of it - that being measured against someone else irritated him, that he wanted the opportunity to settle the comparison himself on a real court - didn't need to be said out loud.
Morishige went to the same spot with the same technique and scored again.
Ryonan 5, Meiko 4.
Possession change. Ryonan on offense.
Sendoh waved his hand and the floor opened up on the left side. Everyone moved except Hikoichi, who continued threading through the interior with Sasaki tracking him.
"Is he going one-on-one?" Miyamoto wasn't doubting what he could see. He was trying to determine if it was a genuine isolation or a decoy for a pass.
Sendoh's weight dropped. A wide, deliberate crossover built into sudden acceleration.
Miyamoto was a step behind. A full body length behind.
Sendoh was already in the lane. Morishige's defensive range brought him across fast - faster than most players his size had any right to cover ground - arriving like a wall between Sendoh and the basket.
Sendoh's eyes moved across him for one instant.
"Upper body or pass?" Miyamoto was chasing from behind, calculating: if Sendoh was going up, Morishige would handle it; if he was passing, Miyamoto needed to be in the lane to disrupt.
Sendoh raised the ball. His body softened and lowered at the same time, and below Morishige's outstretched reach he took a small shuffle step forward - the shape of a gather, the suggestion of a shot. Morishige committed upward.
Sendoh turned into the rising body, leaned his shoulder into contact, and released the ball gently off the backboard.
The ball went through.
The whistle followed.
"Meiko Industrial number fifteen - blocking foul. Two points count. One free throw."
Sendoh made the free throw.
Ryonan 8, Meiko 4.
"Hiroshi! Stop jumping!" Tamura's voice was loud with urgency. "Hold your position! Do not foul!"
Not three minutes into the game and Morishige had his first foul. During the regional qualifying tournament he had fouled out twice. For Meiko Industrial, this was not an acceptable development.
"They're both testing him," Himuro said from the stands, the picture fully clear now. "Not just Yagami. Sendoh too."
On the Yousen section, Liu Wei had barely taken his eyes off Ryonan since the opening tip. The practice scrimmage from weeks back was still very much present in his memory.
Possession change. Meiko on offense.
Miyamoto pushed across halfcourt and immediately passed to Sasaki on the right side. The height differential between Sasaki and Hikoichi was the most obvious available advantage on the floor. He had been waiting to use it.
Sasaki received the ball, took one measured step back to open separation, and rose for his shot over Hikoichi's extended reach.
The shot was off.
Uozumi called for the rebound and moved toward it. But Shimizu had been positioned against him on the body, and Morishige had one thing in his sights.
He grabbed the rebound with one hand, landed, and before anyone could react - second-jumped immediately. Ikegami tried to close but was physically pushed backward by the force of Morishige's vertical launch.
Both hands came down on the ball above the rim.
Ryonan 8, Meiko 6.
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