Chapter 004: Ōdai Middle School No. 12, 28 Points in Five Minutes!
Mirai took the shot!
An ultra-long three-pointer...
Swish!!!
And the moment the ball left his fingertips, he had already turned around with effortless coolness, his back to the basket, raising his right hand high. This three-pointer was no longer a gentle swish through the net but carried immense force, like a cannonball fired from its chamber, whistling across the court!
Bang!
It slammed fiercely into the hoop!
At the same time...
It also struck heavily into the hearts of all the Ōdai students who, at the beginning of their second year, had yet to witness Midorima Shintarō's blossoming performance on the court and had never seen an ultra-long three-pointer before.
Boom~!
The entire gymnasium erupted instantly, the decibel level skyrocketing!
After all, an ultra-long three-pointer was shocking enough on its own, but turning around confidently to celebrate before the ball even went in?
That was just...
Absolutely epic!
At the same moment, Ōdai's bench players leaped to their feet as one!
Several substitutes wildly waved their towels, while the starters, stunned by the shot, jumped up and down, slapping hands and cheering, their eyes filled with disbelief.
...
On the court.
After sinking six consecutive three-pointers, Mirai was exhilarated to the core.
Especially since the point gap had been narrowed to just 17 points, making him feel that a comeback in the remaining time wasn't impossible. After all, in just over two minutes, he had already scored a staggering 18 points!
On the other side.
Seiei's Tomoki watched as the basketball hit the rim and bounced off, his eyes nearly popping out of his head as if he'd seen a ghost. For a long moment, he couldn't utter a single sound.
Mirai glanced at him and shrugged~
"Good luck~"
Only then did Tomoki snap out of his daze. He was about to say something, but Mirai had already turned and sprinted back to defend the rear court.
In the next possession, Seiei's offense was shut down by Ōdai.
Ōdai's point guard dribbled past half-court and immediately passed the ball to Mirai. At the same time, he quickly moved forward, intending to set a screen for Mirai to give him another open look for a three-pointer.
But by now, Mirai was riding high on adrenaline.
He waved a hand and said decisively, "No need!"
Signaling the point guard to clear out.
The point guard shrugged helplessly and created space.
Facing Tomoki, Mirai provocatively raised an eyebrow. Clearly provoked, Tomoki took a big step forward, planting his feet wide apart, adopting a stance that screamed, "I'll stop you even if it kills me."
A faint smirk curled at the corner of Mirai's lips.
His right foot suddenly feinted to the right!
Tomoki hastily shifted his weight.
But Mirai had already retracted his right foot like lightning.
Simultaneously, he leaped into the air!
Realizing he'd been tricked, Tomoki cursed under his breath and desperately lunged to block the shot.
There was only a split-second gap.
But it was enough!
Mirai's three-pointer was already airborne!
On the sidelines, every Ōdai player shot to their feet in unison.
The entire audience's eyes were locked intently on the basketball.
Swish!
The ball cleanly sliced through the net with a crisp, satisfying sound!
At the same time, the short, bald defender assigned to guard Mirai, having lunged too aggressively, crashed directly into Mirai, sending him tumbling to the floor.
Tweeeet~!
The ball went in, and the whistle blew!
Defensive foul!
Whoosh~!
The arena erupted once again!
"That's the seventh one!!"
"Twenty-one points in two and a half minutes—what explosive scoring power!"
"And all of them three-pointers!"
On the court, Mirai looked at his opponent.
I'll shoot right over your head, and there's nothing you can do about it.
This feeling is incredible!
The little bald guy's face had now darkened to the bottom of a wok.
In just over two minutes, his primary defensive assignment had unleashed an offensive barrage right over his head, especially that final shot—maximum damage with humiliation dialed to the max!
After Mirai calmly sank the free throw.
The deficit was down to just 13 points!
From 30 points to 13, it felt like it happened in the blink of an eye.
Though trailing by 13 with two and a half minutes left still made a comeback difficult, with Mirai putting on such a crazy three-point shooting display, who could guarantee anything?
If he sank two more threes, the deficit would be in single digits!
Seiei's coach was so startled he quickly called another timeout.
During the timeout, he roared with some frustration: "Double-team him! I want a double-team! Trap him as soon as he gets the ball! Force him to pass! Absolutely cannot let him shoot another three!"
...
After returning to the court, Seiei Middle School indeed deployed a crazy double-team against Mirai.
Facing the double-team defense, the "20% brick rate" mentioned in the "Almost Never Airballs" description of "80% three-point shooting percentage" finally began to show.
So after missing one shot, in the following possession, he tried to make a quick pass, hoping his open teammates could seize the opportunity. Unfortunately, his teammates missed most of their shots too. But even so, Mirai kept running relentlessly, using screens, searching for even the slightest opening. In the last minute or so, he managed to find a few opportunities, taking three shots and sinking two more threes!
Every made shot triggered roaring cheers from the crowd!
Finally, the final buzzer sounded.
The deficit was fixed at 8 points.
After all...
Even if the opponent was playing their bench unit, you couldn't expect them to score zero points, right?
During the earlier bench scrums, Ōdai's ability to get consecutive defensive stops—aside from Mirai's threes stunning the opponent—was hard to say it wasn't partly luck.
However, despite losing the game, the Ōdai Middle School students in the arena showed no signs of disappointment. Many who didn't know Mirai's name initially chanted his jersey number, but as his name spread, the entire crowd united in shouting his name.
"Number 12!"
"Number 12!"
"Hoshiumi Mirai!!"
"Hoshiumi Mirai!!"
Even though they lost, they seemed more excited than if they'd won. The players on the court felt the same, rushing onto the court to high-five and celebrate with Mirai.
"Hoshiumi... you maniac...!"
"Five minutes..."
"You dropped 28 points!"
Looking at this scene...
On Ōdai Middle School's side, losing felt like winning a championship. In contrast, the Seiei side, despite winning, all wore grim, frustrated expressions.
Especially the Seiei Middle School coach, who broke out in a cold sweat.
Just five minutes ago, they were leading by thirty points—a clear blowout victory—yet they almost got the comeback reversed on them. Thankfully, both sides tacitly agreed not to sub their starters back in. Ōdai's starting lineup was clearly defensively ferocious but offensively weak. If they had managed a few more defensive stops...
With more possessions, letting that number 12 launch a few more threes...
Then the outcome would have been truly unpredictable!