Stealing Spree

Chapter 2831: Second Half (1)

Perhaps expecting that I would truly give the girls a strategy for the second half, Hirari High’s playbook switched to a defensive stance from minute one.

Sakuraba Mikan no longer forced drives. She started hanging back, allowing the shot clock to go down to the last ten seconds before making a play.

She started reading the tempo like a book she’d already memorized, forcing the girls to initiate every possession instead of counter-punching on transition.

And since her friend was the one running the team, Takamine mirrored the shift. Cornering her became difficult as she would always drift toward the other side once she sensed that they were about to block her.

With their current lead, scoring more seemed to be a secondary objective for them. Suffocating our team became their primary objective.

Naturally, Kawakami-senpai and Satsuki felt it immediately.

On our first possession, she hesitated half a second longer than usual before calling a play where they juggled from the right side to Satsuki, who then passed the ball to Kanno-senpai under the basket.

However, two bodies immediately converged on her spot. Kanno-senpai faked once then kicked it out to the wing. One of the second-year forwards rose... and missed.

Satsuki had gotten the rebound, but it was tapped by Sakuraba when she passed it outside the arc.

Due to that, Hirari transitioned quickly, with Takamine pulling a mid-range jumper.

Frustrated noises couldn’t help but escape the mouths of the girls on our side. The failed payoff of following my strategy lowered the morale just enough for Hirari to smell blood.

Sakuraba Mikan didn’t even celebrate the mid-range basket. She simply jogged back on defense, glanced once toward our bench, or rather, me. Her lips twitched upward into a tiny smirk, like a quiet acknowledgment that she’d figured out the adjustment I made and already countered it.

In response, I just nodded and gestured to Kawakami-senpai. Nothing grand, it’s so that she wouldn’t doubt the strategy I conveyed to them. And as the captain of the team, she’s the best candidate to communicate it to everyone as well.

“They’re baiting us into overcommitting. They want turnovers.” Kawakami-senpai mouthed from the court.

And my response was the same.

“Stick to the plan. Don’t get caught in their pace.”

She clicked her tongue but nodded once before setting up again.

This time, Kanno-senpai sealed her defender deep inside. She received the entry and spun, meeting Sakuraba, who slid over from the weak side as though she had teleported.

The shot got partially deflected, causing the ball to go out of bounds off our second-year’s fingertips.

Hirari’s ball again.

Ria, sitting cross-legged beside me with her phone timer running, whispered without looking up from her frantic note-taking.

“Deflection came from their forward, who rotated too early. Then, Sakuraba read the spin before Kanno-senpai could even mark the senior. Did they eavesdrop on us when you were giving them a new strategy, Dumb-senpai? Or they’re just that synced now.”

“Of course, they won’t stoop that low. And it doesn’t matter, birthday girl. Trust in them.” I answered quietly.

With the ball taken, the Hirari High quickly returned to their court. But with Satsuki fronting herself as the lead defense, Takamine was forced to send the ball back to Sakuraba, who dared to fake a fade-away shot.

She passed it on to their captain who reached the free-throw line together. Their captain tried to force a layup because there was no one to pass back, but there came the disparity in height.

The shot was successfully blocked. The slap of the ball was loud enough to silence the cheers.

Unfortunately, Sakuraba Mikan caught the ball and dropped a shot before Kanno-senpai could land on the ground.

40–25.

The Hirari student section exploded again. A chant of “Mi-kan! Mi-kan!” rolled down like thunder.

And I was again subjected to a triumphant smirk by the girl who was starting to make it a habit to show off to me.

Kawakami-senpai called our first timeout of the half before the ball even crossed half-court again.

A minute has been played and the lead has surpassed their highest from the first half.

When everyone jogged back to the bench, I stood up immediately. I didn’t need a whiteboard this time. I just needed to keep them from doubting the strategy.

Thankfully, Kawakami-senpai and Kanno-senpai still believed in it. Not to mention, Satsuki, who confidently claimed that Takimine would not be able to score again.

“Alright. Don’t mind it! Like Onoda-kun said, we can get it all back!”

Kawakami-senpai’s voice cracked across the whole court as they returned to the court.

The girls snapped back into position almost instantly.

I could see it in their shoulders. They’re still tense and stinging from the miss, but no longer crumbling.

That single sentence from their captain carried more weight than any timeout huddle ever could. She wasn’t asking them to believe. It’s a simple reminder that they already did.

And then, the game resumed.

Satsuki took the inbound this time. She held the ball high and let the defense commit first.

Sakuraba quickly drifted left, baiting the drive she knew Satsuki would take.

Unfortunately for her, Satsuki didn’t bite.

Instead, she dribbled once and did a one-handed pass to the left wing where our second-year small forward had slipped free during the initial scramble.

The girl caught it clean and then rose smooth and high for the open three.

Takamine tried catching up to that but the ball was already released.

It hit the rim but the crisp sound of the ball passing the net echoed after half a second of rolling around the rim.

As soon as that happened, the bench erupted. Ria actually bounced once on the balls of her feet and let out a delighted “Yes!” before remembering she was supposed to look composed and analytical.

Kawakami-senpai pumped a fist so hard her ponytail whipped around like a battle flag.

40–28.

Hirari tried answering quickly, with Sakuraba slicing right, which drew both our guards. But when she tried to dump it under the rim for an easy lay-up, Kanno-senpai once again blocked her. And this time, no one was there to catch the ball for them.

Like this, the energy had shifted again. Everyone could feel it in the air, in the way our girls were suddenly moving a half-step faster. They talked louder on the play and ran across the court like speedsters with a predetermined destination.

It was as though they weren’t actually playing catch-up from their lead. They were hunting the opposite team.

Around twenty seconds later in the game time, Kanno-senpai sealed the next possession with another monster block on Takamine’s drive. She’s the one who got the ball this time and immediately passed to Kawakami-senpai, who pushed in transition without even looking back to see if anyone was trailing her.

Satsuki ran alongside her, sprinting across like she’d been shot out of a cannon.

Kawakami-senpai bounced it ahead and Satsuki caught it in stride.

She took one power dribble and exploded off her left foot, banking a lay-up that made use of the backboard.

The Hirari crowd actually went quiet for a second there while our bench and the few students from our school up there loudly cheered.

Ria was on her feet as she clapped furiously. Even Orimura-sensei let out a rare laugh and smacked Ryouko-san’s shoulder like they’d just won the prefectural final already.

40–30.

Although we only managed to bring the lead back to 10, Hirari called for a timeout.

Sakuraba jogged to their bench without looking back, but I caught the quick side-eye she threw toward me before she disappeared among her teammates.

She didn’t look angry or defeated at all. She’s still focused. It’s like she’d just accepted this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk anymore, so she had to adjust their play to adapt to my strategy.

When play resumed, the pace of the game sped up.

Both teams traded buckets in a dizzying three-minute stretch. Three-pointers, fast-break lay-ups and contested mid-range pull-ups. The scoreboard ticked like a heartbeat monitor gone wild.

It was actually crazy that no one was fouled during it all.

40–32.

42–34.

44–37.

46–40.

Every time Hirari threatened to pull away again, one of our seniors answered.

Kanno-senpai with a slamdunk that shook the backboard.

Kawakami-senpai with a mesmerizing step-back over the free-throw line, landing a flawless shot.

And Satsuki with a strong block that sent the ball out of bounds, drawing a collective gasp from both benches.

When there were only 10 minutes left in the second half of the game, we finally clawed our way back into a two-point deficit.

50–48.

.

The Hirari coach called for another timeout.

This time, the entire arena was quiet. Even the neutrals in the stands were leaning forward with their phones up as though they were sensing the epic conclusion of this match.

Satsuki jogged back to our bench last. She dropped onto the spot beside me without a word, breathing hard through her mouth, but her eyes locked on the opposite bench where Sakuraba was currently getting water poured over her head.

“Idiot,” The girl muttered without turning her head. “They’re scared now, aren’t they?”

“Mhm. They already realized this was going the same way as back then. Keep it up.”

Upon saying that, I glanced up at the stands, finding Nagisa there, looking worried and excited at the same time. Whether she was rooting for her school’s team or not, I had no idea.