As the warm up ended, some of the freshman in the second string of Meikō's Basketball Club acted as referees to the match, most of the people who volunteered only accepted as a way to see the fove exceptional freshmen in action.
One of the second string players was currently engaged in small talk woth Momoharu.
"So, Haru. Are you excited for the game?" Asked the boy as Momoharu grinned. "Of course. I can't wait. This team was a decent team last year, they got past the group stage and got knocked out by Teikō in the quarter finals." Momoharu stated.
After the small talk, the five exceptional players sat on the bench as they watched the seniors about to perform.
Momoharu and sat with excited expressions on their faces, eager to play in the game.
Hikigaya and Mibuchi watched on with a friendly yet calm and composed expression, finally Masahiko sat with snacks in his arm, not even paying attention to the game, seemingly in a world of his own.
As the starters of both teams stood against each other, the calm yet tense atmosphere exuded was chilling even to the referees.
The attention of the bench players of Kazami, however, was taken by the five freshmen sat on the bench of Meikō's side.
"Look at that giant! He's not even focused!"
"The aura that white haired kid exudes is unreal!"
"Hey! That blond haired kid seems excited don'tcha think?!"
The questions lingered as Coach Tokugawa looked at his students.
"Be quiet! And pay attention to the game, not to those freshmen. The seniors are playing. You should be focusing on them!" The Coach reprimanded as all of his bench players immediately focused their attention on the players on the court.
After giving their greetings and bowing, all players on the court stood in their positions, ready for the match to commence.
"Are both players ready for tipoff?" Asked Furukawa Hayashi, a first year small forward in Meikō's second string as he held the ball in both hands, ready to toss it up.
"Hai." Came the swift response of both Noboru Ken and Ashikage Rinnosuke as their eyes remained focused on the ball.
Hearing the confirmation of both centers, Hayashi threw the ball up high into the air as both centers jumped for ball.
Noboru easily reached the ball first and swatted it towards his captain, Kazama Shin, who caught the ball easily and passed it behind him to Takaheshi Aoki.
"Takaheshi, pass the ball!" Exclaimed Fukumoto as said PG immediately passed to his fellow guard as Fukumoto caught the ball and dribbled slightly, stopping right outside the three point line, feeling the pressure emanating from Hyūga Junpei.
"You seem like a decent player," The shooting guard cracked a smirk as he stepped back and shot a three point shot.
'What?!' His thoughts reflected his expression as Hyūga was caught off guard by the swift movement.
He scrambled before trying to jump to contest the shot, but his attempts were futile as the ball was released from Fukumoto's hands and swished into the bucket, racking up three points for Meikō Junior High.
"Unlucky Hyūga! Let's just get those three points back." Came the consolidation from his team as Hyūga smirked.
Meanwhile on Meikō's bench..
"Wow! Fukumoto-senpai is good! I don't think even I could stop that fast release shot!" Exclaimed Ogiwara as Momoharu nodded.
"Yeah. But, this is expected of our senpai, their bound to be in a league of their own," Mibuchi remarked as he watched the match.
