Chapter 48: No. 1 High School vs. No. 3 High School (Part Three)

“So, how will First High handle this offensive play now that they're temporarily behind?” Li Ke’s voice echoed through the gymnasium.

With a smile, he described the situation on the court: “Number 23, Zhu Bo, has already brought the ball to the three-point line. Facing Third High’s unchanging zone defense, he doesn’t pass or attempt an outside shot—instead, he’s backing down his defender.”

“Oh my!” Li Ke’s exclamation rang out over the speakers.

“Wang Feng, Third High’s player defending Zhu Bo, is completely overpowered. After just a bit of physical contact, Wang Feng is forced to retreat again and again. Their strength is on completely different levels! And remember, Wang Feng is several centimeters taller than Zhu Bo!”

“Zhu Bo advances under the basket with ease and composure, then fakes, spins, and banks the ball in.”

“The score is tied!”

Li Ke then tried to comfort the audience: “This is proof that basketball is still a sport that heavily relies on physicality. Wang Feng, a freshman from Third High, simply can’t match the strength of Zhu Bo, a senior from First High. But then, there’s a two-year gap in age and experience, so I’m sure Third High will adjust their defensive strategy.”

Sure enough, as soon as the commentary ended, Chen Zheng went over to Wang Feng to console him, telling him to stick to his position on defense. If Zhu Bo attacked like that again, they’d come over to double-team him.

Chen Zheng and Chen Zhen exchanged a glance and shared a helpless smile. The last time they played First High, they lost the game because of Zhu Bo.

Because he was simply too strong!

Just like the number 23 on his jersey!

He had solid fundamentals too. There weren’t many on Third High’s side who could stand up to his post play. It always took two or three players to trap him, and then he’d find the open man for an easy shot.

That left Third High’s defense scrambling, unable to find a player of equal stature to counter him, and they would ultimately lose the game.

Only now did Wang Jinsong and the others on the bench realize that “God Bo” hadn’t even played seriously when he faced them.

A quick glance at the lanky “Ninety-Five” beside him and the strange expression on his face made it clear that he, too, would be no match for Zhu Bo’s power.

Lin Nan, however, had felt Zhu Bo’s steel-like strength the first time he matched up against him. But he kept it to himself, not wanting to discourage his teammates, and he’d sensed that Zhu Bo had been holding back, though he didn’t say so.

Because he wanted to win—desperately.

So, for a week after that game, Lin Nan added an extra bowl of rice to every meal.

He knew, as his father had always told him: physical strength is the foundation of basketball.

Now Lin Nan also understood why the Gorilla Coach hadn’t let them start—it was to protect them from injury against such intense competition.

It was clear that the senior players from Third High, even if not quite on Zhu Bo’s level, weren’t far off, and they were much tougher than the freshmen.

Even though friendship comes first and competition second, in a once-in-decades national high school basketball league, every basketball-loving teenager would give it their all.

Of course, Lin Nan felt confident that he could defend if he got on the court—he’d already adapted to this level of intensity during summer games against the older men.

But Ninety-Five might be in trouble—he was too tall and skinny, a beanpole who’d get hurt easily in such a physical contest.

The Gorilla Coach had anticipated this problem, while across the court, the bespectacled coach from Third High seemed far behind, as did Wang Feng, who was getting repeatedly beaten on the court.

Yet Chen Zheng and Chen Zhen refused to give up. Their hunger for victory was no less than that of First High.

So, they substituted Wang Feng out for a senior.

On offense, the two of them kept racking up points with their flawless teamwork, while teammates set screens for them, knowing full well the pair were a scoring machine.

On defense, Chen Zheng and Chen Zhen were relentless, always stepping up to help when Zhu Bo attacked.

Not to be outdone, First High’s Luosi, Xigua, and Li Qing all stepped up, meeting Third High’s players with hard-nosed physical play and sticking to Chen Zheng and Chen Zhen with tight, man-to-man defense.

Both teams attacked furiously, defended as if their lives depended on it, and though it was only the first quarter, the game already felt like the fourth.

With Li Ke’s professional and passionate commentary, the sparsely filled gym was ablaze with excitement.

The high-intensity, fast-paced play left the freshmen on both benches wide-eyed and unblinking.

As both teams burned through their energy, the score soared.

When the first quarter ended, the score was tied at 25 apiece.

Li Ke finally took a break for a drink, thinking to himself that if all four quarters went like this, the score might break a hundred.

But seeing both teams’ “starters” drenched in sweat, he doubted that would happen.

The second quarter would likely belong to the “bench.”

Off the court, Lin Nan and the others hurried over with bottled water for the exhausted seniors.

The Gorilla Coach gathered everyone to discuss second-quarter tactics.

He hadn’t expected Third High to play so tough right from the start, but Zhu Bo and his teammates were right to respond in kind—if not, they’d lose the psychological edge and fall into the opponent’s rhythm.

Zhu Bo took a small sip of water, cleared his throat, and looked at the Gorilla Coach.

Just as he was about to speak, the two exchanged knowing smiles, as if to say the other had forgotten about First High’s bench strength.

Besides the obvious Ninety-Five, there was also their secret weapon—Lin Nan...

Meanwhile, during the quarter break, an extraordinary thing happened in TV stations across more than a thousand counties nationwide.

Their backend systems showed viewership rates jumping from 0.0001% to 0.01%, a near hundredfold increase.

Every staff member was stunned.

As county-level TV stations, they usually aired rural development programs and local interviews—except for a handful of elderly viewers, hardly anyone watched. Only the occasional classic drama or film would bump up the ratings, never anything like this.

Could the national high school basketball league, now airing at the government’s behest, really be this powerful?

If Lin Lang were here, he’d think it perfectly natural.

The Teachers’ Network couldn’t broadcast so many games simultaneously, so they’d asked local stations to carry the live feed.

At the same time, the Teachers’ Network posted the announcement in the most prominent spot on their homepage.

And since today was the weekend, with the afternoon games yet to start, basketball fans everywhere were tuning in to their local high school basketball broadcasts.

Many of them soon realized that high school games were even more exciting than the CBA.

Because plenty of high schoolers had skills—and above all, they had passion. They refused to lose, they didn’t fear exhaustion, and with this being a single-elimination game, the first step onto the national stage, their hunger for victory was unmatched!

How could such a game not be thrilling?

And with all those young athletes connected by the same pulse on the court, it was a sight to behold.

A few basketball and soccer fans even found themselves wishing the Teachers’ Network would start a national high school soccer league as well… It stung to think about it.

Some station managers, meanwhile, were reviewing their block of cheap advertisers at this time slot, wondering if they should raise the rates while the national high school basketball league was on.

They quickly instructed all on-site staff to ensure the broadcast went off without a hitch.

...

Back at the QS County Gymnasium, the second quarter began.

Third High had possession to start. Lin Nan, Ninety-Five, Wang Jinsong, and two sophomores subbed in for Zhu Bo and the others.

Their opponents fielded two seniors along with three underclassmen.

As Lin Nan took the court, he felt a surge of confidence that victory would go to First High.

Especially after seeing the uneasy faces of Third High’s freshmen as they glanced at the towering Ninety-Five beside him.

Seeing this, the senior on the opposing team hurried the ball upcourt, hoping to score first and settle the nerves of his young teammates.

Lin Nan was defending him. At a glance, the senior saw Lin Nan’s fresh, sun-darkened face and pegged him as a newly trained freshman—not worth worrying about.

Seizing the moment, Lin Nan intercepted the senior’s wide dribble in a flash and burst downcourt on a fast break.

Number 7, Wang Feng, was the fastest to get back on defense, even beating Lin Nan to the three-point line. He could tell Lin Nan, like himself, was a freshman and was determined not to let him score.

But with a couple of deft feints, Lin Nan quickly saw that Wang Feng hadn’t even mastered the basic defensive “crab step.”

Without hesitation, Lin Nan made a hard move to the left to shift Wang Feng’s center of gravity, then, just like his idol AI, exploded to the right for a swift drive.

He floated in for a graceful three-step layup, sending the ball through the unguarded hoop.

Li Ke’s voice rang out: “Scoring right off the bench, and what a quick steal! His crossover was so smooth. Number 2, Lin Nan, the freshman from First High, clearly has solid basketball fundamentals!”

Yet Wang Feng, having been beaten so easily, simply looked frustrated, not realizing the true gap in skill.

Basketball is a game where height matters, but it is never just about height.