Chapter 2055: Chapter 2256: The First Basket!!!

The cheerleading squads of both teams were completely overshadowed by Class Three, with hardly anyone paying attention to Class Five’s side. Most of the focus was concentrated on Class Three’s cheerleading squad, and within that, a majority of the attention was centered on Liang Xiaohan.

On the entire basketball court, nearly two-thirds of the attention was focused on Liang Xiaohan. Her charm was immense, attracting not only boys but also many girls.

The opening dance lasted just about a minute, so after a minute, as the lead dancer, Zhang Danlin watched the girls from Class Three finish their dance, then step down, and Class Five also left the basketball court unnoticed.

With the dance ended, the cheers for Liang Xiaohan gradually faded. However, even after stepping off the court, most boys couldn’t take their eyes off her.

Next, the players from both sides took to the court.

Initially, the cheers for Class Three were much louder than those for Class Five, with most of the attention on Class Three. Everyone was calling out Liang Xiaohan’s name, and a few were shouting Zhang Danlin’s name, clearly showcasing Class Three’s appeal.

But, when the basketball players from both sides stepped onto the court, the atmosphere suddenly changed. The spotlight that was initially on Class Three shifted quickly to Class Five.

"Gao Yanfei! Go!"

"Class Five! Go!"

"......"

Similar chants began to rise and fall throughout the basketball game, mostly shouted by girls who supported Gao Yanfei. Seeing Class Three’s Liang Xiaohan garner such a huge spotlight earlier and their Gao Yanfei being neglected, they felt indignant and began loudly cheering for Gao Yanfei when the players entered the court.

Gao Yanfei walked slowly, looking smug and pleased. This was exactly the effect he wanted – despite the setback Liang Xiaohan faced, people could see how many supporters he had and how great his charm was. He walked with an air of satisfaction, while others watched Hao Jian and his team with mocking looks.

The players from both teams stood at the center of the basketball court. They faced each other on either side, with the referee standing at the center line, ready to start the jump ball.

At this moment, as the key players from both teams, Hao Jian and Gao Yanfei stood at the front, slightly bent forward ready to jump for the basketball. Their gazes met.

Gao Yanfei gazed mockingly at Hao Jian, while Hao Jian, though returning his gaze a few times, soon glanced away to assess the skills of Gao Yanfei’s teammates.

Gao Yanfei’s height might have been due to his long-term engagement with basketball, so he wasn’t short, just a little shorter than Hao Jian. With extensive basketball experience, his jumping ability was undoubtedly excellent; he didn’t consider Hao Jian a rival, planning to grab the ball first during the jump and score immediately.

Right from the start, he intended to rain on Hao Jian’s parade, intimidating the rest of Class Three to sow fear early on, ensuring an inevitable defeat. Crushing Hao Jian’s spirit, while showing the spectators his prowess, emphasizing that in basketball, he could easily outplay Hao Jian.

Hao Jian’s gaze moved to the other players. Class Five’s players wore red jerseys, while the Class Three players wore white jerseys.

In Class Five, besides Gao Yanfei, Hao Jian focused his attention on the others. Those four seemed quite formidable, likely veterans in basketball. Gao Yanfei didn’t prepare any substitute players, believing that they could handle the entire game with just the five of them, thoroughly defeating Hao Jian’s team.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on Hao Jian’s face. In reality, basketball games prioritize team play and cooperation; individual performance can only slightly close the score gap, and if the opponent’s defense is strong, scoring opportunities might be nonexistent.

However, Gao Yanfei didn’t prepare substitute players, which aligned perfectly with Hao Jian’s strategy. If Gao Yanfei had prepared substitutes, it would have made the game challenging, and even he’d likely suffer a headache.

To his surprise, Gao Yanfei was so arrogant that he didn’t prepare substitutes even for the match, which suited Hao Jian just fine. If Gao Yanfei didn’t prepare substitutes, all the better – because Hao Jian had prepared an entire team of them.

Watching this, a smile spread across Hao Jian’s face.

Within the team, besides himself, Zheng Jun was most accurate with dribbling and shooting. Therefore, during the game, Zheng Jun needed to fully wield his skills while conserving energy. As basketball consumes significant stamina over the full match, excessive fatigue towards the game’s end could jeopardize maintaining a lead gained earlier. It might allow the opponents to catch up and possibly turn the tables.

So, while Zheng Jun unleashed his abilities, he needed to also preserve his energy.

Hao Jian saw that among Gao Yanfei’s players, a tall and strong guy was eyeing Zheng Jun like a tiger watching its prey. It was obvious, even before guessing, that Gao Yanfei, despite looking down on them, had made tactical adjustments before the game, and this strong guy was clearly meant to deal with Zheng Jun.

They clearly knew that Zheng Jun was considered strong within his team, so as long as they subdued Zheng Jun, everything else would be easier.

Hao Jian could also tell that apart from Gao Yanfei, this strong guy was probably their team’s second-best player. As for the other three, they seemed quite formidable too, but his tactical arrangements had already been put in place.

Hao Jian silently made a gesture towards Zheng Jun and the others, a gesture he had explained during training earlier, so Zheng Jun, Wu Jun, Ma Yantao, and Qu Liucheng standing behind him quickly understood and nodded.

Gao Yanfei wore the number one jersey, so he was the number 1, the strong guy wore the number two jersey, making him the number 2 target, and the other three were numbers 3, 4, and 5 respectively.

Hao Jian’s target was set on Gao Yanfei, while Zheng Jun’s target was number 2, and Wu Jun, Ma Yantao, and Qu Liucheng were targeting numbers 3, 4, and 5.

At this moment, Hao Jian’s gaze suddenly exuded a sense of killing intent. Gao Yanfei was the same, no less intense than Hao Jian.

"3, 2, 1..."

With the referee’s whistle, the ball was quickly thrown up into the air. Simultaneously, Gao Yanfei displayed incredible jumping ability in his sneakers, jumping up as soon as the ball was tossed, reaching for the ball.

He jumped before Hao Jian, seemingly giving him a disdainful glance at that moment. However, Hao Jian just smiled at him. Just as Gao Yanfei’s hand was about to touch the ball, suddenly, he only saw a dark shadow flash before his eyes, and the ball that was within reach disappeared.

Looking again, the ball was already in Hao Jian’s hands. After grabbing the ball, Hao Jian quickly turned and passed the ball to Qu Liucheng, who was on the outside. Qu Liucheng caught the ball and dribbled towards the basket on Gao Yanfei’s side, with Zheng Jun running over immediately.

The ball was passed to Zheng Jun. This series of actions was fast and swift, leaving Gao Yanfei still immersed in the shadow of how Hao Jian had snatched the ball. In his mind, he was bound to grab the first ball, then immediately make a basket to show up Hao Jian.

But, the ball was actually snatched by Hao Jian. However, he quickly snapped back, signaling with his eyes, and number 2 immediately ran towards Zheng Jun.

Initially, Gao Yanfei’s call was the loudest when the ball was tossed, with many girls shouting his name. However, when the ball was intercepted by Hao Jian, the girls suddenly fell silent. Then, the crowd from class three erupted in cheers.

They never expected Hao Jian to grab the first ball, which really caught them by surprise, leading to their astonished cries.

Thus, led by Zhang Danlin’s shout, Hao Jian’s name began to echo across the basketball court.

Everyone’s attention followed the ball, bouncing rapidly.

The ball was steady in Zheng Jun’s hands as he dribbled towards class five’s basket.

However, just as class three was cheering for Zheng Jun, suddenly, number 2 appeared unexpectedly behind Zheng Jun and intercepted the ball.

The ball was suddenly in number 2’s hands. The cheers for Zheng Jun abruptly stopped, and soon, class five started cheering, rooting for number 2.

Number 2 smiled and began a fast break towards class three’s basket.

He dribbled steadily and had years of basketball experience; Zheng Jun, realizing his ball was intercepted, tried to block him, but number 2’s experience showed as he quickly maneuvered past him.

Wu Jun saw this and immediately tried to block number 2, but regrettably, number 2 was extraordinary, skillfully dribbling around Wu Jun.

Wu Jun was momentarily stunned, realizing that number 2 had dribbled around him only after turning left and right.

Seeing this, laughter erupted from the crowd. People were laughing at Wu Jun, as he seemed like he couldn’t even play basketball, getting outplayed to the point of losing orientation.