Geno totaled 37 points, 24 in the fourth quarter alone.
10 seconds left until the end of the game. Chasing a one-point difference, Ohka Gakuen’s last offense ended in a turnover. Gifu Girls’ Kotomi Hayashi, Miyu Ando, and Kana Miyake worked together to shut down Ohka Gakuen’s ace Kokoro Tanaka’s dribbling. Hayashi plucked the ball with both hands, and Ando held it firmly in a low stance, and the time-up buzzer sounded. One of the best cards in the women’s quarterfinals was Gifu Women’s dramatic victory, which had a 21-point lead.
The biggest driving force behind this victory was Gifu Women’s captain and ace, Natsumi Kaseno. Heno scored 37 points in this game, including nine 3-point shots. She scored 24 of those points in the fourth quarter, making an incredible 7-of-7 3-point shot.
Kono, who kept a strict expression on his face throughout the match, broke his face the moment the buzzer rang. He expressed his joy by jumping up and down to the cheering crowd, then hugged his teammates as he screamed in an unimaginable high-pitched voice.
Ever since the pairing was announced, I have been preparing for “against Ohka.” The first quarter was an even match. However, in the second quarter, Juhu Hadidjatou’s post attack, which would have been a big advantage, was blocked by Ohka Gakuen, and they were unable to gain an advantage with rebounds, losing a large lead to 19-31 at the end of the first half.
Kono himself said, “My desire to win got ahead of me and I put in too much effort.” His shooting touch was inconsistent, and he scored six points in the first half. “I was a little broken,” he recalls of his state of mind going into halftime.
Coach Mitsuo Yasue, who has played against Ohka Gakuen countless times, says that the 12-point deficit in the first half was within his expectations. However, the situation did not change in the third quarter, when they were supposed to recover, and Kono injured his right knee in a collision with an opposing player towards the end of the quarter. The score at the end of the third quarter was 30-45.
“In the end, I have no choice but to go.” Coach Yasue was betting on the defense he had trained and Kono’s scoring ability.
Coach Yasue: “The God of Basketball gave me strength”
Gifu Girls launched an intense pressure defense from the beginning of the fourth quarter. However, Ohka Gakuen’s good defense induced turnovers, and the point difference widened to 21 points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.
A desperate situation. However, from this point on, Kono did it. Starting with a 3-point shot from Miyake’s pass, then two, three, four… Taking advantage of the slight gaps in Ohka Gakuen’s fierce defense, they just kept hitting and scoring. Due to their frantic defense, Ohka Gakuen’s scoring stopped all at once, and the point difference quickly narrowed.
Kono says. “My teacher told me, “You have to do it,” and my teammates told me a lot, “Cell (Keno’s nickname) can do it,” and “Cell, please,” so I had no choice but to do it. That’s what I felt.” He didn’t mindlessly hit each ball with his heart and soul. “I definitely don’t want to lose again.”
Kono’s scoring ability, which has been a major weapon for Gifu Girls since she was an underclassman, has become even more important since she was substituted. She lost to Kyoto Seika Gakuen in the second round of Inter-High. She and her teammates were distressed by the voices from the outfield calling them “a team made up only of Enno.”
However, in this game, there is no doubt that Heno was a major driving force behind the comeback, and it was Miyake’s steal shot that brought the deficit to 1 point with 40 seconds left, and Heno’s shot with 11.3 seconds left. It was Jufu who picked it up and made a comeback, and as mentioned earlier, it was Miyake, Hayashi, and Ando who stopped Ohka Gakuen’s last offense.
“There were some tough times, but everyone stuck with me and we became a team. Even the players who weren’t on the bench cheered and supported us. I thought they were a really good team.” . Kono said with tears in his eyes.
Coach Yasue laughed and said, “In the fourth quarter, there were many things that went too well.” It is true that seven consecutive 3-point shooting successes is not something you see very often, even in fiction. Rather, it is at the level of criticism that “this kind of thing can’t happen.”
Although we have the strength we have built up over the years, perhaps we have just gotten lucky? When asked about this, Coach Yasue said, “Oh, I think so,” and continued with a smile.
“I’ve had a lot of regrets. Even so, I didn’t give up no matter the situation and continued to fight on the court. That’s all there is to it. The God of basketball gave Kono strength. I think it’s because he always has the attitude of never giving up and working hard.”
If you think about it, in the quarterfinals exactly one year ago, Gifu Women’s team came from behind in the first half and won a big comeback. Tomorrow’s semi-final opponent will be Sapporo Yamate. Coincidentally, it was the same card as last year. Will Gifu Girls be able to replace the bitter memories of losing by 30 points with joy through their team strength?
2023-12-26 09:19:30
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