He Ximeng had Zhang Zhenpeng bring a VCR from home and asked Third Uncle to contact his classmate at the Sports Bureau to borrow game footage from last year's Zhejiang provincial qualifiers for the national competition.
The focus was to analyze two opponents: Hangzhou Fourth High School and Huipu Middle School!
Besides the VCR, He Ximeng also had Zhang Zhenpeng bring a video recorder and blank tapes.
He Ximeng planned to record all of Zhuji Middle School's games in this year's national competition, to be used as reference material for the next generation of players.
After He Ximeng graduated, Zhang Zhenpeng was, by all expectations, to be the next leader of Zhuji Middle School.
Therefore, Zhang Zhenpeng was highly enthusiastic about providing the equipment. He directly instructed Old Wang to prepare two top-of-the-line video recorders, and boxes upon boxes of blank tapes were stocked...
While watching the tapes, He Ximeng analyzed the opponents' tactics for everyone.
After watching the footage, everyone returned to their rooms to sleep, and had a dreamless night.
On October 9th, the preliminary round of the Zhejiang provincial qualifiers for the national competition began!
The organizing committee first gathered the 12 teams in Hall A for a simple opening ceremony, with speeches from leaders and oaths from representatives of the referees and athletes...
As expected, Liu Yudong of Hangzhou Fourth High School was the one who took the oath on behalf of all the athletes today!
After the ceremony, the six teams in Hall A prepared to start their games immediately.
The six teams in Hall B, including Zhuji Middle School, transferred to their respective courts to prepare for the morning's battles.
The national competition was finally about to begin!
The first game in Group B featured the host team, Hangzhou Fourth High School, versus Tiantai Middle School.
Although Tiantai Middle School was the runner-up of Taizhou City, their strength was not to be underestimated, given that the champion of Taizhou City, Huipu Middle School, was exceptionally strong. However, facing the second-seeded team, Tiantai Middle School could not withstand the opponent's offensive onslaught. To be precise, they could not withstand the onslaught of Zhejiang's strongest high school player, Liu Yudong!
In the first half alone, Liu Yudong scored 20 points by himself, and Hangzhou Fourth High School led Tiantai Middle School by 12 points, with a score of 40:28.
In the second half, the head coach of Tiantai Middle School voluntarily substituted the starting lineup, conserving their strength and deciding not to go head-to-head with Hangzhou Fourth High School.
The situation in this group was roughly the same as in Group A.
The strategy for all teams was to test the waters, and upon realizing the disparity in strength, to immediately give up on a direct confrontation with Hangzhou Fourth High School.
After all, their goal was not to be the top seed in the group, so there was no need to go all out against Hangzhou Fourth High School.
Their unified objective was actually Zhuji Middle School. If they could defeat Zhuji Middle School, there was a high probability of securing the second spot in the group and advancing to the next round.
Consequently, the games in this group only truly contested for half the match; the second half was essentially unwatchable. Both teams fielded reserve players, but in the end, Hangzhou Fourth High School secured an opening victory with a score of 78:62 against Tiantai Middle School.
After concluding their respective games, the two teams did not leave the court. Instead, they moved from the center of the court to the stands to observe the performance of the other four opponents in their group.
The second group to play was Jinyun Middle School versus Ouhai Middle School!
One was the champion of Lishui, the other the champion of Wenzhou!
The strength of the two teams was comparable, resulting in a very intense match. From the first quarter, the scores alternated, and the game remained a close contest until the final minute.
In the last minute, Jinyun Middle School's ace player, shooting guard Fu Zaifeng, forcefully broke through the opponent's defense, drove to the basket, and scored, giving Jinyun Middle School a 68:66 lead.
Ouhai Middle School had only one final offensive opportunity. The head coach had originally designed a driving play. Ouhai's ace player, small forward Hu Yunlong, held the ball outside the three-point line. He attempted to drive in several times but was unable to break through due to Zhuji Middle School's tight defense. Hu Yunlong's drive failed, and he nearly had the ball stolen. As time was running out, Hu Yunlong was forced to take a difficult shot from beyond the three-point line with a defender in his face...
It was not a good opportunity, but luck was on Ouhai Middle School's side today!
Hu Yunlong's contested three-pointer was a buzzer-beater, making the score 69:68. Hu Yunlong's magical three-pointer in the final moments helped Ouhai Middle School to a comeback victory, snatching the win from Jinyun Middle School!
It was a pity for Fu Zaifeng of Jinyun Middle School, who had an outstanding performance with 24 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals for the entire game, but it was not enough to overcome Hu Yunlong's miraculous final shot.
Witnessing such an exciting game on the first morning of the competition filled the spectators with anticipation for this year's preliminary round.
The last match of the morning was Zhuji Middle School versus Changxing Middle School!
"It's finally our turn to play!"
After watching two games, the players of Zhuji Middle School were eager to take the court and showcase their skills.
However, before the game officially began, He Ximeng decided to give a brief talk.
"Two games a day is demanding. Coupled with our fast-break tactics, the physical exertion will be even greater. Therefore, I will adjust rotations quickly, and everyone on the team must be ready to play, including Huangfu Yanlin and Fu Xinyuan! Don't worry about whether you are a starter or a reserve; that's not important. What's important is that we win the game! Win it game by game! Does everyone have confidence?"
"Yes!"
After delivering a small dose of motivational talk, He Ximeng seized the moment and announced the starting lineup for this game: "Center Yan Hui, power forward Feng Chen, small forward Wang Xian, shooting guard Tang Chenfeng, and point guard Chen Feng!"