"Holy crap! Is He Ximeng's three-point shot that accurate?"
"Impossible! In the previous four group stage matches, He Ximeng's attempts from beyond the arc... uh, no attempts?! What's going on?"
"There's only one possibility in this situation: He Ximeng wasn't going all out in the previous group stage matches..."
"Holy crap! Isn't that blatant contempt for us?"
"So what if they're contemptuous? Even if He Ximeng doesn't shoot a single three-pointer, we still can't beat Zhuzhong..."
"It's tragic... I always thought I was on the same level as He Ximeng..."
"Me too... I wanted to defeat Zhuzhong..."
From the stands, after seeing He Ximeng's three-point shot suddenly unsealed, the opposing players resumed their complaints.
A freshman player who had just joined the team this year, upon hearing the dejected sighs of their ace players, couldn't help but ask, "Was He Ximeng's original strength very poor?"
"Not necessarily very poor... Originally, we were all at the same level of players, but this year, as you can see, He Ximeng has outstanding performances in organization, breakthroughs, and three-point shooting... If we have to make a distinction, then He Ximeng's current strength is between us and Liu Yudong, slightly stronger than us, and slightly weaker than Liu Yudong..."
He Ximeng was focused on the game on the court and couldn't hear the evaluations of these old rivals. If He Ximeng had heard them, he might have accepted the evaluation of "slightly stronger than them," but he remained skeptical about the "slightly weaker than Liu Yudong" assessment...
In stark contrast to the sighs from the audience, the players from Zhuji Middle School were excited!
"Simon has finally unleashed the results of his recent hard training!" Zhang Tianai, one of the few who knew He Ximeng had been consistently practicing three-pointers, was naturally delighted to see He Ximeng finally use his precisely prepared killer move on the national tournament stage... Yes, Zhang Tianai believed that the three-pointer was the killer move He Ximeng had prepared for Zhuzhong...
On the court, He Ximeng himself remained calm. It was just two three-pointers, not a big deal yet. To defeat Liu Yudong, two three-pointers would definitely not be enough.
While retreating, Zhang Zhenpeng started complaining again: "Say, you're not using me as a defensive player, are you? You should at least pass me the ball sometimes so I can show off my scoring ability! My three-point shooting percentage is no lower than yours..."
"Liu Yudong is coming! Guard him, don't foul! On the next possession, I'll find you..."
"Got it!" After receiving He Ximeng's affirmative reply, Zhang Zhenpeng perked up and went to meet him. As a result, he not only failed to defend Liu Yudong but also almost caused Liu Yudong to be fouled again!
Fortunately, Yan Hui reacted quickly and preemptively intercepted Zhang Zhenpeng's foul, taking it upon himself and thus avoiding the tragedy of Zhang Zhenpeng being benched within two minutes of coming onto the court...
Liu Yudong was repeatedly unable to shake off Zhang Zhenpeng, this persistent nuisance, and Hangzhou No. 4 High School's outside shooting was unable to open up. Liu Yudong could only operate inside the paint to help his team score.
However, on the Zhuji Middle School side, He Ximeng suddenly went on a rampage from beyond the arc, and their scoring efficiency began to surpass Hangzhou No. 4 High School. This was reflected in the score, with Zhuji Middle School starting to take the lead!
At the end of the third quarter, Liu Yudong had already scored 25 points and 7 assists, but Hangzhou No. 4 High School was still trailing Zhuji Middle School by 4 points, 54:58!
Zhang Zhenpeng was still active on the court, He Ximeng had hit four three-pointers, and Yan Hui had grabbed 10 rebounds...
Before the game, Hangzhou No. 4 High School never expected that Zhuji Middle School's strength would have grown to this extent!
Although Liu Yudong remained composed, still believing he could lead his team to a comeback in the fourth quarter, to be honest, his teammates were no longer so confident about victory...
At the start of the fourth quarter, Hangzhou No. 4 High School began to make low-level errors in passing and receiving.
Zhang Zhenpeng successfully intercepted a high lob pass from Liu Yudong, and He Ximeng also successfully intercepted a breakthrough pass from Hangzhou No. 4 High School's point guard... Utilizing the opponent's turnovers, Zhuji Middle School seized continuous fast break opportunities!
Huangfu Yanlin and Ming Hanfei, who had just come on the court, did not disappoint He Ximeng's excellent assists, successfully completing layups and extending Zhuzhong's lead to 8 points!
Although Liu Yudong retaliated with a three-pointer, He Ximeng passed the ball after a breakthrough, assisting Zhang Zhenpeng to return an "answer ball" to Liu Yudong...
As the saying goes, defeat is like a mountain collapsing. Even though Liu Yudong refused to concede and fought to the last minute, scoring a game-high 35 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists, Hangzhou No. 4 High School ultimately lost to Zhuji Middle School by 6 points, 73:79, causing the first major upset of this year's national tournament in the Zhejiang region... Whether it would be the last was yet to be seen.
The four three-pointers He Ximeng made in the third quarter amazed the crowd and were considered the key to Zhuzhong's victory over Hangzhou No. 4 High School!
In this game, He Ximeng scored his personal highest points since the group stage, 24 points, along with 10 assists and 3 steals.
After the game, Zhang Zhenpeng lamented that his "team's leading scorer crown" had been snatched by He Ximeng. Because Zhang Zhenpeng only scored 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in this game, and had 4 fouls, he was almost disqualified.
In terms of scoring alone, Zhang Zhenpeng's contribution in this game was even less than Yan Hui's 17 points and 13 rebounds. However, He Ximeng knew that without Zhang Zhenpeng's interference with Liu Yudong in this game, Liu Yudong's score would definitely not have been just 35 points...
From a defensive perspective, Zhang Zhenpeng's contribution was no less than Yan Hui's, and even higher, ranking first on the team!
Of course, Zhang Zhenpeng's contribution could only be clearly seen by professional personnel like He Ximeng and Zhang Yide.
To ordinary players, He Ximeng, who scored a team-high 24 points, was undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the team's victory...
After the game, Liu Yudong came to the Zhuji Middle School's player bench.
Zhang Zhenpeng thought Liu Yudong was looking for him. After all, Zhang Zhenpeng had caused him a lot of trouble during the game.
To his surprise, Liu Yudong went straight to He Ximeng.
"Hu Weidong, the ace player from Nanjing No. 9 High School, Gong Xiaobin, the ace player from Shandong Weifang No. 1 High School, Liu Wei, the ace point guard from Shanghai Huamo Middle School... these are all top powerhouses in the Eastern Division of the National Tournament..."