Zheng Wu could defend positions one through four, but struggled against pure centers at position five due to his disadvantage in height and strength.
Yan Hui, after being suppressed for a small part of the quarter, finally got an opportunity to score and naturally did not waste He Ximeng's pass.
Yan Hui powered through Zheng Wu, executing a turnaround jump shot to score, signaling the beginning of Zhuji High School's overall offensive breakthrough.
Huipu High School had not anticipated this. They had meticulously prepared an opening "three-axe" offensive strategy for Zhuji High School, aiming to establish a leading advantage and build a solid foundation for the rest of the game. However, He Ximeng's sudden explosive scoring in the offense directly thwarted Huipu High School's "three-axe" plan.
"An interesting kid! He truly had hidden his strength..."
On the Huipu High School coaching bench, the old coach with white hair observed the game situation with a smile, as if the changes on the court had nothing to do with him.
After an intense first quarter, Huipu High School could not gain any advantage, with both teams tied at 22:22.
For Zhuji High School, this was a very good start.
In the second quarter, during the first half, both teams fielded their reserve players.
Huipu High School had Hu Yinqiu and Wu Qian, who had not played much in this quarter, leading the team.
Zhuji High School, on the other hand, had He Ximeng keeping Zhang Zhenpeng to lead the team, pairing him with Tang Chenfeng.
In the latter half of the second quarter, after Zhang Zhenpeng left the court, He Ximeng and Yan Hui re-entered the game to face off against the main players led by Zheng Wu.
The scores between the two teams generally alternated between rising, with neither side able to gain a decisive edge.
At halftime, Huipu High School held a slim one-point lead over Zhuji High School. He Ximeng found this first half acceptable.
At the start of the third quarter, Huipu High School launched another fast-paced counter-attack, attempting to catch Zhuji High School off guard.
However, He Ximeng showed no mercy. With a pull-up three-pointer on the move and a quick stop jump shot during a drive, he withstood Huipu High School's surge.
As the third quarter neared its end, He Ximeng assumed Huipu High School would maintain this pace and decide the game in the fourth quarter. Thus, he and Yan Hui left the court to rest, leaving only Zhang Zhenpeng to hold the fort against Zheng Wu.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Wu seemed to have received instructions from the coaching staff and suddenly directed the entire team to implement a full-court press strategy!
Chen Feng did not react in time and was forced into a corner of the half-court by Sun Anhui. In a hasty attempt to pass, he was intercepted by Zheng Wu, who had appeared out of nowhere!
Zheng Wu drove towards the basket, faked a crossover in the air to evade the lunging Zhang Zhenpeng, and scored with his left hand.
At this moment, He Ximeng had just come off the court and could not immediately re-enter. Therefore, He Ximeng decided to observe one or two possessions, to see if his teammates could break Huipu High School's full-court press on their own.
Unexpectedly, on the second possession, Chen Feng and Tang Chenfeng were again trapped in the frontcourt by Huipu High School, nearly resulting in a violation. It was thanks to Zhang Zhenpeng coming up to receive the ball that they managed to cross the half-court. However, Zhang Zhenpeng also fell into a double-team by Zheng Wu and Sun Anhui. Relying on his individual skill, Zhang Zhenpeng barely broke free from their entanglement. With the shot clock nearing its end, Zhang Zhenpeng was forced to take a hurried shot from beyond the three-point line, and the ball bounced off the rim.
Zheng Wu took advantage of the situation, grabbed the rebound, and pursued the retreating Zhuji High School players, scoring another 2 points on the fast break!
Seeing the unfavorable situation, He Ximeng was forced to re-enter the game.
Huipu High School did not ease up. Upon seeing He Ximeng return, they continued their relentless pressure, intending to use the full-court press strategy against him.
However, He Ximeng's ball-handling fundamentals were truly solid! Even with Sun Anhui's rough play and Wu Hou's wing pressure, He Ximeng successfully broke through their half-court double-team with his steady crossover dribble and drove into Huipu High School's three-point territory!
Due to the full-court press strategy, Huipu High School's defense was spread wide.
He Ximeng easily drove to the basket and scored with a layup, helping Zhuji High School to stop the bleeding.
By the end of the third quarter, Zhuji High School was trailing Huipu High School by 3 points. The deficit had not widened significantly, but the situation seemed a bit grim. Zhuji High School's overall morale was somewhat low, with the exception of He Ximeng and Zhang Zhenpeng.
He Ximeng was accustomed to such final match scenarios and knew that fear was useless and would only affect his team's performance.
As for Zhang Zhenpeng, he was simply audacious and loved these big stages. The grander the stage, the more excited he became! Among players, there were those born for the big moments, and Zhang Zhenpeng seemed to be one of them.
He Ximeng knew that at this point, words were not important. What mattered was that in the upcoming game, the team's core players needed to shoulder responsibility and use their actions to tell their teammates: "We can win!"
This was the role of a star player!
When the team faced a crisis, it was up to the star player to showcase their talent and lead everyone out of the quagmire!
At the start of the fourth quarter, Huipu High School continued with their full-court press and fast breaks, attempting to seal the victory in one go.
However, He Ximeng and his team were naturally not going to let Huipu High School have their way.
The lineup He Ximeng fielded included Zhang Zhenpeng, Wang Xian, Huangfu Yanlin, Fu Xinyuan, and himself.
Because He Ximeng's height had now grown from 1.80 meters to 1.88 meters, this height allowed him to play as a swingman in high school basketball.
In other words, He Ximeng had deployed a near "five-forward" lineup to counter Huipu High School's dual-tactic combination!
Frankly, Coach San Ye didn't have the courage to set up such a lineup without a dominant center and unclear positional roles.
But He Ximeng dared to!
He Ximeng instructed the two players with stronger offensive mobility, Huangfu Yanlin and Fu Xinyuan, to lead the fast break on the left and right wings respectively. Wang Xian, with his strong defensive skills and steady mentality, was positioned as his support, helping to move the ball. Zhang Zhenpeng was directed to drive straight up the middle...
When Huipu High School attempted to press He Ximeng near half-court, He Ximeng turned their strategy to his advantage. He executed a skip pass to Huangfu Yanlin on the left wing. Huangfu Yanlin, not seeking personal glory, received the pass and relayed it to Zhang Zhenpeng, who was driving through the middle. Zhang Zhenpeng caught the ball and took flight, powering through Huipu High School's defense for a difficult layup!
The moment Zhang Zhenpeng scored, He Ximeng waved his hand, and the other three players immediately began a rapid retreat.
Without the distraction of a dominant center, Zhuji High School's defense was exceptionally quick, preventing Huipu High School from executing fast breaks and forcing them into half-court sets to grind out the game.
On both offense and defense, He Ximeng employed targeted tactics against Huipu High School. Huipu High School's two "magic weapon" tactics, which had swept through the high school circuit, encountered the most tenacious resistance from Zhuji High School. This was something Huipu High School had never anticipated before the game.