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Then Rocky walked onto the court to take the free throws. Since it was a blocking foul outside the three-point line, Rocky had to shoot three free throws. If he made all three, our deficit would be narrowed to just two points, and our fate would become uncertain again. We watched as Rocky received the ball from the referee and calmly took his shots. Rocky held up under pressure and made all three free throws—what a clutch shooter! The score was now 87-89; we were only leading by two points. The game continued, and after we inbounded the ball, I slowly brought it up the court. We couldn't afford to rush into an attack. After three years in the City High League, we were determined to win this game. I drove hard to the basket, but their Power Forward and Rocky blocked my path. Seeing this, I bent down and reached my right hand under Rocky's armpit to toss the ball up, which bounced off the rim and went in. The score was now 91-87, with just 47 seconds left in the game. We had temporarily returned to a safe zone, but a one-point lead was negligible; we should at least have one more chance to attack.
The opposing coach called for a final timeout. We returned to our bench, both teams exhausted. I glanced over at A Fei, who was intently gripping his Eagle pendant while watching the court; he looked even more nervous than us. After we sat down, Teacher Qiu picked up the tactical board and continued explaining our strategy. Once he finished, the timeout ended, and we walked back onto the court. I vaguely heard Teacher Qiu let out a soft sigh; although it wasn't loud, I could feel the immense pressure he was under from that sigh. My heart felt heavier after hearing it. "Captain, let's go! It's time to continue the game," Tu Lei shouted at me as I stood in a daze. I nodded and walked back onto the court. That title of "Captain" represented my responsibility to lead the team; I couldn't give up first. As long as we defended against this attack from our opponents, we would win. Yulin High School, for our Olympic Sports Center, for our championship dream—let's go! I wondered how D Group's semifinal match was going.
Once back on the court, the game resumed. Rocky confidently dribbled past half-court and bent down to prepare for an attack—would he pass or drive? I didn't know what final strategy Coach Hejiang had assigned this time. I stepped up to defend him, but unexpectedly he spun around with a series of fakes and then executed two crossover steps that left me dizzy before quickly passing the ball to their Shooting Guard. Kobe rushed to defend him as their Shooting Guard charged toward the free-throw line. Kobe collided shoulder-first with their Shooting Guard's chest, and the referee blew his whistle—Kobe had fouled out with six fouls! Rocky and their Power Forward rushed toward their Shooting Guard in a frenzy and excitedly embraced him. Kobe shook his head helplessly as he walked off the court; Zhou Wenming, who had also just fouled out, stood up to high-five Kobe. Our four main players had suddenly been reduced by half! Watching Rocky and his teammates' ecstatic expressions made my heart sink deeply. With only thirty seconds left in the game, their Shooting Guard was about to take free throws again; our fate hung in balance without A Fei, without Kobe, without Zhou Wenming—only Ouyang and me remained. No matter what happened, we didn't want to graduate with regrets!
The opposing Shooting Guard made one of his two free throws; the score became 88-91. Neither team had any timeouts left. After we inbounded the ball again for an attack, I ran to the right wing and threw a long pass to Ouyang at the top of the arc. Ouyang caught it and shot a three-pointer—Yulin's sharpshooter! It bounced off the rim; their Power Forward grabbed the rebound and passed it quickly to Rocky as he sprinted toward our basket. Rocky drove straight in for a layup—90-91! We were only one point behind! With ten seconds left in the game, we still had one last chance to attack. Ouyang tightly closed his eyes and punched his fists together twice while shouting, "Yulin! Let's go! Yulin will win!" The students around us joined in cheering; it seemed that for this semifinal match, teachers had given everyone a class break.
After we inbounded the ball again, I quickly attacked toward their basket while Rocky and their forward blocked my path. I swiftly passed the ball out to Ouyang before retreating to set a screen at the arc's top position. Tu Lei and newly substituted Du hurried over to set screens for Ouyang as well. Ouyang hesitated for just a second before decisively launching a three-pointer.
As soon as he released the ball, the referee blew his whistle signaling that time was up—the entire arena fell silent as all players, coaches, and fans stood watching that floating ball in mid-air—the shot that would decide our fate! It went in! 94-90! We won by four points at home and narrowly defeated Hejiang with an overall score of 188-187 for our first trip to the City Finals in nearly twenty years! The crowd erupted into deafening cheers in an instant; I was so overwhelmed with excitement that my legs gave way beneath me as I sat on the floor with tears streaming down my face. Wiping my tears away while watching all our players lift Ouyang into the air made it hard for me to calm down. I ran over to Teacher Qiu and saw him sobbing like a child with his face turned towards empty space; when he saw me approach, he hugged me tightly. Here we were—two young men letting our joyful tears flow freely together at this moment when all eyes in the city were on Yulin High School after twenty years of playing supporting roles in league competitions—now it was our turn to shine at this Olympic Sports Center!
In my excitement, I turned back and saw Yuce's two key players with blank expressions and closed eyes—it was quite tragic for them; these two superstars who had come from Yuce to Hejiang still hadn't reached their final destination at Olympic Sports Center. A Fei buried his head in his hands while sobbing violently; Sha Xiaomei beside him had tears glistening in her eyes too. Pang Hao and Shuai Dong embraced each other while crying; at that moment we became the happiest people alive—Olympic Sports Center, wait for us Yulin as we aim for victory atop this city!
When we entered the locker room, everyone's eyes were red from emotion. After closing the door behind us, Teacher Qiu spoke first with a choked voice: "Team members, calm your excited hearts; while reaching the finals is certainly worth celebrating, it's not time for that yet—we haven't succeeded yet; we've merely secured a spot to compete for the championship title starting now!" After Teacher Qiu finished speaking, we couldn't help but cheer loudly—who would be our opponent in City Finals? I could hardly wait!
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