Seirin vs. Shūtoku (Rematch)

Lore & Background

Seirin had beaten Shūtoku 82–81 in the final of the Inter-High preliminaries, when Kuroko knocked the ball out of Midorima's hands on the last shot. Over the summer the two teams trained at the same inn, and Shūtoku won all three practice matches, played without Kagami, by less than ten points each.

Reader's Guide

Seirin leads 23–16 into the second quarter, but Kagami tires and Takao's Hawk Eye works against Kuroko's Misdirection. Midorima begins faking and passing, so that each of his shots costs Kagami more energy, and Kiyoshi and Kagami double-team him. Kuroko is substituted for Mitobe and Seirin reaches half-time 45–43 ahead. Shūtoku pulls ahead 76–68 late in the third quarter before Kuroko returns and passes Midorima with his Vanishing Drive, and the quarter ends level. With less than 30 seconds left Ōtsubo puts Shūtoku up 104–103. Kiyoshi is fouled by Midorima on a dunk attempt and makes the first of two free throws to tie the score. Kagami takes the rebound of the second, but he and Midorima fumble the ball at the buzzer. Tournament rules allow no overtime, so the match ends in a draw.

Did You Know?

• After this draw Seirin still has to beat Kirisaki Daiichi to reach the Winter Cup, which it does 78–70.
• Midorima Shintarō's full-court three-point shooting is a key highlight of this game.