The opponents in the preliminaries and semifinals were not strong.
Class 3 swept through every match.
In Teacher Wang’s words, “They didn’t even break a sweat.”
The players were bursting with confidence.
Some even started discussing where to celebrate after the finals.
Zheng Yang sat on the bench, listening to these words, feeling a faint unease in her heart.
She remembered her own playing days—
The smoother the sailing, the easier it was to capsize at a critical moment.
But she didn’t say it out loud.
She was just a substitute, and a girl at that.
She could vaguely feel that even if she was more popular than the starters, even if her skills were better than theirs, no one would care what she said.
The opponent in the finals was Class 8—
The class that had the only two official cheerleading squads.
Sure enough, cheerleading was a standard feature for the strong.
The finals were more formal than the previous games, with a proper halftime break.
So there would be a cheerleading performance at the opening and at halftime.
Class 3’s cheerleading squad, led by Wu Chun, was superior in both looks and dance ability.
The teachers discussed putting them at halftime as the finale.
Class 8’s squad would perform at the opening.
On the day of the finals, the indoor gymnasium was packed.
Even senior students and teachers came to watch.
Zheng Yang felt that even the NBA games she had seen before couldn’t have had a much bigger audience.
Class 8’s cheerleaders entered the court.
Their blue-and-white uniforms jumped and spun in the center of the court, movements neat and full of energy.
Cheers rose and fell from the audience—
Mostly from the boys, of course.
The cheerleading girls had slender figures and beaming smiles.
But Zheng Yang seemed uninterested.
Her gaze lingered on them for less than three seconds, then never left the five people about to step onto the court.
Her son Zheng Siyuan, along with Zhang Zihan and Li Tong, were among them.
As Class 8’s dance ended, Wu Chun immediately led Class 3’s cheerleading squad in shouting, “Class 3! Go! Class 3! Victory!”
It had to be said, the cheerleaders really did bring a lot of face.
The game officially began.
Zhang Zihan had height advantage, plus jumping ability, so he grabbed the opening tip-off.
The five starters sauntered over to the opponent’s court as if taking a leisurely walk.
Watching from the bench, Zheng Yang couldn’t help shaking her head.
‘They’re still stuck in the habit of crushing weak teams. This is going to backfire badly.’
In a duel, the one who underestimates the enemy is not suited to strike first.
Sure enough, Li Tong caught the ball, couldn’t even be bothered to make a decent fake, and went straight for a shot. The ball clanked off the rim.
Class 8 grabbed the rebound, made a long pass, launched a fast break, and scored on a layup.
“Whoa!”
The Class 8 spectators and neutral ones alike cheered.
This was the passion and charm of sports.
Class 3’s opening seemed like they hadn’t woken up yet—
Nobody liked it.
Fortunately, those 2 points woke them up.
One by one, they started to get serious.
But Class 8’s morale was high, their offense fierce.
Since they had found an opening, why would they easily let the opponent breathe?
After Class 3 committed another turnover, Class 8 drained a three-pointer.
Zheng Yang gritted her teeth.
This was the consequence of underestimating the opponent at the start.
‘These kids really are immature.’
Siyuan, Zhang Zihan, and the others began to panic, but their condition and touch weren’t keeping up.
They played without order—
Offense relied on isolation, defense relied on staring.
“Defense! Defense!” Teacher Wang shouted from the sidelines, his voice already urgent.
But shouting didn’t help.
Class 3’s players seemed stuck.
Coordination was unfamiliar, turnovers were frequent.
Siyuan’s pass was intercepted once, Zhang Zihan’s post-up was blocked once, Li Tong’s outside shots clanked continuously.
Class 8 seized the opportunity and launched wave after wave of offensive runs.
5-0,
8-2,
12-4,
18-6…
The numbers on the scoreboard galloped like a runaway horse.
Class 3’s bench fell silent, and the Class 3 students in the stands also went quiet.
Only Class 8’s cheerleaders grew more spirited with their chants.
22-7.
Over ten minutes.
Zheng Yang couldn’t sit still any longer.
She stood up and walked over to Teacher Wang.
“Teacher, let me play.”
Teacher Wang glanced at her and shook his head.
“No, it’s not time yet.”
“But…”
“No buts.”
Teacher Wang’s voice was hard.
“Go back and sit down.”
The intensity that Class 8 brought to the game far exceeded the previous three days’ matches, and also far exceeded what everyone in Class 3 had imagined.
A phrase came to Zheng Yang’s mind:
‘Hardship breeds survival, comfort breeds death.’
This was exactly Class 3’s situation right now.
The situation on the court still hadn’t improved.
Class 8’s defense tightened.
Siyuan was double-teamed, unable to pass out.
Zhang Zihan was being pushed around in the paint, couldn’t even grab a rebound.
Zheng Yang bit her lip and returned to the bench.
She sat down, then stood up, then sat down, then stood up again.
Her heart was beating so fast, it felt like it was going to leap out of her chest.
She stomped her foot, disregarding game rules, and cupped her hands around her mouth to shout at the court, “Zihan! Their center is no weaker than you! Don’t take him lightly!”
“Hey, no shouting, pay attention to discipline,” Teacher Wang reminded.
But Zhang Zihan heard it clearly.
That was his Yang Ge, his goddess.
How could he disappoint Yang Ge!
Zhang Zihan gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and let out a loud roar.
His whole body seemed injected with chicken blood—
The speed of his transitions and attacks visibly increased.
His drive inspired Siyuan and the others.
Finally, using positioning and passing, they scored a proper basket—
2 points.
Class 3’s cheerleading squad finally had something to cheer about.
Not just Class 3, but even the neutral spectators let out scattered cheers.
Not for the 2 points, but for seeing Class 3’s fighting spirit return.
Zhang Zihan and Zheng Siyuan exchanged a smile, as if taking a calming pill.
They coordinated seamlessly, using different offensive strategies for each possession—
Layups, passes, inside shots, long-range shots…
Making Class 8 unable to find a pattern.
They took control of their own rhythm and threw off Class 8’s.
It was a smooth and flowing feeling again.
Not just the two of them—
All the spectators, even those who didn’t understand the game, could sense it.
22-11,
22-13,
22-15…
The score was slowly closing in.
Near halftime, Class 3 had almost tied the game.
The halftime whistle blew.
The audience cheered, especially the senior students and teachers—
Such an intense and nerve-wracking game was well worth skipping class to watch.
At the sidelines, Zhang Zihan unscrewed a bottle of water and laughed, “See that? Once we get serious, Class 8 is nothing!”
“Hey, don’t forget the pain once the wound heals!”
Zheng Yang couldn’t help rebuking him before Teacher Wang could speak.
“Class 8 is pretty strong!”
Zhang Zihan scratched his head.
“I was just saying…”
Teacher Wang also said, “The class monitor is right. Class 8’s strength is considerable. If you underestimate them again, you’ll die miserably! They have two players who are very burly. On the court, weight is an advantage—especially for you, Zhang Zihan. If you get targeted inside, even if you’re a bit taller, your stamina will be drained quickly by the opponent.”
The players all nodded seriously.
“In the second half of the first half, they got stifled. They’ll definitely rearrange their tactics in the second half. You can no longer stick to the previous strategy centered on Siyuan and Zihan. Pass the ball more to Li Tong and others. In short, adapt on the fly, and don’t panic if you get targeted.”
Zheng Yang listened to Teacher Wang’s explanation and couldn’t help glancing toward Class 8’s side.
The Class 8 coach was also gathering his players, explaining animatedly.
But she could see that the coach wasn’t flustered at all.
She had a feeling that the second half might be even tougher than the first.