The Miya Triplets | Komori Motoya (On Pause)

Chapter 31

Entering the stands to watch the final game, Inarizaki was met with many proud and happy faces, having just placed third overall in the tournament. The girls thanked everyone for their unwavering faith and support during their InterHigh journey and were hoping to receive more as the school year progresses.

No longer in the tournament, the girls were finally able to cast aside their rivalry with Itachiyama, cheering for them with all their might as friends and peers alike. The entire stadium and viewers on livestream watched as the court displayed the top two basketball teams warming up. After completing warmups, the opposing teams lined up at their respective sides, waiting for the announcers to call out the names of all the players and coaches. Being the finals, the game opening took longer than all the previous matches.

When it got to announcing Itachiyama, the stadium roared, seeming to be the crowd favorite. The announcer introduced their starters in order of point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Upon hearing Reina's name called second, Atsuko cheered the loudest she could. To her surprise, she also heard another voice in the distance matching her volume. Immediately stopping as she looked around the stadium in search of the voice, her eyes landed on the front row of Itachiyama's cheer section.

In the front row she saw a boy of average height with short light brown hair and thick round eyebrows staring and yelling down at the court. Seeing their enthusiastic display of support towards Reina, she wondered what their relationship was. Were they family, friends, in a relationship? She had no idea, and she wasn't going to find out anytime soon. For now, the boy will remain a mystery.

Atsuko's eyes trailed away from the mysterious boy for a split second to the person next to them. Standing next to them was a taller boy around six feet tall with black wavy hair, face hidden behind a white mask. At the time she was observing the masked boy, his eyes glanced directly at her. Noticing his gaze on her, Atsuko froze for a second then quickly averted her attention back to the court below trying to act as if she was never looking at Itachiyama's cheer section. Sakusa chuckled to himself, having noticed her quick change in actions. Hearing Sakusa laugh, Komori turned to him.

Motoya: Kiyoomi, what's funny?

Kiyoomi: Oh nothing. Just made eye contact with someone in the crowd. They froze like I was Medusa and turned away trying to play it off.

Motoya: Hahaha. No way, was it someone we know?

Sakusa: No. Just a random person.

Motoya: Oh, well, I wouldn't blame them. You can have an icy stare. Especially when we're in an area with a lot of people.

Sakusa: I do not have an icy stare.

Motoya: Hmm. Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.

Sakusa: Fine by me.

The rest of the starting players' names were called getting into their positions on the court. The referee asked the center players if they were ready, then threw the ball up for the tip-off. The opposing team got to the ball first, causing Itachiyama to be on defense for the first possession of the game. However, Itachiyama weren't successful in preventing their opponents from scoring 0­ – 2.

Still, early in the game, Itachiyama remained calm, not allowing the first basket to weigh down their spirits. Although the same couldn't be said for their supporters. In the stands, people were already feeling tense, knowing how important the first basket could be in setting up the tempo for the first quarter. Everyone was already sitting on the edge of their seats, and it hadn't even been thirty seconds into the game.

For the rest of the first quarter, the opposing team continued to widen the gap leading, but Itachiyama tried their best to keep up with their race against time. At some point in the second quarter, all the starters from both teams found their way onto the bench. These substitutions allowed for Itachiyama to not only catch up and tie the score, but to surpass it by taking the lead. They ended the second quarter with Itachiyama leading by a score of 28 – 23.

During the third quarter, a few of the starting players made their way back onto the court. With a mix of starters and bench players, the plays made were really a test of how well the teams operated as a whole. It's one thing to have talented and skilled starters. But it's another to have bench players who were just as talented and skilled, who could easily communicate and integrate themselves with the starters. This is crucial because basketball or any team sport is difficult to play successfully when overall player skills are drastically different from one another. This leads to openings and an imbalance of responsibility and expectations being placed on players who are strides ahead of the rest.

In the end, the opposing team managed to regain their lead from the first quarter and stayed in the lead up until the very last second. The final buzzer sounded, the clock stopped counting down, and the scoreboard displayed a 75 – 89 score.

With the InterHigh tournament officially over, everyone in the stadium was given time to leave or wait for the award ceremony. The two teams who had just played stayed on the court sidelines while Inarizaki made their way down from the stands and staff set up the podium and medals. Once the intermission was over, the three winners were asked to stand in their respective spots on the podium. The heights of the podium varied to signify the first, second, and third winners. The medals for all the players were handed out in order of third to first place. The head coaches from each team were also handed a trophy to be displayed on school grounds for all to see in passing.

After the ceremony was over Inarizaki ate dinner together to celebrate placing in their first tournament of the year. Then they went back to their hotel grabbing their belongings before heading to the train station. By the time they finished their two-hour trip back to school, it was already late. Fortunately for the team, waiting in the school parking lot were the parents and families of many of the players. For those whose parents weren't there, other team parents, or their coaches were going to drop them home safely. They would make sure of it because not only were everyone teammates and supporters, but they were also one big family.

On the drive home, many of the players and parents thought one basketball tournament was down, only one volleyball tournament left to go.