Chapter 226 Last National High School Championship 4
Mark was essential to the team's rebounds and Nathan and Lucas had to do well in both defense and attack, only Jake who had no pressure and had to play what he knew only.
The days went by and the day of the semifinal match was near, so Coach Mike decided to give the players a rest so that everyone was at their best on match day, of course, Jake didn't change anything and he would still do his thing intense training in the same way.
For Jake who had 37 Resistance points a common basketball game would not be enough to make him tired, maybe when he had a routine of several games in the week that lasted longer and were much harder as it would be in the NBA that he might need a rest before the game.
Jake was quieter at least to spend more time at home, he was totally quiet in his new home, even though in his past life he didn't live in a mansion and had several employees that wouldn't bother Jake.
But Eva still thought it was strange, she loved the new house with the new much bigger and comfortable furniture, especially the kitchen, it was big and seemed a bit in space of the restaurant, that was why Eva chose this house.
But she couldn't get used to seeing the housekeepers cleaning the house for her, it was a custom she had since childhood, and Eva didn't even like Jake cleaning the house sometimes.
Even so, she knew she couldn't clean a mansion this size alone so the maids she could even accept, the cook Jake had hired was another thing Eva didn't like, she preferred to cook the food herself.
Jake knew this well so the cook didn't live in the house and only worked when Eva wasn't home or when Eva needed her, so Eva couldn't complain and had to accept it too.
The hardest thing was getting used to a driver and another man who took her everywhere, Eva couldn't even go to a mall alone without the driver insisting on taking her, that's what Jake had demanded of course Eva had freedom to go where she wanted and the security guards would just follow her from afar.
After all, after what had happened Jake could not rest easy leaving his mother alone, he knew that after a few years Eva would get used to it after all the rich had security and used to live like this.
Jake had complete confidence in the people who worked with him and cared for his mother because he had used his second job skills with all of them, so he knew that everything they said was true and these people were reliable.
After a few months, Jake would always ask the same questions and use his ability to always ensure his mother's safety, in fact, Jake suggested that Oliver hire Joseph a security guard after what happened to him.
But Oliver said he didn't think it was necessary and Jake didn't want to talk about it anymore, Jake was so lucky he can't help worrying about it, he thought Oliver was being too careless, after all, Oliver didn't leave home very much and Matthew had the security guards near him.
So after Matthew's company was even more successful, Jake feared that his friend would also be targeted by bad guys.
Of course, even Jake knew this was something unusual to happen, and his house was targeted because he was in an unsafe neighborhood, so a person being kidnapped on the street was much harder to do.
But after what happened Jake realized that just because something is hard to happen doesn't mean it can't end up happening, and after a tragedy happens it's no use complaining and regretting it.
After a few more days the day of the fifth game of the national championship game, it was the semifinal in which despite being expected a difficult game everyone was confident with the victory.
Jake woke up very early and ate breakfast prepared by his mother and then left for the game site, when Jake arrived he saw that he was the last to arrive from his team and went to do the pre-game warm-up exercises.
After another week of training, the starting lineup would be Jake in PG position, Nathan in SG position, Lucas in SF position, Carter in PF position and Mark in Center position as always.
The opposing team was the Foxes team and had three players who were the team highlights, PG Sam, SG Joe, and Center Thiago, even though playing against the elite team that is the current champion the Foxes team players seemed confident in victory.
After a few more minutes the semifinal game began and Mark climbed higher and got the first possession for the Elite team, Jake received the ball and began to advance to organize the Elite team's first attack in the game.
After advancing a bit Jake passed the ball to Nathan which was open on the right, Nathan advanced until after the three-point line and passed to Carter on the right, Carter received the ball and got rid of the mark and made a mid-range shot to Make the first 2 points for the Elite team in the game.
Everyone besides Jake was very excited after the start of the game, even the quieter Carter was trying his best to score some points to help the Elite team win this game, after all for part of the team this would be the penultimate game if they won at high school.
Nathan and Lucas were still starting and had 3 more years to go, but they were also excited to play well and take the chance to beholders in the final game if they won that game.
Only Jake was calmer because there was still so much to play, but he didn't think it was a bad thing for the whole team to be more excited and make a better game today.
Sam picked up the ball and began to advance to the attack and organize his team's first attack in the game after passing through the middle of the court Sam passed the ball to his team's SF which was open on the right.
SF advanced ahead of the three-point line and passed the ball to Thiago ahead, Thiago managed to get away from Mark's defense and tried a mid-range shot to score 2 points and tie the game for the Foxes team.
Jake received the ball and went into the attack, before going through the middle of the court Jake passed the ball to Nathan who was open on the right, Nathan advanced until after the three-point line and held even after Joe arrived in defense.
Nathan passed the ball to Jake who was behind him, Jake received the ball and made a feint and could easily pass by Sam and drive to the basket to lay up and 2 points for the Elite team.
The game was very much the same between the teams and although the Elite team had more skill both teams were able to take advantage of their chances of attacking, so at the end of the first period, the Elite team was ahead by only 2 points.
Jake was playing well as usual and only scored 6 points because the moves were slower with the opposing defense being good, yet everyone was calm because this game was expected to be more difficult.
At the beginning of the second period, Jake was much more active in the game and made a more individual play to score more points and so the lead also increased Mark also seemed eager to participate more in the attack and always tried the moves to make the points above of Thiago's defense.
Jake advanced with the ball until after the middle of the court and passed the ball to Lucas on the left, Lucas held the ball a little and passed to Nathan who was open on the right, Nathan received the ball and quickly passed to Mark who was asking for the ball again.
Mark received the ball and after a spin made a dunk to make 2 more points for the Elite team in the game, the fans in the stands were enjoying this game played and the many plays of Mark in the game.
Sam received the ball and began to organize another attack for the Foxes team, he advanced and stopped before the three-point line and passed the ball to Joe on the left so as not to lose the ball in Jake's defense.
Joe got the ball and tried to make a shot on Nathan, but Nathan was firm in defense, so Joe passed the ball to Thiago again, Thiago used his strength and turned to make a dunk and 2 points for the Foxes team.
Mark was very excited about the attack and was always asking the ball to score points with some dunk too, but Thiago was trying too hard and the dispute between the two excited the crowd in the stands,
At the end of the second period, the Elite team was ahead by 8 points, this was thanks to Jake who was working harder on the attacks and scored 12 points in this second period, Mark had also done well in the second period and so the Elite team was more lively.
Only Jake could not cheer up even after playing the entire game to an advantage, the more the advanced game the greater Jake's feeling that something bad could happen, but he thought the Elite team was playing very well and had many chances to win.
No player was playing poorly in the game and he himself was playing normally without any performance problems, Jake was all the time between the second and third period trying to understand this feeling, but failed.
He also couldn't ask for the game to stop just because he was having a bad feeling and so the third period started, Jake was playing even more seriously and everyone got more serious seeing the captain acting like that.
Jake advanced with the ball and after passing the middle of the court he passed the ball to Lucas on the left, Lucas received the ball and advanced before the three-point line and passed to Carter, Carter held the ball and returned the ball to Jake soon after.
Jake received Carter's pass and feigned Sam, then Jake stepped back and attempted a shot from outside to score 3 points for the Elite team in the game.