From joining the basketball team until the official start of the California High School League, Gan Guoyang did not understand how California high schools are divided and how the basketball league is arranged.

There are more than 1,300 high schools in California, including private high schools, public high schools, and some vocational high schools. Unlike other state league public and private schools, all high schools in California form the California-Interscholastic-Federation (California Interscholastic Federation) to compete, referred to as CIF for short.

The CIF consists of ten major regions, and each district has a different number of schools. The largest district in Southern California has more than 500 schools. The number of schools in each district ranges from single digits to more than 500.

Palo Alto High School, where Gan Guoyang is located, belongs to the central coastal area and is a medium-sized area with a total of 140 schools.

But this number is still too large, so there are still many small partitions in the central coast area. In addition to the small partitions in other large areas, the distribution of the competition areas of California high schools has become extremely large.

What’s even more terrifying is that these 1,300 schools do not compete together, but are divided into five levels. The distinction between levels does not depend on the strength of the high school team, but based on the size of the high school, Palo Alto High School was assigned to the second level.

As a result, the CIF basketball game schedule is so complicated that it is terrifying. Non-professionals can't figure out who should play against whom, when and where to play.

When Gan Guoyang saw the complex schedule rules and area division chart, he had already given up on figuring out who to play and where to play. Anyway, everything is enough to follow the coach's arrangements.

The only thing he knows is that he can directly enter the state championship in the second division with excellent results. If he can't get first place, he has to wait for the CIF committee to select qualified teams to enter the state championship.

"Fate must be in your own hands." This is Bellman's reminder to every player, so getting the first one is the best choice.

Of course, the premise is to be strong enough. Palo Alto High School was not strong in the past, and their only hope of entering the state championship was to obtain the committee's qualification permit.

The criteria for qualification assessment mainly depend on the team's record and the record of the opponent. That is to say, this is a comprehensive evaluation process. If a school has a good record but its strength in the competition area is very weak, then the team will not be qualified for the competition. But if a school has a relatively average record but its strength in the competition area is very strong, then the team may be favored by the committee.

One of the important reasons why this can be evaluated is that in addition to playing routine matches with teams in the same district, teams between different districts will occasionally play cross-district invitational matches. In this way, the strength of the competition area can be judged by these invitational matches and the results of the routine matches.

The biggest advantage of doing this is that it can ensure that the strongest group of teams can enter the state competition championships at all levels, preventing some teams from taking advantage of their weak areas.

The small division where Palo Alto High School is located is a relatively average division. Even in such divisions, Palo Alto had only a medium-to-high record in the past. He could neither get the first place in the division nor was he favored by the CIF Organizing Committee.

In the six games that have ended, Palo Alto High School won 4 and lost 2, achieving a pretty good result. Especially after Gan Guoyang returned, the Vikings beat the Wolverines at home, and the confidence of the entire team has been qualitatively improved due to the return of the core.

However, there are more than 20 games left behind, and the road is still long, and it will not be decided until March. By then, the California Championship will start with the NCAA.

At this time, Gan Guoyang was walking on the way to the training ground with a basketball, playing with dribbling under his crotch while walking. In conjunction with the dance steps he learned from Michael Jackson, a sense of rhythmic swaying rhythm was created, which made passers-by look at each other.

He is now a real star at Palo Alto High School, a foreign transfer student, superstar recommendation, joining the team in the middle, savior in the halftime, cross-border kill, and returning the king. All of this is a wonderful legendary story.

It is just because Gan Guoyang is a Chinese, his reputation is still spreading in the basketball circles in Palo Alto High School and the San Francisco area, while in other fields and regions, he is still just an ordinary yellow man.

This situation is still the case even in the 21st century. Jeremy Lin was despised because of his Chinese identity and eventually went to Harvard without the invitation of a prestigious basketball school.

"Hello, booze!" As Gan Guoyang walked, he found a familiar figure and walked on the way to the stadium.

"Uh...hello...gan." This guy is Harlek.

Since Gan Guoyang went to watch a rugby game last time, he became the team's quarterback for no reason and used a long-distance pass to kill his opponent, Halek was embarrassed to appear in front of Gan Guoyang.

In the past, Gan Guoyang always hid in the locker, but now it is Harlek who hid in Gan Guoyang.

"Long time no see, the rugby league has started, right?" Gan Guoyang didn't hate Harlek, although he sometimes felt that he was very annoying. A wild bison rarely hates the gadfly on his back. It feels really uncomfortable, just kill it with his tail.

Now, Gan Guoyang not only did not kill Halek, but also greatly helped Halek and his team, because the wide receiver who received a long pass from Gan Guoyang that day was Halek.

"Yes, we have won all three games now, but our opponents are still relatively weak. Next week, it seems that we will play an invitational match with an Oakland team." Although Halleck is a racist, he is even more powerful. If you are better than him, he respects you, and on the contrary, he becomes more and more arrogant.

"Auckland's team? Is it from the Auckland District? Are you going to start the invitational tournament so soon?" Gan Guoyang was surprised. The current schedule should be playing home and away double round-robin matches with the teams in the district. The invitational tournament is going to start the invitational tournament so soon?

"Yes, there are only six schools in the Auckland area, and each school and teams in the same district can only play a few games. So they have already started to play the invitational tournament in advance."

It turns out that Auckland District is a large area, but there are only six high schools, so the competitions in the district will be completed soon. In order to make the competitions in the district more intense and decisive, the teams in the Auckland District usually go to the invitational midway and then come back to play the remaining routine.

"That's the case, then you have to work hard! I hope I won't need my help anymore." Gan Guoyang said.

"Coach Hawkins is still harassing your coach, hoping that you can join the rugby team." Halek's words shocked Gan Guoyang.

"Oh no! I don't want to play rugby anymore! I believe you are already a very strong team, and my performance that day was just good luck."

"Gan, luck is also a kind of strength." Halek and Gan Guoyang have criticized each other for a lot, and their language level seems to have improved a lot.

"Also, those who came to the school together this time, in addition to the opponent's rugby team, their basketball team will also come to play invitational games with you." Some information revealed to Gan Guoyang by Halek.

"Is that so? Which high school team is it?" Gan Guoyang asked curiously.

“Skyline High School.”

After arriving at the gym, Gan Guoyang learned from coach Bellman that Skyrim High School will indeed visit Palo Alto High School next weekend to play an invitational match.

However, before that, they still have four games in the same zone to play.

"Gan, we are going to play in East Palo Alto Private High School tomorrow. Your back injury should be fine, right?" Bellman asked while doing solo training for Gan Guoyang.

"No problem! I feel great now. I can't wait to kick their ass!"

As he said that, Gan Guoyang was overwhelmed with his shoulders and pushed his back to Belman's big mat, gaining room for action, and a clean and neat jump shot sent the ball into the basket.

"Look, my back is fine, right?" Gan Guoyang said after he threw himself into the trap.

"Your steps seem to have made some progress and more comfortable." Bellman said, staring at Gan Guoyang's feet.

"Yes, I've had a secret training!"

……………………

East Palo Alto Private High School is located in Palo Alto East, only a dozen minutes’ drive from Palo Alto High School. So for Vikings players, it is not so much about playing away games, but rather a friendly match at the brothers’ schools.

"I have many classmates from the past who went to East Palo Alto Private High School. This time I can give them some surprises!" Vigis said on the bus.

"Well Virgis, how could those rich people who go to private high schools remember bad boys like us? Maybe they would take their girlfriends to the game, and then point at us and say, 'Look at those guys, they are fighting on the court for a breaking ball, they are so fucking ill'!" The person who spoke was Mikari Williams, the Vikings' shooting guard, a very explosive black player.

"Don't do this, Mikari, aren't you looking forward to blowing up the pleasure brought by those young men? This is more fucking fun than picking up girls." Gan Guoyang said while chewing an apple in the car.

Most of the people who attend public high schools in the United States are people of color and ordinary people from ordinary families, while those who can attend private high schools are children of rich people.

Gan Guoyang does not hate the rich, but he knows that mobilizing some "hate" at the right time will help improve the morale of the team. Now Gan Guoyang has become the Vikings' unyielding and spiritual leader.

"That's right! I think it's definitely better than the big ass in San Andreas!" The San Andreas district is the red light district in San Francisco.

"Hey! You seem to have been to San Andreas. You have only your wealth, and you can't even get a bitch on the street."

"Go-you-dum, I can tell you that when I went to San Andreas, it was one night two years ago..."

A group of high school students with surplus hormones started a discussion about their life in the bus, and their coach Bellman didn't care. He wanted the players to be excited and then vent their excess energy on their opponents.

"Okay ladies, we've arrived, it's time to come down and relax."

The drive of more than ten minutes is very fast, and the Vikings arrived at East Palo Alto Private High School at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, where they will challenge East Palo Alto Bulldogs away.

The architectural style of East Palo Alto Private High School is very similar to that of Palo Alto High School. It mainly has white exterior walls and has a rich Mediterranean style, giving people a refreshing feeling like a sea breeze.

However, the Vikings would not show mercy to the Bulldogs because in Palo Alto, the two high schools were private and public, one in the west and the other in the east, and were mortal enemies in every aspect.

So after arriving at the school, the Vikings players entered the gymnasium with great knowledge, went to the locker room to change their uniforms, and started a warm-up activity on the field. At this time, the Bulldogs players were not yet present.

"Those young men haven't come yet?" Gan Guoyang said, looking at the players who were only halftime and the crowds in the gymnasium.

Generally speaking, home teams will arrive at the stadium one step ahead of the away team, and the audience will arrive at the stadium early to build momentum for the home court.

"East Palo Alto High School has always been like this. The students here are rich, and basketball is not an indispensable sport. They are not Indiana farmers." Viggis replied. Indiana is one of the most enthusiastic states in the United States about basketball.

"Then how strong are they?" Gan Guoyang asked again, shooting a basket.

"Actually, the Bulldogs are quite good. Because the school is rich, they will recruit many excellent basketball players. Their talents are all good, but the team's performance is always average, which is similar to the previous Vikings." Dippenblock said in a silence.

Speaking of this, Gan Guoyang understood that the Bulldogs should be a basketball team with good talent but not very strong fighting spirit. This is not very consistent with their team name "Buldogs".

Sure enough, after a while, the Bulldogs at home arrived at the gymnasium. They entered the stadium with laughter and laughed and greeted the Vikings players casually. Several of the blacks clearly knew the Vikings players, who should be classmates from before high school.

"Hey! Hello Vigis, your shooting posture is still so ugly!" The person who spoke was a very tall and very strong black player.

"Get out!" Virgis did not talk much nonsense with him and continued to warm up. This is Bellman's rule, and it is not allowed to communicate with opponents before the game.

"Who is that guy?" Gan Guoyang asked curiously.

"It's my former classmate, Bruce Carrill. A very powerful guy, you have to be careful, Gan."

The game started soon, and Bruce Carrill did have two brushes, which Gan Guoyang realized when competing for the ball.

Gan Guoyang's bounce and strength are quite good, even compared with the blacks. Due to his excellent rebounding skills, he is also very capable of competing for balls.

But when competing with Carrier, Gan Guoyang clearly felt Carrier's strength and was squeezed down by him when he collided in the air.

The Bulldogs competed for the ball.

At the beginning, Bellman set up a defensive tactic for the Vikings to "three-two joint defense". That is, Gan Guoyang is in the three-second zone, with forward players on the flanks to protect them, and at the same time, two defenders form a barrier in the horn position.

This tactical arrangement is mainly aimed at the Bulldogs players' outstanding personal abilities and sharp breakthroughs. I hope to cut into the opponent's players on the wing.

But in this way, the front arc top will be completely exposed, and the only one who fills this gap is the Vikings' inside defensive pillar - Gan Guoyang.

Sure enough, the Bulldogs' outside players were double-teamed on both wings, and their baseline firepower was insufficient, so they could only transfer the ball to the top of the arc. After getting the ball, the shooting guard made a cover with the inside player who was lifted and successfully invaded from the top of the arc into the three-second zone.

However, Gan Guoyang was prepared for it. He did not pounce on it to oppress and defend, but took a few steps back and released a path to break through.

Seeing this, the opponent's shooting guard broke through and made a layup without hesitation. But Gan Guoyang had already locked in his steps and had calculated the step in his mind to avoid the opponent's time difference.

Gan Guoyang jumped up quickly, stretched out his long arm, and gently tapped the opponent's defender's ball, trying his best to avoid physical contact with the opponent and prevent fouls.

The ball was distracted from the opponent's defender's hand because of interference.

However, a strong body hit Gan Guoyang in the air, pushing Gan Guoyang away, who could not exert force. At the same time, the ball in the air was held by a pair of big hands, "Bang!", and the ball was smashed into the basket again!

Bruce Carrier successfully re-dumped!

Gan Guoyang had done a good job in the defense just now, but he still ignored Carrier's existence and asked him to pick up a hole.

After Carrier successfully re-dumped, the gymnasium was filled with joy. He also looked at Gan Guoyang proudly, shook his head gently, and then twisted his butt and ran back to his half.

"Gan, do you want to teach him a lesson later?" Dippenblock asked.
Chapter completed!