The Winter Cup preliminaries gets under way, with the newly-looked Seirin taking on Josei High. This marks the official return for center, 'Iron Heart' Kiyoshi Teppei since recovering from his leg injury. Although Kagami gets less involved due to him being double teamed, with Kiyoshi's unpredictable play and rebounds being the main focuses, Seirin gets even better in terms of offense and defense. Seirin takes control of the whole match, winning it by the score of 108-61. However, the next few qualifying matches might just get tougher for Seirin.