Cinderella
teams enjoy their turn
in Far East tournament spotlight
From Stripes and special reports
Donovan
Brooks / Stars and Stripes
Kadena's Kelvin Smith is defended by Noaki Shimmachi (44)
and Yo Basso of St. Mary's International School during
Saturday's championship game. |
ANDERSEN
AIR FORCE BASE, Guam — The Saints came marching in Saturday.
A
pair of Cinderella teams, Tokyo’s St. Mary’s International
Titans and the St. Paul Christian Warriors of Guam, ruled
the roost as the Far East High School Boys Basketball Tournaments
ended.
St.
Mary’s won its first Boys Class AA (large schools) Tournament
title, edging the Kadena Panthers of Okinawa 53-50 at Andersen
with the help of three fourth-quarter three-pointers by MVP
Yoichiro Basso.
At
Camp Walker, in Taegu, South Korea, St. Paul claimed victory
for the first time in the Boys Class A (small schools) Tournament.
The Warriors beat the defending champion E.J. King Cobras
of Japan 58-38 and 65-55 in a two-game final.
A
familiar face won the Girls Class AA Tournament on Okinawa,
as the Nile C. Kinnick Red Devils edged the host Kubasaki
Dragons 45-41 for their third Far East championship in seven
years.
St.
Mary’s, a perennial also-ran, had never finished higher than
fourth in a Far East tournament, making their only previous
Final Four appearance in 1992.
Kadena
rallied from a 35-27 third-quarter deficit with a 10-point
run, taking its last lead on Dan Spottsville’s basket. But
Basso answered with a three-pointer, sparking a 7-0 run that
put St. Mary’s ahead to stay.
The
Panthers still had a chance, trailing 50-47, when Spottsville
missed a three-point try with 23 seconds left. Shu Sasaki
hit 3-of-4 foul shots in the closing seconds to offset a late
three-pointer by Kelvin Smith.
The
Panthers still had a chance to tie but Smith’s three-point
try from half-court with one second left missed.
Basso
scored 20 points for St. Mary’s, which shot 49 percent from
the field to Kadena’s 23 percent.
"I
just felt the touch today, something which I haven’t felt
in probably the whole tournament," Basso said.
Smith
led all scorers with 21 points. St. Mary’s capped a 26-13
season, while Kadena finished 20-7.
For
the Panthers, who have won the tournament eight times, it
was their second straight runner-up finish and third in six
years.
Behind
tournament MVP Ian Mesa, St. Paul righted itself and reached
the final, needing to beat the Cobras twice for the title.
They
did just that, outscoring E.J. King by a combined 43-17 in
the third quarters the final games.
In
the clincher, Mesa had 18 of his 26 points in the second half
and Tony Borja 10 of his 17 in the fourth quarter to help
the Warriors rally from a four-point halftime deficit. Mark
Dayson and Sancho Burlaza had 10 points each.
Jason
Cleavinger scored 20 points to pace the Cobras. B.J. Trinidad
had 12 of his 19 in the final period and Chris Ford netted
12 points.
The
opener belonged to Dayson, who netted 11 of his 15 points
in the third quarter, in which St. Paul outscored E.J. King
24-10. Tony Balajadia had 12 points and Mesa 10 for the Warriors,
who finished 25-2 on the season. Ford led the Cobras (39-5)
with 11 points.
Mark
Oliva / Stars and Stripes
Kubasaki's Nikki McGraw looks for the open lane against
Kinnick's Katreem Palmer. |
Kinnick’s
Girls Class AA victory marked the fourth straight year that
the host team lost the final. It was the first title for coach
Henry Falk in his two years at the helm of the Devils, whe
finished 26-6.
"I’ve
seen several of these tournaments, but I never thought it
[title] would ever happen to me," Falk said.
Kubasaki
(26-13) had not been in the finals since losing in 1994. The
last of their record six titles came in the 1993 tournament
at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan.
The
Dragons committed nine first-quarter turnovers and Kinnick
took advantage, with leads of 22-8 after one quarter and 32-14
just before halftime. Kubasaki outscored Kinnick 33-23 the
last three quarters.
Carol
Tully had 13 points, Leina Powers recorded 10 points and 11
rebounds, tournament Most Outstanding Player Arianne Bordeaux
scored 10, Jessica Jackson grabbed 14 rebounds and Katreem
Palmer pulled down 13 for Kinnick.
"Arianne
was the sparkplug of the Far East," Falk said. "She
has just taken over and the other players rallied around her."
Nikki
McGraw led Kubasaki with 14 points, Courtney Smith grabbed
15 rebounds and Jamie Jenkins and Anna Chambers had eight
each. Point guard Shakyra Walker went down with a knee injury
in the third quarter with Kubasaki trailing by four; the final
margin stayed that way.
"Nine
turnovers and five rebounds in the first quarter. That’s the
story," Kubasaki coach Jim Hall said. "I told the
girls we had to outplay them for three quarters and we did.
It just wasn’t enough."
NOTE:
The Class A girls' final was played on Friday; Osan defeated
Taegu, 44-22. Click here
for story.
Class
A boys
at
Camp Walker, Taegu, South Korea.
Championship
Game
1: St. Paul Christian (11-1), Guam, def. E.J. King (9-2),
Japan, 58-38.
Game
2: St. Paul def. E.J. King, 65-55.
Awards
Most
Valuable Player: Ian Mesa, St. Paul.
All-Tournament
Team: Mesa, Deryl Pangelinan, St. Paul; Jason Cleavinger,
Chris Ford, B.J. Trinidad, E.J. King; Willie Perry, Dustin
Elliott, Matthew C. Perry, Japan; Alex Sommers, Morrison Christian
Academy, Taiwan; Scotty Halasz, Donald Holmes, Taegu American,
South Korea; Tommy Penland, Jun Sung Choi, Taejon Christian
International, South Korea; Blake Weaver, International Christian-Uijongbu,
South Korea; Eugene Sohn, Seoul International; Peter Viljoen,
Hokkaido International, Japan.
Skills
competitions (scores not available)
Three-point:
1, Cleavinger; 2, Matt Grobler, Morrison.
Foul-shooting:
1, William Chang, Morrison; 2, Dan Sunwoo, Seoul
International.
Team
Sportsmanship Award: ICS-Uijongbu and Pusan American,
South Korea.
Saturday’s
results
Championship
St.
Paul 65, E.J. King 55: The Warriors outscored the
Cobras 19-7 in the third quarter to rally from a 28-24 halftime
deficit. Ian Mesa had 18 of his 26 points in the second half,
Tony Borja 10 of his 17 in the fourth quarter and Sancho Burlaza
and Mark Dayson 10 each. For the Cobras, B.J. Trinidad had
12 of his 19 in the final period, Jason Cleavinger had 20
points and Chris Ford 12.
St.
Paul 58, E.J. King 38: Again, St. Paul owned the
third period, outscoring E.J. King 24-10. Dayson had 11 of
his 15 in the third Buarter, Tony Balajada had 12 points and
Mesa scored 10. Ford led the Cobras with 11 points.
Class
AA boys
at
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
Championship
St.
Mary's International (6-3, Tokyo, def. Kadena (7-1), Okinawa,
53-50.
Consolation
Father
Duenas Memorial (6-2), Guam, def. Zama American (4-4), Japan,
82-56
Kubasaki
(7-2), Okinawa, def. John F. Kennedy (4-5), Guam, 42-30; Kubasaki
takes fifth place.
Nile
C. Kinnick (6-4), Japan, def. Faith Academy (6-3), Philippines,
58-42; Kinnick takes seventh place.
Christian
Academy In Japan (5-4) def. Robert D. Edgren (3-7), Japan,
53-30; CAJ takes ninth place.
Awards
Most
Valuable Player: Yoichiro Basso, St. Mary's.
All-Tournament
Team: Basso; Tom Penner, Kadena; Francis Reyes and
Vince Estella, Father Duenas; Sam Roy, Kubasaki; Jay Mercado,
JFK; Brussel Bungay, Kinnick; Steve Krueger, Faith; Levi Cole,
CAJ; Jason Steadman, Edgren; Julian Harden, Seoul American;
Scott Smith, Yokota; Dan Duplessis, Zama; Marlon Simbulan,
Simon Sanchez; Donnie Brosh, American School In Japan.
Outstanding
Coach: Fred Sava, St. Mary's.
Team
Sportsmanship Award: Marianas High, Saipan.
Saturday’s
results
Father
Duenas 82, Zama 56: The Friars had the highest point
total of the tournament, with Francis Reyes scoring 18 points,
Dean Manglona 13, Jia Wang and Jimmy Yi 12 each and Vince
Estella 10. Dan Duplessis paced the Trojans with 17 and Tim
Stearns added 12.
Kubasaki
42, JFK 30: Ryan Hall scored 10 points, Sam Roy had
nine and Ryan Fromherz eight for the fifth-place Dragons.
Jay Mercado had 10 to lead the Islanders.
Kinnick
58, Faith 42: Mike Daniels scored 20 points and freshman
John Williams added 12 for the Devils. Darren Meisel’s 18
points led the Vanguards.
CAJ
53, Edgren 30: Three players — Levi Cole, Matt Regier
and Scott Olson — each had 10 points and the Knights outscored
the Eagles 19-6 in the third period. Roman Jones had 10 points
for Edgren.
Class
AA girls
at
Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan.
Championship
Nile
C. Kinnick (7-0), Japan, def. Kubasaki (6-1), Okinawa, 45-41.
Consolation
Robert
D. Edgren (6-1), Japan, def. Christian Academy In Japan (4-3),
55-50
Kadena
(6-1), Okinawa, def. Morrison Christian Academy (4-3), Taiwan,
39-31; Kadena takes fifth place.
John
F. Kennedy (4-3), Guam, def. Yokota (3-4), Japan, 47-33; JFK
takes seventh place.
Awards
Most
Outstanding Player: Arianne Bordeaux, Kinnick.
All-Tournament
Team: Bordeaux, Jessica Jackson, Katreem Palmer,
Kinnick; Nikki McGraw, Shakyra Walker, Kubasaki; Desirae Riddick,
Edgren; Kirsten Nelson, CAJ; Sheneka Lee, Kadena; Robin Siirila,
Morrison; Jocelyn Pardilla, JFK; Jenna Cutts, Faith Academy,
Philippines; Rachel Koehneke, Hong Kong International, China.
Team
Sportsmanship Award: JFK.
Saturday’s
results
Edgren
55, CAJ 50: Desirae Riddick led the Eagles with 20
points and Stella Leflore scored 12. The Knights were led
by their sister act; senior Kirsten Nelson had 17 points and
freshman Jessica added 15.
Kadena
39, Morrison 31: April Mack and Sheneka Lee poured
in 14 points each to pace the Panthers. Angel McGill scored
10 points and grabbed a tournament-high 27 boards for the
Mustangs.
JFK
47, Yokota 33: Freshman Jocelyn Pardilla netted 16
points, Christine Vicente added 13 and Jackie Mante scored
10 for the Islanders. Emily Walsh topped the Panthers with
16 points and Tomiko Johnson poured in 10.
Akash
Shringi and Kirk Faryniasz on Guam contributed to this report.
Back to February's stories
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