Big whims and Super Gyms: What we learned in Pacific high school basketball Week 11.0, wrestling Week 7.0
Published: February 7, 2010
Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as Ornauer prepares for as much a first-of-its-kind Far East wrestling tournament as he's ever seen in nearly 30 years out here:
-- Soooooooooo, did anybody see coming Osan American's boys basketball team's Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Division I Tournament title coming?
-- Didn't think so.
-- Call them the Magnificent Seven 2.0.
-- I'm not sure anybody but MVP Dominique Williams, Best Rebounder Jeff Tinsley and the rest of the Cougars saw it coming.
-- You don't think they're paying attention at Class A Tournament programs in Seoul (Yongsan International-Seoul), Daegu (Daegu American), Taichung, Taiwan (defending champion Morrison Christian Academy) and especially Misawa (host Robert D. Edgren)?
-- It just shows to go ya ... it ain't always about the entire body of work, about the win-loss record, but who comes into a Far East tournament on a real roll.
-- I guess Jacob Sterry and Robert D. Edgren can make the same claim, having taken three of four over the weekend from Zama American and Matthew C. Perry, and might have made it a sweep had not the Trojans scored 23 points in the fourth quarter and 12 in overtime to rally past the Eagles.
-- No doubt, Robert D. Edgren's and Seoul American's girls remain on fire. Ashley Hawkins, Jen Black and the Eagles made mince of Zama and Perry over the weekend, while MVP Diamond Person the Falcons made it 18 wins in 18 games against KAIAC opponents, including the KAIAC Division I tournament.
-- Finally, somebody figured out how to solve the white-hot Guam High Panthers, who won six straight to open the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam season before St. Paul Christian finally found a bucket of ice water in the form of a 61-54 win on Friday.
-- So long, Dan Beaver. Faith Academy's girls (21-2) captured the title in their own Hardeman Showcase, named for the legendary Vanguards boys coach Tine Hardeman, then gave Beaver, who coached the Lady V's from 1993 until last season, was given one of the most emotional sendoffs a coach could ever get. The e-mails and outpouring of goodwill on Facebook for Beaver from many of his former players ... at once genuine and touching.
-- Beaver had been wavering on whether he'd left the Lady V's helm too soon. He told me in an e-mail that the Saturday sendoff was one of the deciding factors, and that it's time to move on to his next life's mission.
-- Did the time go by that quickly?
-- Two weeks earlier, Nick Gibbons proved he could dominate defending Far East gold medalist Michael Spencer. In Saturday's Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools Wrestling Tournament 168-pound final, the Nile C. Kinnick sophomore proved he could come from behind on the Zama American junior, too.
-- Which, ultimately, proved more important than his domination of Spencer on Jan. 23 in a dual meet at Zama. Gibbons was good with that, but far better with rallying past Spencer, whom he might've, could've beaten at the Jan. 9 Beast of the Far East Tournament but didn't.
-- Kinnick certainly showed itself to be the best in Japan, winning its fourth in-season tournament title with six golds and two each silver and bronze.
-- But that's Japan. That six-letter beast spelled K-A-D-E-N-A looms now as Far East is set to begin 10 hours from this typing at the Camp Humphreys' Super Gym.
15 days.
