NOW, who’s No. 1?
Published: February 8, 2012
The answer: There will be a new No. 1 atop Stripes’ boys basketball ratings early next week.
The question: Who will it be?
The first warning shot: Tuesday at Capps Gym, where the homestanding Yokota Panthers, playing American School In Japan for the first time with the luxury of no shot clock, played stall ball the first two periods, got a huge game inside from A.J. Eldridge, and held off the Mustangs 50-44, ASIJ’s first loss in 14 games.
That may have been easier done, though, than Yokota’s 48-41 victory the very next night at home over Christian Academy Japan.
Two reasons for this:
1) Yokota spent a great deal of emotional energy beating ASIJ, something palpable in the crowd’s behavior on Wednesday. The Panthers admittedly came out flat against CAJ.
2) Everybody knows where they stand against ASIJ, which prides itself on open-floor fast-break, press-and-transition ball. CAJ? The Knights are this year’s Forrest Gump box of chocolates team: You never know what you’re going to get. If CAJ’s firing on all cylinders, look out. And that’s what makes the 4-9 Knights so dangerous.
Right now, ASIJ still sits atop the pile, followed by Kubasaki, which hosts No. 4 Kadena on Thursday, and Seoul American, which plays in the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Division I Tournament this weekend at Seoul Foreign. Even Yokota (15-6) might have an outside shot at the top if the Panthers can win the DODDS Japan Tournament, also at Capps Gym, this weekend.
What does SportsBlog Nation think? Who’s going to be the new No. 1? Shout it out! But remember, you've entered THE "No-Hate Zone." :)
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