One-sided Kadena girls win over Kubasaki not what it seemed
Published: February 10, 2012
Thursday’s 58-28 drubbing by Kadena over Kubasaki may have seemed like more of the same between the two girls basketball teams throughout the Okinawa Activities Council regular season. Everything is not what it seems, though, with regard to the teams’ regular-season finale.
Kadena knew it was up against a much improved Dragons team, coach Willie Ware said. Not only had Kubasaki taken the Panthers to overtime on Kadena’s home court the last time they faced them, Sydney Johnson scored 36 points in the Dragons’ 65-60 home loss on Monday to Kitanakagusuku. And Kadena had to play the season finale in the Dragons’ Den.
Thus, it was with a newfound sense of urgency that the Panthers took the court against a Dragons team playing with a “newfound confidence,” Ware said. It may have been a 30-point victory, but it was nothing like their previous encounters.
“Our defense was on target. The girls came out focused,” Ware said. “Kubasaki is not a pushover any more. We didn’t want to come in unprepared and get steamrolled. We created turnovers and got layups in transition.”
Kubasaki's boys, meanwhile, got a 32-point performance from C.J. Crenshaw and battled back from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat Kadena 76-67 and clinch the OAC season series three games to one.
The next time the two teams might meet would be in the Far East Division I Tournaments, the girls Feb. 20-25 at Yokota and the boys at Naval Station, Guam.
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