Seoul American girls suffer rare regular-season loss
Published: December 3, 2011
You don't see this every day of the week:
Seoul American, the two-time Far East High School Girls Division I Basketball Tournament champions, lost for the first time in 137 Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Division I regular-season games dating back to the 2002-03 season.
Having won or shared the last 19 consecutive KAIAC regular-season titles, the Falcons saw their lengthy winning streak end Saturday, 39-30 at Seoul Foreign School.
Here's Crusaders coach Jim Milliken with his view of the contest:
After a lethargic outing Friday, a 35-15 loss to Daegu High, the Lady Crusaders turned it around turned around and handed SAHS their first KAIAC regular-season defeat in nine seasons.
Seoul Foreign was ready for Seoul American's early full-court man press and forced them out of it with some easy over-the-top passes.
But after an even first quarter, the Falcons looked like they were starting to run out front with a couple steals and layups. Jasmine Thomas hit some smooth jumpers from the left and Mecca Perkins was a dominant presence in the middle.
But the Crusaders showed resolve and came back with full-court pressure to earn an easy bucket, helping close the gap to 18-13 at halftime.
Continued pressure in the second half forced Falcons turnovers, sparking an 18-5 run to end the third quarter with the Crusaders up 31-23.
SFS then cooled, failing to convert for more than five minutes in the fourth and the Falcons crept back to within 31-30 with under three minutes left. They would not score again.
Continued pressure from SFS' platooning guard pairs wore down the Falcons as SFS finished with the last four buckets, including the final by Kathy Lee with three seconds left on a layup.
