Kubasakiseniors B.J. Simmons and Brandon Crawford display the souvenir net cords and indicate two for back-to-back titles after the championship game of the 63rd Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament at Naval Station, Guam. Kubasaki defeated Okkodo of Guam 55-47 for its second straight title, its third in six years under coach Jon Fick and its Pacific-record 11th. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasakiseniors B.J. Simmons and Brandon Crawford display the souvenir net cords and indicate two for back-to-back titles after the championship game of the 63rd Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament at Naval Station, Guam. Kubasaki defeated Okkodo of Guam 55-47 for its second straight title, its third in six years under coach Jon Fick and its Pacific-record 11th. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki Dragons coach Jon Fick displays the souvenir net cords and indicates two for back-to-back titles after during the championship game of the 63rd Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament at Naval Station, Guam. Kubasaki defeated Okkodo of Guam 55-47 for its second straight title, its third in six years under Fick and its Pacific-record 11th. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki Dragons senior B.J. Simmons cuts down the net cords after the championship game of the 63rd Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament at Naval Station, Guam. Kubasaki defeated Okkodo of Guam 55-47 for its second straight title, its third in six years under coach Jon Fick and its Pacific-record 11th. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki Dragons players celebrate dogpile style after the championship game of the 63rd Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament at Naval Station, Guam. Kubasaki defeated Okkodo of Guam 55-47 for its second straight title, its third in six years under coach Jon Fick and its Pacific-record 11th. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Xavier Price goes up for a shot against Okkodo Bulldogs defender Jeddou Antonio during the championship game of the 63rd Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament at Naval Station, Guam. Kubasaki defeated Okkodo of Guam 55-47 for its second straight title, its third in six years under coach Jon Fick and its Pacific-record 11th. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's C.J. Crenshaw puts up a shot against Okkodo defenders Josh Sebastian and John Odtohan, right, during the championship game of the 63rd Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament at Naval Station, Guam. Kubasaki defeated Okkodo of Guam 55-47 for its second straight title, its third in six years under coach Jon Fick and its Pacific-record 11th. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
NAVAL STATION, Guam – B.J. Simmons couldn’t even make the trip to Far East last year due to a heart condition. Fellow senior Brandon Crawford didn’t plan to try out for Kubasaki’s boys basketball team this season.
But Crawford changed his mind a couple of weeks into the season. Simmons was eventually medically cleared to play ball again. And the two played key roles Saturday in the Dragons’ second straight Far East High School Division I Tournament title run.
Simmons hit two clutch field goals to open the third quarter and Crawford hit a pair of needed foul shots in the late stages as Kubasaki rallied from a seven-point first-quarter deficit to beat Okkodo, 55-47.
“This is my dream since my sophomore year,” Simmons said, adding that coach Jon Fick has overseen his development “from knucklehead to grown man. I’m so happy to play for him. He’s my favorite coach.”
Crawford said he “definitely” was happy he returned to the team. “For everything Coach Fick taught us, it’s worth it with this team,” he said. “I’d not want to do it with anybody else.”
Fick joined Don Hobbs and William C. Bechtel as coaches with three D-I titles at the helm of the Dragons, who own a Pacific-record 11 D-I banners. He credited the ingredients that he says his team uses in every game for the Dragons’ success Saturday.
“We use the same strategies and tactics we’ve been practicing since November; what’s important is that we played with energy and passion,” Fick said. “I’m so elated for these young men. They paid the price, all the hard work they put into it. They deserve everything.”
John Otdohan’s early basket sparked an early 8-0 run that put the Bulldogs ahead 11-4 just 3 minutes, 56 seconds into the contest.
But center Maksever Kepwe went to the bench with his second foul and Kubasaki took advantage, using an 8-0 run of its own to lead 25-22 late in the first half. Simmons’ two threes made it 38-27 Dragons with just under 4½ minutes left in the third period.
Kubasaki played patiently on offense and collapsed down low on Kepwe and fellow post player Josh Sebastian. Only for a brief spell did the Dragons lose composure, giving up three turnovers for transition baskets and Okkodo crawled back to within 43-40 with 4:20 left.
But over the last 3:43, Kubasaki hit 10 of 15 foul shots, with leading scorer C.J. Crenshaw, the tournament’s MVP, hitting six of nine. The Bulldogs never got any closer than three points.
“In the first quarter, everything worked for us, but in the second, the shots just didn’t fall,” said coach Rey Serafico of Okkodo, the first Guam team to reach a D-I final since Oceanview won in 1993. “Kubasaki’s a great team. Our boys didn’t handle it the way they should have.”
