They’d come off a week of taking semester exams and holding limited practices. And coach Phillip Loyd said after his Daegu boys and girls basketball teams played Friday at Seoul Foreign: “We were rusty.”

Anfernee Dent scored 29 points and the Warriors boys held off a furious comeback by the Crusaders for a 74-73 win. Meanwhile, Daegu’s girls lost for the first time on the court this season against high school teams, getting outscored 15-6 in the fourth quarter of a 47-44 defeat.

“We were coming off a week of no playing and it showed,” Loyd said. Daegu’s girls, who led 38-32 after three quarters, fell to 8-2, the two losses including a forfeit to Taejon Christian International due to those semester exams, during which long-haul trips are prohibited by DODDS rule.

They fell a half-game behind the Crusaders (8-1) for the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Blue Division regular-season title and its accompanying first-round bye into the league tournament Feb. 7-8 at TCIS.

Taylor Myatt had 12 points to pace the Warriors in the losing cause. Maddie Thies paced the Crusaders with 15 points and 18 rebounds. Thies “played a wonderful second half; she dominated both ends of the court and there was nothing we could do about it,” Loyd said.

The boys game was a see-saw affair, with the Warriors leading by four after one quarter and 61-53 after three; the Crusaders outscored Daegu 29-26 in a wild second quarter.

Also engaging in a close contest were Robert D. Edgren’s and Yokota’s girls, and the Panthers’ girls prevailed in overtime 38-37 behind the play of junior and sophomore bigs Sarah Claypool and Caitlyn Rowan, who combined for 29 points and 24 rebounds.

The two have been vital to the Panthers’ hopes after Sarah Hamner and Brianna Davis each graduated. Yokota is 4-2 in its last six games.

They along with Sam Arnold “have become the inside presence,” coach Tim Pujol said. “They’re handling most of the load offensively.”

Just missing in its annual trip to St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo were Edgren’s boys, who trailed by 17 points in the first half, then staged a furious fourth-quarter rally only to come up short 61-58.

At Sasebo Naval Base, Matthew C. Perry’s boys finally played their complete starting lineup for the first time since November. Jarell Davis returned from injury to score 23 points, grab nine boards and block three shots in a 62-31 win at E.J. King.

Putting all five starters on the court “helped them to regain team chemistry,” Samurai assistant coach Ronnie Pride said. “Davis’ return sparked the team’s intensity and desire.”

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