YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – Yokota’s Panthers, playing their first seasons in Division II in school history, played like the best DODDS teams in Japan of any division Saturday.

The boys earned a convincing 84-53 win over Robert D. Edgren in the championship game of the DODDS Japan Tournament. The Lady Panthers had to overcome injuries before rallying to defeat a physical Nile C. Kinnick team 35-32 to capture the girls’ title.

The Yokota boys started game with a 22-0 run over Edgren. Then immediately turned around to give up a 12-0 run to the sharpshooting Eagles.

“We regrouped in the timeout and told ourselves that we needed to pick it back up and play our game,” said Jadan Anderson, the team’s leading scorer and tournament MVP. “We knew we had to attack Edgren. We had to attack them.” And on the attack they went.

Yokota’s opportunistic, full-court defense forced seven turnovers in the third quarter, all leading to fast break scores. The break neck speed offense spread the ball around with four players hitting double digits, led by both Anderson and Jermaine Neal each pouring in 23.

Despite the seemingly machine-like precision, Anderson said his team knows they’re far from perfect and they can’t let their guard down before Far East.

“Everything we do still needs to be worked on,” Anderson said. “We need to make better passes. But the guys we have are the best guys to have. We work really well as a team and no one feels they are better than anyone else out there. That’s our strength and I’m so blessed to be with them. It’s a total team effort.”

“They worked their tails off and they earned this one,” Yokota coach Paul Ettl said. “We can celebrate this for now, but it’s back to work for Far East. Edgren proved they can play with us. We can’t lose focus.”

The girls may have a tougher road. Down 10 in the third, star point guard and leading scorer Jamia Bailey was carried off the court with a leg injury and carted off in a stretcher after the game. A few minutes after Bailey fell, standout Sarah Claypool came up limping after an incidental mid-air collision with Kinnick’s Charla Johnson and sat for much of the second half.

“Our bench came out and played a crucial role in their defensive sets and pulled down some excellent rebounds. They stepped up, took care of the ball and took care of business, but it was nerve-racking losing so many important players,” coach Catherine Martinez said.

Sarah Cronin was also hobbling, but was able to play through the pain. The versatile wing took over by draining three straight unanswered shots for seven of her team-leading ten points trimming the then Kinnick lead to three.

With Cronin stretching the defense, she was able to feed Caitlyn Rowan in the blocks, sending Kinnick front court players into foul trouble.

“I didn’t want to lose. I wanted to win for Jamia,” Cronin said. “We worked hard, we deserved it because we worked harder than everyone else out there.”

KoreaA Division II team triumphed in Korea on Saturday as well, at least on the boys side.

Led by tournament MVP Nicholas White and Chase Kingsbury, Osan stunned unbeaten and Division I rival Seoul American 80-72 to win the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Blue Division Tournament title.

White and Kingsbury each finished with 24 points as the Cougars avenged to regular-season defeats at the hands of the Falcons.

“We did it,” coach James Tolliver said after the game. “I’m so proud of them. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and the boys dedicated this season to her. I love them so much.”

It is Osan’s first KAIAC title in five years. The Cougars used 13 three-point shots – many during a 50-point barrage in the second and third quarters – to forge ahead.

“Both teams threw up a lot of buckets,” Seoul American coach Jim Davis said. “Osan’s just went through more than ours. The ball just bounced their way; that’s how it is sometimes.”

White, the leading scorer in DODDS Pacific this season, helped Osan go from a 32-30 advantage at halftime to lead 61-46 after three periods.

“All of our hard work paid off,” he said. “It was us against the world and we won.”

Jez Harper led Seoul American with 19 points, while Shawn Horne added 12 and eight rebounds. Sean Copia (11), Sung DeAngelo (11) and Myles Haynes (10) also reached double figures for Osan.

Sierra Furner scored 12 points and tournament MVP Glenesha Berryman added 10 as the Seoul American girls topped Seoul Foreign 41-35 for the tourney title.

It wasn’t easy. Seoul Foreign took an 8-0 lead and led 15-8 after a quarter. But a 16-5 advantage in the third quarter – fueled by Kharmiya Batts’ three-point shot - propelled the Falcons to victory.

Like the boys, the Seoul American girls only have one loss this season.

Maddie Theis (13) and JiWon Shin (12) led Seoul Foreign.

WrestlingOsan also upended Seoul American on the mat Saturday, defeating the Falcons in a dual meet for the first time in 15 years.

Cory Harding (115 pounds), Brenden Becker (148) and Connor Knight (heavyweight) each had pins for the Cougars in a 46-16 victory at a three-team meet that also included Daegu. Seoul American had a significant part of its starting lineup participate at another local tournament.

In Japan, Nile C. Kinnick managed to finish its regular season unbeaten in dual and tournament competition by triumphing at the Kanto Plain Finals.

St. Mary’s made the Red Devils earn it, winning seven titles to Kinnick’s five. But Kinnick’s depth prevailed in totaling 100 points to St. Mary’s 97. American School in Japan was a distance third and the Mustangs’ Jonathan Miller was the only wrestler to break the Kinnick-St. Mary’s stranglehold on titles with a victory at 180.

Members of the Seoul American journalism staff contributed to this report.

Kimber.james@stripes.com

Twitter: @james_kimber

Migrated