Osan American’s Emily Albonetti, left, won eight bouts, a Pacific record for a girl. She also became the first to beat a boy in a Far East meet, the first to place in the top six and the first to score for her team. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Osan American’s Emily Albonetti, left, won eight bouts, a Pacific record for a girl. She also became the first to beat a boy in a Far East meet, the first to place in the top six and the first to score for her team. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Craig Bell, top, tries to turn the shoulders of Kubasaki’s Josh Bales toward the mat during the 122-pound final in the Far East wrestling tournament. Bell beat Bales by decision. Bell, the lone wrestler representing Matthew C. Perry High School in Japan, has been chosen as Stars and Stripes male Athlete of the Quarter. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Seoul American’s Alyssa Gray (22) races downcourt with Kadena’s Monica Hayes (21) at her heels during Kadena’s 59-53 victory in the Class AA girls basketball final on Feb. 23. Hayes was chosen as the tournament MVP and Stars and Stripes female Athlete of the Quarter. (Cindy Fisher / S&S)
Seoul American senior Shawn Grandy’s block of a shot by Kadena junior Jamil Barney late in the fourth quarter of the Class AA title game on Feb. 23 turned the momentum of the contest and has been chosen as Stars and Stripes’ Play of the Quarter. Seoul American won 64-60. (Gary Cashman / Special to Stars and Stripes)
Click here for Athletes of the Quarter nominees
Craig Bell and Monica Hayes piled up impressive individual and team numbers. But the most important parts of their successes didn’t show up on stat sheets or in a win-loss records.
Bell, a senior 122-pound wrestler from Matthew C. Perry, and Hayes, a senior point guard for Kadena, have been chosen as Stars and Stripes’ Pacific high school winter season Athletes of the Quarter.
Most Outstanding Player honors and Far East Class AA championships are commonplace for Kadena, with Hayes becoming the latest MOP to lead the Panthers to a title.
She transferred from Edgren to Kadena in summer 2005 as a sophomore and helped the Panthers to consecutive Class AA crowns after finishing second in 2005-06.
Hayes averaged 10.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in the 2007-08 season as the Panthers went 27-10 on the heels of their 27-4 campaign in 2006-07.
“She is going places,” coach Ken Hudson said of Hayes, his second consecutive Class AA MOP; Zori Drew captured the honor last year.
“She has that ‘something’ that it takes to be successful and is a natural-born leader. Monica is as mentally tough as any player you will ever meet and is goal-mission oriented. We are proud of what she has done, is doing and will do.”
Bell would have been one of three state tournament returnees for South Kitsap High in Washington. But his father David, of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, transferred last spring to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan.
Perry, the base’s school, does not have a wrestling program. Athletic director Mark Lange paired Bell with E.J. King, four hours southwest at Sasebo Naval Base.
He competed with the Cobras on weekends, but during the week trained only with a Marine, Cpl. William Hoving, and at an off-base Japanese dojo where nobody spoke English.
The result: a 37-0 record and the 122-pound Far East title. He did not lose a period all season.
“Dedication, hard work, self-motivation, never-say-die attitude. Do or die, and in his case, do, do, do,” Lange said of Bell, who also serves as Perry’s senior class president.
“He is the most well-rounded, versatile individual I’ve ever coached,” E.J. King’s Thomas Wright said. “He has a great attitude and will give you his all, 100 percent of the time.”
The rest of the 2007-08 Stars and Stripes winter sports awards:
Coach of the quarter: Steve Schrock’s painstaking long-term building effort resulted in the deepest Kadena wrestling team in history, and gold medals in the Far East dual-meet and freestyle tournaments.
Team of the quarter: Seoul American’s boys basketball team played a Pacific-record 57 games, winning 50, including the Falcons’ third Class AA title in six years.
Program of the quarter: With Far East tournament titles in wrestling and Girls Class AA basketball and a Boys Class AA runner-up finish, Kadena runs away with this honor.
Most improved team: Robert D. Edgren’s wrestling team finished third in the dual-meet portion and fourth in the freestyle portion of the Far East tournament. But the warning shot came a month earlier in the “Beast of the Far East” Tournament at Yokosuka Naval Base, where the Eagles took third and beat St. Mary’s International and American School In Japan for the first time.
Most improved program: Daegu American’s wrestling team put seven of its 11 wrestlers in the top six for the first time in school history. And after going a combined 27-35 last season, the Warriors’ basketball teams improved to 32-20.
Basketball players of the quarter: Aside from Hayes, Kadena junior Jamil Barney became the first high school player to earn MVP honors in a Martin Luther King Invitational Tournament for military players. Daegu American senior Brandon Spencer earned Class A tournament MVP honors for a sixth-place team. Senior Leyna Arbour of International School of the Sacred Heart took MVP honors for the Class A runner-up team for a second straight year.
Wrestlers of the quarter: Aside from Bell, Kadena 148-pounder Jacob Bloom (31-0) and Kubasaki 115-pounder Scott Wood (24-0) became three-time Far East champions and enjoyed unbeaten seasons, as did 158-pounder Tony Presnell of Yokota (33-0) and 168-pounder Kevin Radford of Robert D. Edgren. St. Mary’s International’s Joey Buccilli (129 pounds) won his weight class in every Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools tournament and only lost one regular-season bout.
Best groundbreaker: Osan American senior 108-pounder Emily Albonetti became the first girl in Far East tournament history to 1) win a bout; 2) win by pin; 3) beat a girl; 4) beat a boy; 5) place in the top six (she took fifth) and; 6) score team points. She also won a Pacific-record eight bouts on the season.
Basketball game of the quarter: One of Barney’s best games, 29 points, 19 rebounds, five steals and three blocks, came in defeat, as Kadena lost 124-123 to Kitanakagusuku in overtime on Dec. 4.
Basketball play of the quarter: Seoul American senior Shawn Grandy’s block of a Jamil Barney layup attempt with 2:40 left gave the Falcons the momentum for good in the Class AA tournament final, won by the host Falcons 64-60.
Oddity of the quarter: The Kadena boys basketball team scored the most points in a losing effort this season, 123 against Kitanaka, and allowed the fewest in a winning effort, 12 to Christian Academy In Japan on Feb. 20 in the Class AA tournament.
Wrestling bout of the quarter: After losing the individual gold-medal bout for the second straight year, Kadena senior Cody Cash pinned Kubasaki’s Josh Jones in 1:28, clinching the Panthers’ dual-meet tournament title as Kadena beat the Dragons 34-24.
Best new event: Definitely the Rumble on the Rock wrestling tournament, which brought St. Mary’s, ASIJ and Christian Academy In Japan together with Kadena and Kubasaki in dual and individual action for the first time since 2004.
Best sibling act: Senior Kristia and sophomore Rizalina Suriben paced E.J. King’s girls basketball team to a 19-7 record. The guard tandem shot 40 percent from the field and averaged 10 points, five steals and five rebounds per game, accounting for 643 of the team’s 1,151 points and 241 of 418 steals.
Stars and Stripes Athletes of the Quarter nomineesx-Brandon Spencer, senior, boys basketball, Daegu American, South Koreax-Leyna Arbour, senior, girls basketball, International School of the Sacred Heart, Japanx-Monica Hayes, senior, girls basketball, Kadena, Okinawax-Cameron Butts, junior, wrestling, Nile C. Kinnick, Japanx-Willie Brown, junior, boys basketball, Seoul AmericanSeaun Eddy, senior, boys basketball, American School In JapanKelsey Masuda, senior, girls basketball, Christian Academy In JapanFernando Rico, senior, boys basketball, E.J. King, JapanDominique Johnson, senior, boys basketball, E.J. King, JapanKristia Suriben, senior, girls basketball, E.J. King, JapanRizalina Suriben, sophomore, girls basketball, E.J. King, JapanJanel Long, junior, girls basketball, Faith Academy, PhilippinesTashia Hardeman, junior, girls basketball, Faith Academy, PhilippinesChristina Sheaks, senior, girls basketball, Guam HighJamil Barney, junior, boys basketball, Kadena, OkinawaJacob Bloom, senior, wrestling, Kadena, OkinawaScott Wood, junior, wrestling, Kubasaki, OkinawaDeAndrea Taylor, junior, girls basketball, Matthew C. Perry, JapanCraig Bell, senior, wrestling, Matthew C. Perry/E.J. King, JapanEmily Albonetti, senior, wrestling, Osan American, South KoreaZach Latimore, senior, boys basketball, Robert D. Edgren, JapanKevin Radford, sophomore, wrestling, Robert D. Edgren, JapanJoey Buccilli, senior, wrestling, St. Mary’s International, JapanTobi Taniguchi, senior, boys basketball, St. Mary’s International, JapanLisa Sizemore, senior, girls basketball, Seisen International, JapanLyca Blume, senior, girls basketball, Seisen International, JapanChris Churchwell, senior, boys basketball, Seoul AmericanAvianca Manning, senior, girls basketball, Seoul AmericanDevanee’ Taylor, junior, girls basketball, Seoul AmericanPete Nielsen, junior, boys basketball, Seoul ForeignBrittney Rader, junior, girls basketball, Seoul ForeignAmy Edenfield, senior, girls basketball, Yokota, JapanTony Presnell, junior, wrestling, Yokota, JapanAnthony Caple, senior, boys basketball, Zama American, JapanDaniel Polaski, senior, wrestling, Zama American, Japan
x-automatically nominated for earning Most Valuable Player or Most Outstanding Player honors in a DODDS-Pacific Far East basketball tournament or Outstanding Wrestler honors in a Far East tournament.
