Isaac Sheppard of Morrison Academy puts up a shot against Josh Page of Daegu High during Thursday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II (small schools) Basketball Tournament at Yano Fitness Center, Camp Zama, Japan. The Mustangs beat the Warriors 65-56. (Stephen Ferrer/Special to Stars and Stripes)
A girls basketball juggernaut that had won 18 straight Far East Division I Tournament games and two straight tournament titles saw its reign come to an end on what could have been called Upset Thursday.
Kara Duenas had 22 points, and Alina Bonto and Gemilie Ilao each scored 14, for island champion Academy of Our Lady of Guam, who broke the game open with a 22-14 third quarter en route to a 57-49 quarterfinal stunner over two-time D-I champion Seoul American.
The Falcons, led by Mecca Perkins’ 23 points and Jasmine Thomas’ 14, were ahead by one at halftime before the Cougars took control in the third period and never looked back.
Despite the defeat, coach Jesse Smith said he was proud of his Falcons’ accomplishments after losing standouts Jordan Elliott, Destinee Harrison and two-time D-I tournament MVP Liz Gleaves to graduation.
“It was definitely a goal to win (a third D-I title), but I wanted to accomplish a rebuilding year and show we could build for the future,” Smith said.
“We’re still growing. I’m proud of them. They overcame a lot. They won the KAIAC title and beat the No. 1 in Japan (Yokota) when they got here.”
Seoul American (21-7) had not lost a Far East tournament game since dropping the 2009 final, 50-47, to Faith Academy.
The Cougars weren’t alone on Thursday’s Far East upset parade. Both DODDS Japan champions, the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools boys champion and both Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference D-I tournament champions fell out of the title chase.
“Tournament play is a little different than season play,” said Andre Thibert, whose Robert D. Edgren boys were among Thursday’s victims, in the Boys D-II Tournament. “It’s more physical. You play multiple games. Players are hurt or sick. All of that takes a toll.”
Coach Robert Stovall asks his Nile C. Kinnick charges two questions after every game: Are you proud of the way you played and did you play as hard as you could?
The answer to both was a resounding yes on Thursday, when the Red Devils brought down Kanto champion American School In Japan, 58-55, in the Far East Boys D-I quarterfinals.
“These guys make it with scrappiness and hard work,” Stovall said after Kinnick (16-16 in the regular season), fourth in the Kanto Plain, stunned the Mustangs (15-1) with a 12-0 fourth-quarter run that put the Red Devils ahead 52-47. ASIJ beat Kinnick three times this season.
“I have a lot of respect for ASIJ,” said Stovall, who returned to Kinnick last year after five years in Rota, Spain.
Thibert’s Eagles (18-2 entering D-II tournament play) shot 42 percent from the foul line and made too many mistakes in the fourth quarter of their 52-45 elimination loss to Yongsan International-Seoul.
“We couldn’t seem to stall the way we wanted to stall,” Thibert said, adding that the Eagles had “the momentum going our way” entering the final period. “Too many turnovers and low free-throw percentage.”
KAIAC boys regular-season and tournament champion Seoul American also fell victim to its own mistakes down the stretch, as Father Duenas Memorial of Guam pulled away with a 19-10 fourth quarter to upset the Falcons 55-42. John Ilao led the Friars with 15 points. Tomiwa Akinbayo had 20 in a losing cause for the Falcons.
In the D-I girls quarterfinals, ASIJ made it two out of three this season over host Yokota, as Liz Thornton led three scorers in double figures with 20 points as the Mustangs corralled the Panthers 54-43. ASIJ pulled away thanks to an 18-10 third quarter.
Two pre-Far East D-II favorites did manage to escape Thursday’s carnage, Daegu’s girls of South Korea and three-time boys champion Morrison Academy of Taiwan.
Maleah Potts Cash’s layup with 16 seconds left carried the Warriors to a 33-32 win over host Edgren. Coach Ken Walter said he “learned a lesson” from the Warriors’ third-place KAIAC tournament finish about player rotation to keep the legs fresh.
“We had dead legs” at KAIAC, Walter said. “We did a better job in this tournament. KAIAC helped us. That was the difference.”
Jordan Heading’s 25 points helped power Morrison past Daegu 65-56 to reach Friday’s final of the Boys D-II Tournament.