Junior center Mecca Perkins and senior center Tomiwa Akinbayo have served as the "Towers of strength" inside, boys coach Steve Boyd said, for Seoul American's basketball teams, which won their respective Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Division I tournaments and enter their Far East D-I tournaments as strong contenders. (Grace Kim/Special to Stars and Stripes)
CAMP ZAMA, Japan – Star guards have been as common as coffee beans the last three seasons of Far East high school basketball tournaments. Of the 12 Most Valuable Players named, 11 have been back-court players.
That may change this season.
Many a Far East tournament title contender is living large in the paint, on the backs of post players averaging double figures in points and rebounds.
“Call this the ‘Year of the Big Guys,’” Robert D. Edgren boys coach Andre Thibert said.
Two prime examples reside at Seoul American, where senior Tomiwa Akinbayo and junior Mecca Perkins, each a shade over 6 feet, have served as the Falcons’ storm anchors, leading each team to a Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference tournament title.
“They’ve been the towers of strength all season long,” said Steve Boyd, coach of the Falcons boys (22-7 overall).
Going big represents a major change for the two-time defending Far East Girls Division I Tournament champions (17-5), who the past two years rode the talents of two-time MVP guard Liz Gleaves (5-foot-3) to title glory.
“Like any coach, you take the talent you have and build around it, and right now, the ‘bigs’ are the strongest part of the team,” said coach Jesse Smith, who along with Perkins (18.7 points, 12.4 rebounds) has gotten double-double averages from forward Jasmine Thomas (16, 11).
Opposing teams have taken notice. “Mecca’s good and Thomas has come a long way,” Daegu girls coach Ken Walter said. “You’re not going to get a lot of rebounds off of them.”
Likewise, Boyd has made do without graduated guard Tyrone Beckem by developing front-court depth to allow Akinbayo (17.1, 11.8) to be more of a swingman, taking pressure off the guards and the inside players.
“We have a three- to four-man rotation at the 4 (power forward) and 5 (center), which gives me more flexibility,” Boyd said.
That’s not to say there’s a dearth of talent at the guard position across the Pacific.
Senior Erika Ettl has averaged 21 points and 13 assists for Yokota, which hosts the girls D-I tournament, while Rebekah Harwell has battled nagging injuries to average better than 25 points for Matthew C. Perry. Then, there’s the Vaughan tandem, Maria and Alicia, for Kadena.
On the boys side, C.J. Crenshaw has been defending D-I champion Kubasaki’s go-to scorer. Yokota’s Warren Manegan, Zama American’s Yoshi Nicolas and Perry’s Cadavos brothers, Jon and Sam, are threats from deep as is Daegu’s Darius Wyche and Kymmond Mitchell.
But coaches throughout the region credit the play of their ‘bigs.’ For every Harwell, there’s a Courtney Beall, an Eisiah Lawson for every Vaughan, an A.J. Eldridge for every Manegan drawing attention in the paint and opening things up away from the basket.
“It makes things easier to have somebody to go to inside; it spreads the outside and the perimeter,” said Thibert, whose DODDS Japan champion Eagles (18-2) possess twin towers Jacob Sterry and Malcolm Mack, each averaging double-doubles.
While the Eagles seek their first Division II title, Walter’s Warriors are aiming to return to championship prominence they last enjoyed in 2010. Despite losing MVP center Kristina Bergman, Daegu (16-2) is doing fine with Maleah Potts Cash (12 points, 9 rebounds), Walter said.
“She’s grown into the position very nicely,” he said. “She has a great touch, can shoot the free throw. She’s more than just a good rebounder. She’s a complete player.”
Division II tournaments run from Monday to Friday, girls at Misawa Air Base and boys at Camp Zama in Japan. D-I tournaments run from Monday to Saturday, boys at Naval Station, Guam, and girls at Yokota Air Base, Japan.
