Sports
Far East basketball - Day 3Kinnick stuns Hong Kong to advance
Stars and Stripes
February 23, 2011
St. Paul Christian's Morgan Atkin fires a pass over the Matthew C. Perry defense during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. St. Paul beat Perry, 50-43. (Michelle Fox/Special to Stars and Stripes)
St. Paul Christian's Morgan Atkin fires a pass over the Matthew C. Perry defense during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. St. Paul beat Perry, 50-43. (Michelle Fox/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Eric Canovas of St. Paul Christian rams into a Matthew C. Perry defender during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. St. Paul beat Perry for the second time in the tournament, 50-43. (Erika Brun/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Mark Canovas of St. Paul Christian puts up a shot against two Matthew C. Perry defenders during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. St. Paul beat Perry for the second time in the tournament, 50-43. (Erika Brun/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kymmond Mitchell of Daegu American shoots against Jeff Tinsley of Osan American during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. Osan beat Daegu, 41-36. (Erika Brun/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Jeff Tinsley of Osan American shoots against Daegu American's Jarel ''Tank'' Connie during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. Osan beat Daegu, 41-36. (Hana Noguchi/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Daegu American's Darius Wyche drives toward the basket against Osan American's Billie Bortscheller during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. Osan beat Daegu, 41-36. (Hana Noguchi/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Daegu American's Darius Wyche puts up a shot against Osan American's Billie Bortscheller during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea. Osan beat Daegu, 41-36. (Hana Noguchi/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Robert D. Edgren's Mert Baysal drives on Zama American's Andre Encarnacion during Wednesday's double-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Boys Division II Basketball Tournament at Warrior Gym, Daegu American School, Camp George, South Korea. Edgren routed Zama, 78-45. (Hana Noguchi/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Emily Stith snatches a rebound between Guam High's Zariah Kelley, left, and Sadie Hellwig during Wednesday's single-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Girls Division I Basketball Tournament at Charles King Fitness & Sports Center, Naval Base Guam. Kinnick won, 34-17. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Keajah Howard drives to the basket against Guam High during Wednesday's single-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Girls Division I Basketball Tournament at Charles King Fitness & Sports Center, Naval Base Guam. Kinnick won, 34-17. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Faith Academy's Kelly Hardeman fights her way out from between Kubasaki defenders Shakayla McGuire and D'An Hurst during Wednesday's single-elimination playoff game in the Far East High School Girls Division I Basketball Tournament at Charles King Fitness & Sports Center, Naval Base Guam. Faith won, 44-18. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
What a way to break a slump.
After losing four straight entering this week’s Far East High School Boys Division I Basketball Tournament - then going 1-2 in round-robin Pool D - senior center Josh Adair helped Nile C. Kinnick snap the tailspin in grand style.
His putback of a missed foul shot at the buzzer sent the Red Devils into wild celebration as Kinnick stunned Hong Kong International, one of the pre-tournament favorites, 35-33, in Wednesday’s Round of 16.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Adair said. “It felt unreal. Everybody said Hong Kong would get to the Final Four. They were huge compared to us.”
To combat the Dragons’ height and quickness and with Hong Kong being used to playing international rules with a 24-second shot clock, Kinnick chose to “control the pace, box out and play defense,” Adair said. “We felt we could do it. We never gave up.”
Kinnick’s Rafael Angeles was at the line with 2 seconds left, and he missed a foul shot. Adair, stationed at the low left block, got inside on Hong Kong’s Zach Carlson and put the ball in for the win.
“Even Coach (Robert Stovall) was jumping up and down,” Adair recalled of the joyful scrum triggered by the shot; players bear-hugged each other and fans gave Kinnick a standing ovation. “It was great.”
Kinnick’s upset was one of three staged by third-place pool teams against No. 2 teams on Day 3 of the four Far East tournaments. The others were:
St. Mary’s International of Tokyo, the 2009 champion and 2010 runner-up, rode the hot shooting of Taiki Hirata (20 points) to down undermanned Faith Academy, 42-34. Injuries had the Vanguards down to just six players.
On the girls’ side, Simon Sanchez of Guam – whose season doesn’t begin until early April – got 20 points from Kristine Redolozo and 11 from Gilda Oyardo as the Sharks corralled American School In Japan, 49-38. The Mustangs were second in the Kanto Plain.
“Nobody really expects you to win,” Sharks coach Arvin Domingo said. “A lot of (top-seeded) teams overlook the lower seeds. We came in here with nothing to lose. I told the girls you have to believe and to make some noise here.”
It’s exactly that trap that high-seeded teams must avoid at all cost. Earning a No. 1 or No. 2 seed can be a danger in some ways, coaches said.
“You overlook that lower seed and that’s when the tournament starts,” said coach Paul Ettl of Yokota’s girls. He coached Yokota boys in 2005, the year Kinnick’s boys had the shoe on the other foot, losing just one regular-season game and sweeping pool play before losing in the Round of 16 to Guam’s Father Duenas Memorial.
“Everyone gets a new start. Anything can happen. And it’s always disrespectful to overlook an opponent.”
“We always tell the girls to take each team and each game seriously,” Daegu American girls coach Michelle Chandler said. “We don’t want our backs against the wall, but you have to play like your backs are against the wall.”