Subscribe
Junior Savon Woodie is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well.

Junior Savon Woodie is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Junior Savon Woodie is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well.

Junior Savon Woodie is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

From left, junior Brandon Crawford, junior C.J. Crenshaw, freshman Jarrett Mitchell, junior B.J. Simmons, junior Ryan Jackson, junior Xavier Price and sophomore Cartes Shelton are seven of eight players on the Kubasaki Dragons' varsity who plan to return for next season as well.

From left, junior Brandon Crawford, junior C.J. Crenshaw, freshman Jarrett Mitchell, junior B.J. Simmons, junior Ryan Jackson, junior Xavier Price and sophomore Cartes Shelton are seven of eight players on the Kubasaki Dragons' varsity who plan to return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Junior Brandon Crawford is one of eight players on the Kubasaki Dragons' varsity who plan to return for next season as well.

Junior Brandon Crawford is one of eight players on the Kubasaki Dragons' varsity who plan to return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Junior C.J. Crenshaw is one of eight players on the Kubasaki Dragons' varsity who plan to return for next season as well.

Junior C.J. Crenshaw is one of eight players on the Kubasaki Dragons' varsity who plan to return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Sophomore Jaylen Street is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well.

Sophomore Jaylen Street is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Junior Josh Dyer is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well.

Junior Josh Dyer is one of eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who plan to return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

From left, junior Savon Woodie, sophomore Christopher Young, sophomore Josh Ward, sophomore Andre Chilton, junior Ray Josef, sophomore Shawn Broughton, junior Josh Dyer and sophomore Jaylen Street are eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who should return for next season as well.

From left, junior Savon Woodie, sophomore Christopher Young, sophomore Josh Ward, sophomore Andre Chilton, junior Ray Josef, sophomore Shawn Broughton, junior Josh Dyer and sophomore Jaylen Street are eight players on the Kadena Panthers' varsity who should return for next season as well. (Photo by Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – Built for now. Built to last.

That could very easily be the wording on an advertising billboard shared by Kadena’s and Kubasaki’s boys basketball teams, the reigning Far East Division I champion and the team favored to succeed them.

They’re already battle tested. In addition to a combined 18 D-I titles over the years, they’re 50-21 so far this season, with most of those losses to adult teams. They have two titles in two tournaments and a finals appearance in the third in which they’ve entered.

And it’s not just each team’s senior core doing the damage. Each team could return eight players next season. Three sophomores start for Kadena and a fourth contributes. while Kubasaki has two of its own.

Good news for Okinawa Activities Council basketball. “Bad news for the rest of us,” said coach Tim Pujol, whose Yokota Panthers have played against both teams this season.

“We’re excited,” Kadena coach Ray Broughton said of the teams’ present and future hopes. “We have a lot of young talent, and not just who can play in 2012 and 2013, but who can play now.”

Augmenting Kadena’s senior post players and team leaders Jason Sumpter and Skylar Warren are sophomores Jaylen Street, Chris Young, Andre Chilton, Josh Ward and Shawn Broughton – the coach’s son – and junior post players Savon Woodie, Ray Josef and Josh Dyer.

The Panthers are 20-13, including a 7-5 ledger the last two weeks in the Martin Luther King Invitational against adults and the Okinawa-American Shootout against Japanese teams. They reached the title game of the latter, losing, 86-52, to Konan - Okinawa’s top-rated team.

Fighting such battles against quick Japanese teams and adult teams featuring All-Service players is something “you can’t get in the States,” the elder Broughton said. “Now, they’re men amongst boys.”

The tough tournament experience gives the players a look at “so many different styles of ball,” invaluable preparation for Far East tournament competition, Kubasaki coach Jon Fick said.

“We need to adjust to anything,” Fick said. “You have to adjust to the way it’s called and the way it’s played.”

That underclassmen have been getting the same baptism of fire as have the seniors leaves no doubt in the minds of the latter that the former can fill their leadership roles nicely after they depart.

“They’ve been training just as hard as we have, so they’ll continue to represent Kadena and hopefully get us another Far East,” Sumpter said. “They do all the same drills as we do. They’re the ones who make us get on the court and work hard. I think they’ll do fine.”

“We’re already comfortable with each other,” Street said. “Next year, we’ll be starting and we’ll be even more comfortable. We’ll set the tempo and the transition won’t be difficult.”

Kubasaki (30-8) has gone 9-6 over the same two-week span and already has the Hong Kong International School Holiday and New Year Classic tournament titles under its belt.

The Dragons get their leadership from seniors Kai Yamaguchi and Kentrell Key, something a cadre of players such as junior C.J. Crenshaw hope to emulate. Joining him on next year’s team should be juniors Brandon Crawford, B.J. Simmons, Ryan Jackson, Xavier Price and K.J. Sargent along with freshman Jarrett Mitchell and sophomore Cartes Shelton.

“We have a lot of guys who will step up and fill the roles of the seniors who are leaving,” Crenshaw said. “This year will build up our confidence and make us great leaders next year, kind of copy what Kentrell and Kai did for us.”

While the teams have piled up victories and honors in like manner and are “well coached, disciplined and demonstrate a sense of teamwork,” they’ve done it with contrasting styles, Pujol said.

“Kadena is so big inside, they don’t have to run to be effective,” Pujol said of Sumpter, Street, Warren, Woodie and Dyer, who average 6 feet, 3 inches. “Kubasaki is a speed team. They show a variety of presses and they’re so good at scoring in transition.”

Among Kadena’s inside players, the elder Broughton seems high on the abilities of Dyer, Woodie and Young.

“Dyer’s a football player,” Broughton said. “He moves his feet well, he has good instincts. Woodie is a raw talent and he’s developing; he has a lot of potential. Young is another one who’s growing and learning to play his position.”

That Kadena’s JV is unbeaten the last two seasons under coach Gerald Johnson is a plus, Broughton said. “It’s been wonderful” working with Johnson and Broughton’s fellow varsity coach Robert Bliss.

Fick says he likes what he sees in his underclassmen on defense.

Jackson, for example, is “kind of a blue-collar guy, plays defense and it s big-time competitor. C.J. is a scorer and his motor is always running. B.J. is our best on-ball defender; he prides himself on playing defense. Crawford fits the category of athlete-scorer. Cartes is also a very good on-ball defender.”

All that translates into good hope for next month’s Far East tournament on Guam and for the future as well. “Going forward, I believe the sky is the limit,” Broughton said.

ornauerd@pstripes.osd.mil

author picture
Dave Ornauer has been employed by or assigned to Stars and Stripes Pacific almost continuously since March 5, 1981. He covers interservice and high school sports at DODEA-Pacific schools and manages the Pacific Storm Tracker.

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now