Chris CookeBasketball
Kubasaki, Okinawa
Last week: Won two games with last-minute baskets and averaged 11.8 points over eight games as the Dragons (14-7) captured the championship of the second New Years Classic high school boys basketball tournament at Capps Gym, Yokota High School, Yokota Air Base, Japan.
Cooke, a senior team captain, nailed a baseline jumper with .5 seconds left Friday as Kubasaki erased a 25-point third-quarter deficit to edge Kinnick 63-62. In Saturday’s title game, Cooke’s right-side bank shot with 54 seconds left capped a Dragons’ rally from a 15-point third-quarter deficit for a 73-72 triumph over Seoul American.
“He’s our leader,” coach Jon Fick said. “He’s hungry this year. He’s a great player and an All-American kid.”
— Selected by Stars and Stripes staff