Kadena's Cody Chambers drives to the basket against Kubasaki's Jonathan Hoppe during Friday's boys basketball game. Chambers hit a three-point goal just inside the midcourt line as time ran out to rally the Panthers past the Dragons 40-39. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Cody Chambers drives to the basket against Kubasaki's Jonathan Hoppe during Friday's boys basketball game. Chambers hit a three-point goal just inside the midcourt line as time ran out to rally the Panthers past the Dragons 40-39. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Anthony Laney tangles his leg with Kubasaki's Elonzo Higginson III and loses his balance during Friday's boys basketball game, won by the Panthers 40-39. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Damian Dorval collides with Kadena's Eugene Robinson during Friday's boys basketball game, won by the Panthers 40-39. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Jonathan Baker puts up a shot against Kadena's Eric McCarter during Friday's boys basketball game, won by the Panthers 40-39. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Montez Young Jr. and Kubasaki's Jonathan Baker scrap for a rebound during Friday's boys basketball game, won by the Panthers 40-39. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena senior guard Cody Chambers rides on the shoulders of teammates and spectators and applauds after his three-point shot from just inside midcourt rallied the Panthers past Kubasaki 40-39 in Friday's boys basketball game. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Montez Young Jr. shoots between Kubasaki's Jhean Natividad, Jonathan Hoppe and Ilijah Washington during Friday's boys basketball game, won by the Panthers 40-39. (Mary Obsuna/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Cody Chambers dribbles against Kubasaki's Jhean Natividad during Friday's boys basketball game. Chambers hit a three-point goal just inside the midcourt line as time ran out to rally the Panthers past the Dragons 40-39. (Mary Obsuna/Special to Stars and Stripes)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa – Cody Chambers could not have picked a better time, nor distance, to hit his only basket of the game. The senior guard sank a three-point goal from just inside the midcourt line as time ran out, rallying Kadena to a 40-39 win Friday over Kubasaki in the second of four regular-season meetings between the longtime Okinawa rivals. The Panthers are 10-0 overall and 2-0 over the Dragons this season, including a 50-35 win on Nov. 28 at Kubasaki. The Dragons are 5-2.
With 3.6 seconds left, Chambers took an inbound pass, weaved through traffic and drove to center court, putting up a desperation heave as the buzzer sounded. “I have to execute for my team,” Chambers said of what he was thinking as his shot went up. “I wanted us to be unbeaten and I didn’t want to let the guys down.”
The shot hit nothing but net, triggering a Vesuvius of joy at Kadena’s end of the court. Many of the near-capacity crowd of 600-plus streamed onto the floor; teammates and spectators hoisted Chambers onto their shoulders in celebration. “I’m so happy it went in,” Chambers said. “It’s indescribable. A crazy win. A good win for our team.” “That was a miracle. Unbelievable,” Panthers coach Robert Bliss said. “I don’t know how in the world that happened. Time stood still as that shot went up. Kubasaki played so well. I’m so happy for Cody. He’s been through so much the last four years,” including a wrist injury that hampered Chambers much of last season, Bliss said. It was a tight, defensive struggle, with neither team leading by more than six points. Montez Young Jr. led Kadena with 16 points, but the Dragons clamped down on him and held him to five second-half points. Elonzo Higginson III led Kubasaki with 12 points. Jonathan Baker hit the second of his two three-pointers to give the Dragons a 33-32 lead, and they extended that to a five-point lead as part of a 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter. But the Panthers stayed close, then missed a couple of opportunities down the stretch as the Dragons missed several chances to put the contest away. Finally, Kadena got the ball back with 3.6 seconds left and cashed in on its final chance. “Both teams have scorers, yet we only had 79 total points; there’s gotta be some defense played out there,” Dragons coach Jon Fick said. “This game was ours and it got away. A 3.6-second desperation three. Shoganai,” Fick said, invoking a Japanese expression literally meaning “no can help.”ornauer.dave@stripes.com
Twitter: @ornauer_stripes
