Kadena's Justin Wilson nearly loses his purchase as American School of Bangkok's Wei Huang and Jalen Lomax give chase during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Boys Division I Basketball Tournament. The Panthers downed the Eagles 57-50. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Justin Wilson nearly loses his purchase as American School of Bangkok's Wei Huang and Jalen Lomax give chase during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Boys Division I Basketball Tournament. The Panthers downed the Eagles 57-50. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American's Quintin Metcalf shoots over American School In Japan's Iam McGuire during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Boys Division I Basketball Tournament. The Falcons rallied to beat the Mustangs 68-63 in overtime. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Yasmine Doss and Nile C. Kinnick's Kailee Rucker fight for the ball during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Girls Division I Basketball Tournament. The Panthers routed the Red Devils 55-25 and reached the final for the fourth straight year. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Dallas Carter is trapped by Kadena's Saj McBurrows and Yasmine Doss during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Girls Division I Basketball Tournament. The Panthers routed the Red Devils 55-25 and reached the final for the fourth straight year. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
American School In Japan's Allie Rogers dribbles past American School of Bangkok defender Shanique Lucas during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Girls Division I Tournament. The Eagles pulled away late to beat the Mustangs 71-47; ASIJ had reached the finals the last four years. (Katricia Aquino/Special to Stars and Stripes)
American School In Japan's Allie Rogers tries to block American School of Bangkok shooter Neeltje Hendriske during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Girls Division I Tournament. The Eagles pulled away late to beat the Mustangs 71-47; ASIJ had reached the finals the last four years. (Katricia Aquino/Special to Stars and Stripes)
kadena's Linda Vaughan looks for room against Nile C. Kinnick's Venus Hill during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Girls Division I Tournament. The reigning MVP and the defending champion Panthers downed the Red Devils 55-25 to reach their fourth straight final. (Katricia Aquino/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Rhamsey Wyche shoots between Nile C. Kinnick defenders during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Girls Division I Tournament. The reigning MVP and the defending champion Panthers downed the Red Devils 55-25 to reach their fourth straight final. (Katricia Aquino/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Nick Laney goes up for a shot past American School of Bangkok's Jalen Lomax during Tuesday's semifinal in the Far East Boys Division I Basketball Tournament. The Panthers beat the Eagles 57-50 to reach the final for the third straight year. (Mary Obsuna/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's K.J. Caver goes up for a shot against American School of Bangkok's Jalen Lomax during Tuesday's semifinal in the Far East Boys Division I Basketball Tournament. The Panthers beat the Eagles 57-50 to reach the final for the third straight year. (Mary Obsuna/Special to Stripes)
Seoul American's DeAndre Metcalf soars over American School In Japan's Ray Shino to the basket during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Boys Division I Basketball Tournament. The Falcons outlasted the Mustangs 68-63 in overtime. (Mary Obsuna/Special to Stars and Stripes)
American School In Japan's Ian McGuire dribbles past Seoul American's DeAndre Metcalf and Willie Grandison during Wednesday's semifinal in the Far East Boys Division I Basketball Tournament. The Falcons outlasted the Mustangs 68-63 in overtime. (Mary Obsuna/Special to Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – Thursday’s finals of the Far East Division I basketball tournaments will have a definite hint of black and yellow.
Both Kadena’s boys and girls reached the championship games of their respective tournaments, the defending champion girls for the fourth straight year. The Panthers girls will take on first-year entrant American School of Bangkok, while the boys take on Seoul American.
“Delighted,” said Robert Bliss, who was the last coach to helm a Panthers team to the title in 2010. “We’re just happy to the opportunity to play a good team like Seoul.”
Justin Wilson netted 21 points and K.J. Caver 15 and the Panthers survived several runs by the Eagles in a 57-50 victory. Kadena outscored ASB 16-6 to close the third quarter and led by as many as 11 in the fourth before the Eagles tightened it at the end.
Seoul American needed to rally from an early nine-point deficit in its 68-63 overtime semifinal win over American School In Japan. There were five lead changes. The Falcons led by six with under two minutes left, but two turnovers led to two ASIJ three-pointers to set up overtime.
In the extra session, Quintin Metcalf, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, scored six of his 32 points. He finished with 21 rebounds and DeAndre Metcalf added nine boards and three blocked shots.
“We were lucky,” said Falcons coach Steve Boyd, looking to win a fourth Far East D-I title and his first on the road.
Drama was also evident in the girls Division II tournament at Matthew C. Perry. Two-time defending champion Yokota had its hands full with the team it beat the last two years, Zama, before prevailing 62-59 in overtime. Jamia Bailey and Britney Bailey combined for 45 points.
The Panthers will face Robert D. Edgren for the title at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Eagles got 15 points from freshman Ja’la Wade and outscored host Perry 16-9 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 43-34 victory.
The girls D-I tournament featured two blowout semifinals. Linda Vaughan and reigning MVP Rhamsey Wyche each netted 13 points as the defending champion Panthers routed Nile C. Kinnick 55-25, outscoring the Red Devils 22-11 in the first quarter.
It’s a decidedly different Panthers team than the one that bowled over ASIJ 64-22 in last year’s final, one that rode the backs of Wyche and two experienced post players. Coach Willie Ware has worked all season to develop new ones, emphasizing fundamentals in workouts.
“Back to Square One,” Ware said. “We’re scrappier and more fundamental than we were last year. It was an up-and-down season. We played Japanese teams and got our heads handed to us. It made us a better, tougher team. We’ve been underdogs all season. Hard work and dedication.”
They’ll meet ASB’s Eagles, who won by a wide margin, 71-47, but had to survive a fourth-quarter scare against ASIJ, which cut a 22-point halftime gap to five points before Mustangs sophomore forward Grace Wallrapp fouled out. The Eagles outscored the Mustangs 23-4 the rest of the way.
The boys D-II semifinals are slated for 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Yokota High School. Humphreys faces E.J. King and Daegu takes on host and two-time defending champion Yokota in the semifinals. The winners meet in the championship at 8 p.m.
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