CAMP ZAMA, Japan — Same score, different winner.
This time, the Falcons of Seoul American would not be denied.
Destinee Harrison scored 18 points, Liz Gleaves added 14 and Seoul American rallied from a three-point, third-quarter deficit to outscore defending champion Faith Academy 16-11 in the fourth qurter en route to a 50-47 victory Saturday at Zama’s Yano Fitness Center.
The Falcons won their first Far East High School Girls Class AA Basketball Tournament title since 2006; they finished second the past two years, including a 50-47 defeat last Feb. 21 to Faith.
"Defense wins championships," coach Billy Ratcliff said. "We knew if we could hold them to under 50 points, we had a chance to win."
The secret: Taking better care of the basketball — just three second-half turnovers — than they did in their 67-66 semifinal victory over Kadena, in which they committed 24 in the second half. And throwing different defensive schemes at the Vanguards.
"I think we were a step ahead of them, showing them things they did not expect," Ratcliff said.
Among those wrinkles were changes to the Falcons’ defensive looks; earlier in the week, Ratcliff said, he showed only a little of what he planned to use should he reach the final against Faith.
On Saturday, he ran varying zone defenses, changing from a 1-3-1 trap "which didn’t work too well" to man-to-man to a 2-1-2 zone which "forced them ouside. They didn’t get a lot of shots inside."
Seoul American was also not as affected by Faith’s pressure defenses as it was last year, Ratcliff said, "and Faith’s transition game was not there. We did a great job of getting back on defense."
Seoul American went in front early, ending the first quarter ahead 15-11. But the Vanguards, who got 14 points from Lauren Cleope and 10 from Grace Fern, fought back, staying within one at the half and going ahead 35-32 in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
Then it was the Falcons’ turn to rally. They outscored the Vanguards 17-9 over an eight-minute span before Cleope’s three-point goal cut the gap to 49-47. Seoul American’s Deidre Jones was fouled and hit a free throw for the game’s final margin.
Seoul American finished its season 28-6, with its only six losses coming against adult military opponents in Korea. Faith went 30-3, with Saturday’s defeat the Vanguards’ only one against high school opponents this season.
It’s the first time in four years that both Far East Girls Tournament titles went to Korea teams; Daegu won the Girls Class A Tournament on Friday on its home court at Camp Walker.
Seoul American, in its 16th straight Final Four appearance, won its fourth Class AA Tournament title in school history; the Falcons also won in 1984, 2005 and 2006.
It was the first time Faith lost a Class AA Tournament title game. Faith was going for its 10th Far East Tournament title overall; the Vanguards have won five Class AA and four Class A Tournament titles, all under first-year coach Walt Spicer’s predecessor, Dan Beaver.