The high school girls’ varsity basketball team traveled to Daegu Middle High School (DMHS) on Jan. 23 for a face-off against their crosstown rivals, the Warriors. The Jets showcased a different style of play under their new coach in the first game of the season. Although they lost with a score of 18 to 25, they made gains compared to last year’s losses of 45 to 3 and 41 to 1.
Girls’ leadership transitioned this year, as Mr. Bergan passed the baton to Mr. Park. The change introduced new team strategies and boosted motivation and effort. Lee said, “We definitely practiced more compared to last year. We always had weekend practices and a lot of girls put in a lot of effort. I feel like that extra time and dedication really helped us do better this year.”
The Jets kicked off the game with Apple Jun (7) as point guard, Lily Lee (4) as small forward, Minori Kojima (9) as shooting guard, Leewen Wang (1) as power forward, and Nayoung Kim (14) as center.
The team set in motion with a 15-point lead in the first half against the Warriors’ defense. “We played way better than I thought. Especially after the time-out, everyone started doing what Mr. Park told us to do and we scored a lot. It was nice to see our team’s strategy working,” said varsity captain Nayoung Kim.
The second half proved to be a test for the players. They struggled to maintain control against the aggressive defense, facing multiple turnovers and foul calls. “We had a lot of lay-up opportunities, but we missed a lot of those,” Kim said.
However, they lost their pace, eventually leading to the Warriors’ turnaround in the second half. Their ineptness at their new defensive technique, zone defense, contributed to their ultimate loss. “We were still new to our zone offense, and we could’ve had better-shot opportunities, but instead we were forcing the shots and there were tons of turnovers,” said coach Mr. Park.
Along with their weakening momentum, the team expressed frustration with the aggressive attitude of the other team and the referees’ calls. “The other team players were kind of rude. They were swearing a lot, pushing a lot, and I think the refs should’ve called it out in terms of sportsmanship, but we were disappointed to see that they didn’t do that,” Lily Lee said.
Despite the loss, the Jets stepped up their game from last year. Calyee Shipman, the captain of the DMHS team, said, “I enjoyed playing with DIS. All the players were really good, but (Apple) Jun was the best. She was really good. ”
Regardless of the Jets’ defeat, the game inspired optimism for future tournaments. “Overall, I think we played pretty well, but we still have to practice more of the basics like lay-ups, dribbling, and footwork. It was our first game so we also need to play more to get used to playing with each other,” Lee said.
The crew now gears up for their upcoming matches at KISAC (Korean International School Activities Conference) and SKAIS (South Korea Associations of International Schools) from Feb. 13th to 14th and March 1st. The Warriors outperformed the Jets, yet the team now redirects its focus toward improving for upcoming tournaments.
