The middle school boys’ basketball team competed in the South Korea Associations International Schools (SKAIS) tournament at the home of the Jets on May 22. Despite losses and improvements from the KISAC tourney, the Jets once again stepped back up to win a back-to-back trophy.
Varsity flared off the morning with a match-up against the Busan Foreign School (BFS) Sharks. With a close loss against the Sharks in the KISAC square off, the Jets locked in with improved tactical plays. Veterans Kevin Ahn (number 27) and Joseph Yoon (number 34) led the squad with tempo, as they presented smoother ball movements.
However, with back-and-forth buckets from both sides, the Jets failed to keep up with the intensity in a nail-biter situation, and gave a one-possession victory to the Sharks (23:20) “The game was really close, and everyone in our team tried our best. We were aiming to beat them after the KISAC tournament, but we were all pretty sad we couldn’t,” said Ahn.
After a quick rest, the Jets squared off another Busan crew: the International School of Busan (ISB) Bears. The results of the game determined whether the Jets would make it to the finals, elevating their focus. However, while the boys seemed to go face-to-face with the Bears, the score gap widened as game time went on, ending the game in an eight point loss (18:26).
Despite knowing their positions for the tournament, they finished off their day against a co-ed team of Gyeongnam International Foreign School (GIFS) Tigers and Atherton International School (AIS). As both teams were finalized to be the third and last seed, coaches decided to shrink two matches into one.
Both starters and subs gave all they had for the last game of the season. With a fierce attack towards the rim, the Jets went on a scoring-streak, beating the combo team of GIFS/AIS by 17:44.
On the other hand, the DIS 2 squad kick-started their tournament with ease. Already once beaten against the BFS 2 team in the KISAC tourney, they performed again with consistency and teamwork, beating the Sharks 14:4.
While the boys seemed to continue on their victory, the ISB Bears stopped the Jets from another win. The Bears presented tight defensive strategies that hindered the squad from scoring. Unfortunately, the crew lost by one possession, failing to secure their ticket to the finals.
(Oliver Park)
After beating the co-ed GIFS/AIS 2 squad (14:6), the Jets advanced to the finale: a re-match with the junior varsity (JV) ISB Bears.
After a close game in the previous round-robin against the Bears, they focused on improving their offensive and defensive tactics, and prepared to hold their championship at the home of the Jets.
The match tipped off with both teams trading baskets, hyping the crowd to cheer strong. DIS 2 executed sharp cut-ins towards the net, but ISB 2 held their defense strong.
With neck and neck scores till the last minute, the Jets stayed one possession behind again, but failed to bounce back, sealing a narrow two-point loss (19:17).
Though both teams ended the season with no trophies, valuable experiences throughout the tournament developed their teamwork and resilience. With veteran eighth graders heading to the high school division and youngsters left in the squad, they await for more basketball next year.
