The DIS varsity girls’ basketball team headed to the Busan Foreign School (BFS) for the Korea International Schools Athletic Conference (KISAC) from Feb. 6-7. After patching up holes from the DMHS friendlies, the team filed onto the court with high hopes.
Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts, leading offensive contributor Leewen Wang (1) and key playmaker Jayden Hayward (35) sat out the tournament for the Korea International Music Educators Association (KIMEA) High School National Honor Festival. Starters point guard Minori Kojima (9), shooting guard Apple Jun (7), small forward Lily Lee (4), center Bonnie Kim (16) and power forward Luisa Silva (28) opened the first against Saint Johnsbury Academy (SJA).
With two players missing, holes in the Jets’ defense led to a shaky start. At the same time, SJA center Matilda Kim drove through the defenses with her physique, widening the point gap early on.
“We had issues with communication on our defense. The other team kept coming into the middle and the top guards didn’t know,” said Captain Minori Kojima (9). The girls’ inexperience with the two-three zone defense showed as they applied it in an official match for the first time.
After renewed strategy in halftime, the Jets managed to tighten coverage and minimized easy layups. Although they managed to cut off their opponent’s offensive streak, DIS struggled to find their rhythm and took a loss (12:35).
For their second round-robin game, DIS faced Fayston Preparatory School (FPS). With both teams evenly matched at half-time (15:12), Coach Park switched players on and off the court to keep the energy high. Despite the solid pace in the first two quarters, the team fell behind on the scoreboard.
“Making layups, boxing out to grab rebounds– those basic fundamental things could have helped us win, but we just didn’t do it. That cost us the game,” said Coach Park. Despite aggressive efforts for the ball, the girls faced tight defense in the paint and made multiple turnovers against FPS, with the match ending 19:25.
After two tough losses, DIS opened day two with a matchup against their longtime rival the Busan Foreign School (BFS) Sharks. With accurate shots by Kojima (9) and Jun (7), the Jets kept their pace with the Sharks until the first half, trailing only two baskets behind.
“DIS did really well getting the upper hand in shots and going into the paint and driving to get layups. Especially with all of DIS’s really good attacks, it really pushed us harder to defend better,” said BFS junior Maya Calfee.
However, the full court press defensive style wore down the DIS guards’ stamina and increased pressure, leading to pass misses. The blunders opened up layups for the Sharks, leading to a 26:17 defeat.
With only one game left, the Jets regrouped to finish the tourney with a win in a rematch against the FPS Eagles. Reflecting reviewing their performance on day 1, they emphasized boxing out for rebounds and improving their shooting accuracy.
Behind rebounds and post scoring from Kim (16) and Shim (18), DIS took the lead from the whistle. The team maintained its advantage throughout all four quarters as guards Lee (4), Kojima (9) and Jun (7) knocked down jump shots, allowing for a 24:13 victory.
The aggressive effort allowed the Jets to close the tournament in fifth place. “Overall, every time when we go against DIS, I can feel that you guys really want the win, and you guys really go for every single ball, every single play, and every single layup, and you guys don’t miss a chance when you get it,” said FPS shooting guard Kaitlyn Park.
Capping off the weekend, Kojima (9) took home the all tournament team award. “I came to a lot of extra practice and I think being able to practice with the drills really helped me run the plays in the game and get an opportunity to shoot,” Kojima (9) said.
With the end of their first tournament, the girls prepare for a strong finish to the season at the SKAIS finals on Feb. 24. “It was just a great experience for our girls to see what we need to improve on and to see other teams play. We just have to be in condition because these girls can run really fast and run a lot, so we have to match that level,” said Coach Park.
