Kyoto Seika Girls And Yongsan High School Boys Dominate To Win Inaugural NBA Rising Stars Invitational
(Press Release)
SINGAPORE – The Kyoto Seika Gakuen Senior High School (JPN) girls and Yongsan High School (KOR) boys blew their competition out of the water to win their respective titles at the inaugural NBA Rising Stars Invitational at the Kallang Tennis Hub on Sunday (29 June).
The final scores are:
Girls’ Final – Kyoto Seika Gakuen Senior High School (JPN) 109-40 Onyang Girls’ High School (KOR)
Boys’ Final – Yongsan High School (KOR) 97-48 Tsinghua University High School (CHN)
In the girls’ final, a dominant display at both ends saw Kyoto Seika Gakuen Senior High School romp to a 109-40 victory over Onyang Girls’ High School (KOR) to clinch the title in style. A lively start from both teams saw them trading baskets, but the Japanese eventually proved more clinical on offence and defence, pulling away to amass a 27-11 lead after just the first quarter, and they never looked back. Their tight defence proved effective as the South Koreans struggled to find space for clear shots on goal, settling instead for hasty attempts and scoring just 20.3 per cent of their field goal attempts. The Japanese, meanwhile, maintained their momentum throughout the game, launching speedy attacks led by MVP Hikari Yoshida and comfortably penetrating the Korean defence for a 50 per cent field goal conversion rate. They also made the most of their free throws, scoring 11 out of 18 of them.
The boys’ final was also a one-sided affair, with Yongsan High School in imperious form against Tsinghua University High School (CHN). Powered by boys’ MVP Kim Min-gi, captain Daniel Edi and forward Kim Tae- in, who scored a combined 60 points, the Koreans ran away with the game courtesy of their sharp shooting and quick reflexes for a 97-48 win. The Chinese team were also undone by miscommunication and poor ball handling, while Yongsan High School capitalised on those mistakes to see out the game in front of 1,100 people.
Sunday’s sold-out crowd also had some star power, with NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis, WNBA legend Lauren Jackson, current NBA players Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, as well as B.LEAGUE’s Keisei Tominaga in the audience. Commenting on the importance of events like the inaugural NBA Rising Stars Invitational, Sabonis said: “For young athletes, it is about taking the game to the next level. You see athletes taking their skill way beyond what it was back then, doing things that we haven't seen. I'm always excited to see what these new kids can do. I was watching the games yesterday, and these kids are doing stuff that we didn't even dream of, so it's really cool to see how the game is evolving.”
The 25-29 June NBA Rising Stars Invitational is the league’s first regional high-school tournament, and the inaugural edition featured boys’ and girls’ teams from 11 countries across Asia-Pacific. Operated by NBA Singapore, the NBA Rising Stars Invitational is part of the league’s multi-year collaboration with Sport Singapore (SportSG) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
Fans can visit www.nbarisingstarsinvitational.com and follow NBA Rising Stars Invitational on Instagram and YouTube for the latest news and updates.
Quotes
Mika Sakaguchi, Kyoto Seika Gakuen Senior High School (JPN) captain
“Thank you very much for having us, and we’re very honoured to be the first champions of the NBA Rising Stars Invitational. It wasn’t an easy path at all. Even in this game, we had times that we struggled and had to overcome a lot. It’s very different from playing in Japan against Japanese teams. The difference is definitely the physicality, the size and how everyone is very strong in each play. We learnt a lot, and we found a lot of issues to overcome as well. We’ll bring that back to Japan and work on that and get even better. The Korean team are very fast, they’re very physical, and they shoot treys very well. Those are the things that we found out during the game, but those were also things we had been working on. We were prepared for that. They are a very good team, very physical and strong. It was a very good game. We have become the champions and we just want to keep working very hard so that we get better and show that this tournament has made us stronger.”
Tsunayoshi Yamamoto, Kyoto Seika Gakuen Senior High School (JPN) head coach
“This is actually the first time the Kyoto Seika basketball team is playing outside of Japan in a tournament like this, so this was really our first challenge. Honestly, we were very nervous. But NBA Singapore and all the people involved welcomed us and we’re honoured to be in this tournament. (Despite) the nervous start, once it happened, with all the hospitality and support, we were able to show what we can do, which gave us good results. Looking at the other teams, especially Korea, China, Australia, they’re tall and physical and we weren’t confident at all early on. (Through taking it) one game at a time and one win at a time, we raised our confidence and we were able to get good results. It was a great experience for us. We prepared for this tournament well and we were really focused. But more importantly, whatever the result is, the most important thing we earned from this tournament is meeting different people from different countries and learning about other cultures. That’s really the most important thing for us for this event.”
Kang Ju-ha, Onyang Girls’ High School (KOR)
“In the semi-finals, we played against Australia who are physically stronger and they’re taller than us so we thought we’d be at a disadvantage. Despite that, we went into the game with confidence and the result was better than expected, so that was the most memorable moment for me. We were able to meet some NBA players during this tournament and that was a huge honour. I’m going to work very hard so I can follow their paths. Compared to national tournaments, international tournaments like these show that we’re weaker physically and in terms of strength, so some tactics did not work for us. I want to go back to Korea and work on our weaknesses so we can show an improved performance in international tournaments.”
Daniel Edi, Yongsan High School (KOR) captain
“It's the first ever time that we're playing at the NBA Rising Stars Invitational, and I can’t describe with words how I'm feeling right now, I just want to scream with happiness. We've had a great tournament but we needed to go out with a bang, and that felt amazing. It's a special team and such an honour to be the captain and to lead this group. They've been nothing but wonderful and supportive, so kudos to them. It's been such a wonderful event and we've had a great result, and we hope this will provide a great experience for our basketball careers in the future.”
Kim Min-gi, Yongsan High School (KOR)
“I’m incredibly happy, this is going to be a memory that’s just going to be unforgettable for the rest of my life. The night before, we had a look at the Chinese team and saw that they’re really tall. We built a game plan based on that to make sure that we were going to tackle them well during the game. And the most important thing was to have that fight, because we had nothing to lose, so we had to go for this. After we secured a lead in the first half, we thought the better play in the second half was to make sure that we go for clear chances instead of trying to force shots. We also did a lot of screen plays to make sure that we had a lot of easy two-pointers instead of the three.
“To be completely honest, no, we didn't expect such a big win. We even thought that we might lose against these guys and that was our mentality going into it. But like we said earlier, we had nothing to lose, so we just gave it our all and a good result came after. This means a lot to me personally and I’ve never expected something like this. This will be a great groundwork for my career in the future, because we don’t have a lot of NBA-related tournaments in Asia and on top of that I even won the MVP (award) so nothing but good things to say about this.”
Lee Se-beom, Yongsan High School (KOR) coach
“Coming into this tournament, we had a lot of expectations but the scale of this tournament was incredible. It was completely (different) from what we were originally expecting. What I thought was important was that this was going to be a great platform for the kids to strive for a challenge to really go for those victories and learn a lot. Even for me as a coach, it was a great learning experience. Going into this match, we were thinking that there were going to be a lot of disadvantages in terms of the Chinese team’s physicality, their height and their strength. But one thing I wanted my kids to promise me was that they would go out there and fight for it, because we have nothing to lose. That’s all I wanted from them and the result doesn’t matter. But along with that kind of energy and also the fact that we had a lot of strategic pillars that we added to the game, these things combined into a great victory for us at the end.”
Wang Zeqi, Tsinghua University High School (CHN) assistant coach
“Of course I’m not satisfied with the result of the final, but it was a good lesson for us. Although we lost and it’s a painful experience, it’ll be a good learning experience for us and this is part of the process. Four years ago, I was watching some games played by the Under-17 players and the Koreans played the same 2-1-2 defence. Now, the high schools are applying that knowledge and style to their teams and the middle school teams are probably adopting the same style as well. They have been practising and finetuning their own style of play and it’s paying off with good results as you can see from this tournament. We should have our own style of play and all the teams, from national to high school to middle school, can learn it. Overall, it’s been a great experience in the inaugural NBA Rising Stars Invitational and the players are enjoying it. They’ve gone sightseeing in Singapore and it’s truly an unforgettable experience as well.”
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