in Japan

Varsity boys' basketball completes first day of Kanto Classic Tournament

The boys' varsity basketball team got off to a solid start on the first day of the three-day Kanto Classic Tournament at ASIJ on Thursday. They started with a 65-37 loss to Kinnick before ending the day with a 47-39 comeback victory over Edgren.

The Kinnick game was a more desirable result than the first time CAJ met its Kanto rival in December. In that game, the Red Devils thoroughly dominated and won 102-40.

This time wasn't close either, but the Knights outscored their opponents 16-8 in the fourth quarter to close the gap. Enosh ended with 14 points and Kyle had eight.

Coach Steve Hall said the team was able to calm down late in the game and cut down on the unforced errors.

"[In the first half] we’d get a stop, and they’d either get an offensive rebound and score or we’d get a rebound [on their miss] and just throw the ball right back to them," Hall said. "In the second half, we didn't have much of that at all."

The Knights continued that fourth quarter excellence against the Eagles. While Edgren had a 39-32 lead after three quarters, CAJ came storming back with a 15-0 fourth quarter to take the lead and the win.

"In the fourth quarter, we just shut them down," Hall said. "We made a few tweaks on the press, and Takara had a very good game. He had several steals and layups."

Against Edgren, Takara led the team with 10 points, while Kevin was close behind with nine.

These two games pushed the Knights' overall record this season to 5-9. They will continue pool play in the tournament on Friday against Kadena and Yokota.
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