MS girls soccer: At Canadian Academy in Kobe: A team - champions. B team - champions. C team - 2nd place. Clearly the Sabers are the class of WJAA MS girls soccer. Congratulations to Coach Frater and Coach Namba and the 40+ Sabers MS girls soccer players. (Next up for MS girls - basketball starting in January.)
MS boys basketball: At Marist Brothers International School in Kobe: Make that 2 years in a row as WJAA champions as the young Sabers cagers handily repeated as champions, defeating most opponents by the 30-point mercy rule. Well done, Coach Ray and Coach Mitsuhashi. (Next up for MS boys - soccer starting in January.)
HS girls basketball: At Canadian Academy in Kobe: The Sabers girls won 1 game on Friday, avenging an early season loss by beating a strong EJ King (Sasebo) team, to put them in Saturday's semifinals. But two losses on the second day left the Sabers in 4th place in the 6-team tournament. Still, a strong effort from the Sabers and coaches Sagara and Hirai.
HS boys basketball: Hosted by SOIS in the Sabers gym: On Friday, the Sabers boys (pictured above left) lost to EJ King by 6 points, a marked improvement over a 25-point defeat earlier in the season. The Sabers then dispatched AISA rivals Yokohama International School to advance to the semifinals, where the Sabers defeated tournament favorites MC Perry (Iwakuni). This put the Sabers into the finals, a rematch against EJ King, where the Sabers fell short, figuratively and literally, to the much taller and stronger Cobras. Regardless, it was a great tournament for the Sabers - congratulations to first-year head coach Michael Routh and assistant coach Heimer. WJAA all-tournament team members for the Sabers were seniors Shaw Iyama, Coe Lee, and Kai Stewart. Click to see tournament results.