
The Sabers boys high school basketball team played an exhibition game as a warm-up to an Evessa professional game Sunday, December 22, 2013, at the Sumiyoshi Sports Center. It was an exciting opportunity for the Sabers to play on a professional court in a large arena complete with pregame player introductions, Evessa cheerleaders, the Evessa mascot, and dozens of fans.
The Sabers opponent unexpectedly turned out to be a middle school youth team from Minoh, the Angels. The Sabers coach immediately realized that the game would be a lopsided mismatch, and captain Kai Stewart quickly came up with the good idea to pool all players from both teams together and then split them into two equal squads. After some quick uniform swapping, these A and B teams took the court to some polite clapping and some loud piped-in Evessa sound effects.
The game was casual and fun and evenly matched until Stewart and former Sabers point guard Yujin Yamamoto each hit late 3-pointers to lead the A team to a narrow victory. Former Sabers post player Joel Terhune muscled his way to a few points in the paint. All players received 500-yen McDonald's gift cards and the losing B team players also received front row seats for the following Evessa game (along with the privilege of mopping the court during timeouts).
The Sabers opponent unexpectedly turned out to be a middle school youth team from Minoh, the Angels. The Sabers coach immediately realized that the game would be a lopsided mismatch, and captain Kai Stewart quickly came up with the good idea to pool all players from both teams together and then split them into two equal squads. After some quick uniform swapping, these A and B teams took the court to some polite clapping and some loud piped-in Evessa sound effects.
The game was casual and fun and evenly matched until Stewart and former Sabers point guard Yujin Yamamoto each hit late 3-pointers to lead the A team to a narrow victory. Former Sabers post player Joel Terhune muscled his way to a few points in the paint. All players received 500-yen McDonald's gift cards and the losing B team players also received front row seats for the following Evessa game (along with the privilege of mopping the court during timeouts).