Swish Swish: Super APAC Basketball

From January 23 to the 26, our boys and girls varsity basketball team took off to compete in the Super APAC Basketball tournament.

Every 4 years, schools from both divisions of APAC (Asia and Pacific division) come together to form a Super APAC tournament. Unlike “normal” APACs, all 12 schools will participate in the tournament. This year, Concordia International School of Shanghai (CISS) hosted the girls Super APAC Basketball, while the boys traveled to Hong Kong International School (HKIS) to compete. The girls ended strong and placed 4, while the boys placed 6.

The girls were aiming to keep their streak of placing top 4 in APAC tournaments. Last year, they placed 2nd, breaking our school’s record as highest placement in APAC for girl’s basketball. The girls started out strong — winning both games in the first day. They won 3 games out of 4, making their way up in semi-finals.

For the boys, their goal was to end up in top 6 (out of 12 schools) as they ranked 5th of 6 schools last year. Losing their first two games, the boys were almost discouraged by the results, but still tried their best in games in the next 2 days of the tournament. The boys finally won their first game against CA (Canadian Academy of Japan) and placed 6th, achieving their goal as well.

Senior Maggie M, who participated in 4 APAC basketball tournaments throughout her high school years stated that, “although these last 4 years have been extremely challenging, [she] really enjoyed being able to mentally challenge [herself] whilst leading others as an upperclassmen.” 4 years in varsity basketball not only has taught Maggie M. to shoot and pass a basketball, but also “has taught [her] how to be a leader and to persevere through tough times, despite the circumstances.”

Being the first year of Jacky L’s APAC tournament, he expressed his amazement by saying, “compared to middle school, APAC was a lot more intense than what I’m used to. It is a lot more physical and the competition is a lot tougher.” Although Super APAC was challenging, “it was a good experience because [he] was able meet new people but mostly because [he] was able to meet Manny Pacquiao.”