Boys Varsity Basketball Tri-Cities: Here’s What Happened

From December 1-3, AISG boys varsity basketball team travelled to Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) for the Tri-Cities tournament. One school from Guangzhou (AISG), one school from Shanghai (SASPD), and two schools from Beijing (WAB & ISB) brought their best efforts to the tournament, showcasing the hard work they have made during the past two months of practice. Our AISG team, led by Coach Elliott, played a total of 4 games during the tournament and at the end, earned the 3rd place trophy for our school.

The highlight of the tournament for AISG was definitely the two games against the host of the Tri-Cities event: WAB. Out of the 4 games played during the tournament, the second game was against WAB. Despite overpowering the opponent during the first half, AISG suffered a scoring drought in the fourth quarter, the players lost focus, and eventually, AISG lost by 1 point. However, the loss in the first game against WAB only motivated AISG to become more desperate, more hungry for victory in the 4th game. The 4th or final game was the most important one during the tournament for AISG since it decided whether we take home a trophy or not. The game was indeed a thrilling one to watch for the audience. The first half, similar to the previous match, was led by AISG. Yet, with assistance from VERY loud cheers from WAB home audience, WAB began to slowly overcome the deficit. At last, with about 20 seconds remaining in the game clock, the game was tied. This was when AISG’s junior Eagle Cheng made the game-winning fadeaway shot from the sideline of the court to propel AISG ahead of WAB by 2 points. Soon, the game was over, and the victory belonged to AISG.

After watching the boys team’s performance during the tournament, Coach Elliott said, “They played hard and intensely. They improved tremendously compared to the first day of the practice.” He further commented regarding his hopes and goals for the boys basketball team. “Make a basket. That is the key to being successful. We need to continue to improve until the APAC tournament and perform even better than what we did for Tri-Cities. That way, we can bring a medal to our school from the tournament.”

Today, December 7 was the last practice for the AISG boys varsity basketball team in first semester. After the winter break, basketball season will continue until January 31 when the boys will travel to Taejeon, South Korea for their APAC tournament.