Buckets in Hong Kong

Calvin Thompson

On the 16^th of February at 5am in the morning, the boys’ basketball team headed out to Hong Kong to compete in a competitive basketball tournament in Southeast Asia. The tournament hosted 8 teams from Korea, Guam, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. The goal of the team was to win the ACSC (Asian Christian Schools Conference) title; this was the reason for all the pain and sweat that each player willingly devoted his time to throughout the season; this was the moment they has been working for. The moment was also bittersweet because the underclassmen came to realize that this was the last time they would play alongside the senior players. “I have grown up playing basketball with all the seniors on the basketball team. This provides me with motivation to play my best for them,” said Adrian Nonis (10).

Dalat competed well in the tournament. The first day the Dalat boys started off with a record of 2-1. This was the pool play, so there was still a chance of winning the championship. The second day the boys fell to a tough team, being St. Paul from Guam. In for revenge, the boys beat Morrison Academy from Taiwan. The win over Morrison provided the team with extra morale because Morrison won the title last year. The third day the boys were still in the loser’s bracket, and they lost their last two games. This ended their streak, and they ended up 5^th out of the 8 schools. Shawn Lim (12) won the All-tournament award and Calvin Thompson (12) won top defender. These awards were well earned. The week of basketball was over and each team headed back to home.

The season for basketball is over. The team has gone through many ups and downs, yet the brotherhood remains tight. “A few of the games the shots were not falling. We were not rotating on defense, and people were getting angry with each other. But after the games, we still looked out for each other because we were all a part of the brotherhood,” commented Andy Ewe (12).

“The privilege and blessing to be able to play basketball with my fellow teammates is truly an honor. I will never forget the memories made” said Brian Hiew (12).   The sweat, pain, and hours of hard work are all over. Yet, the memories and emotions of that week will remain with all those players throughout the rest of their lives.