ACSC Boys’ Basketball: Brothers to the End

Sam Huang

The Dalat boys’ basketball team had an exciting, yet heartbreaking week as they played in their first ever ACSC held on their home ground of Penang. The ACSC, Asia Christian Schools Conference, is the biggest tournament that Dalat varsity teams participate in. Dalat athletes train hard to compete against Gyeonggi Suwon International School and Yongsan International School from Korea, Grace International School from Thailand, Faith Academy from the Philippines, Morrison Academy from Taiwan, International Christian School of Hong Kong, and St. Paul Christian School from Guam.

The tournament kicked off with fireworks during the opening ceremony on Tuesday, February 14. Our Dalat boys felt confident they’d well in the tournament at first. However, on the next day, during their first game as the entire school cheered them on, it was inevitable that they felt the pressure and nervousness. In the end, they psyched themselves out. The boys got tense and played like a weaker team, which resulted in a 34-61 loss with up to twenty-five turnovers against Grace International School, who ended the tournament in second place. The boys gathered for a team meeting to reflect on what had happened during the previous game to wake themselves up from a potential nightmare.

During their next game, the second of the day, with nerves out of the way, our Dalat team finally showed their true potential as they won 58-46 against Yongsan International School with three of the starting five players, Sheldon Ang (12), Adrian Nonis (11), and Jeremy Worton (10), all scoring double digits. The boys regained their confidence going into the second day of the tournament.

On the early morning of Feb. 16th, the Dalat boys took another 52-48 win over Morrison Academy in the last game of their pool play, finishing as the second seed of the pool. With the pool play over, the boys knew that the real tournament was starting. ACSC is a double elimination tournament in which a team is eliminated after losing twice in the playoffs.

The next morning, the Dalat boys took on the International Christian School of Hong Kong in the first round of the playoffs. In Dalat basketball history, the boys’ team has never made it past the first round of the playoffs; nevertheless, this year, the boys made an improvement and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 42-35 win against the International Christian School of Hong Kong.

However, this meant that the boys had to go head-to-head with the undefeated Faith Academy to stay in the winners’ bracket. The game against Faith Academy was a tough one. They had the tallest player in the entire tournament, along with four other guys who could drain the “three ball” all day long. The Dalat boys fought with everything they had, even closing the gap to a two point game at one point, but they fell to Faith Academy in a 46-66 loss.

The Dalat boys had their backs against the wall as they went into the last day of the tournament. Our boys could still have won it all, but that would mean they had to win four consecutive games against the top notch teams in the tournament. With that in mind, our boys took on Morrison Academy again to advance into the semifinals. However, this time, the game ended differently from the last time the two teams clashed. The Dalat boys were being out rebounded and the point guard from Morrison Academy was shooting surprisingly well, draining five three-pointers to lead his team to a 56-44 victory.

It was a devastating loss for the Dalat boys. The crowd was heartbroken to see their home team eliminated. But amidst the pain and sorrow, the one thing that grew stronger was the bond between the Dalat boys. From the beginning to the end, they bled, sweat, and wept together. No matter how tough the opponent or the situation was, they always picked each other up and fought through it together.

Through the wins and the losses, it had become more than just a basketball game. The Dalat varsity basketball team is no longer just a team of guys playing a sport; the brotherhood that developed is something that will last a lifetime for the boys. The boys have no reason to stay depressed. They have learned much from the games. Also, as Coach Arnold says, “I just want to say how proud I am of each one of you for competing at the highest level. Every coach made an effort to say how fun you guys were to watch because of your brute toughness and physicality. They all said you were the toughest opponent.”