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"Fighting Through KL: My Experience at the ISKL Twin Towers Tournament" by JD Guffy

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Last weekend, our Dalat varsity boys’ basketball team fought through one of the toughest tournaments we’ve played, finishing second at the ISKL Twin Towers Tournament in Kuala Lumpur after a hard, physical championship game that tested every part of us.

The tournament took place from Friday to Saturday on the ISKL campus, with four teams competing: PUBA placed 4th, Southern Wolves placed 3rd, Dalat placed 2nd, and the host team, ISKL, placed 1st. We played one game on Friday, followed by three more on Saturday, and the intensity increased with each matchup.

The championship game against ISKL was the most emotional moment of the weekend. We started rough, falling behind by over 20 points early. Nothing was going our way, shots weren’t falling, and the game was already getting physical because the referees were barely calling anything. But we didn’t quit. As a team, we locked in defensively, pushed the tempo, and slowly started climbing back. When we cut the lead to just five points, the energy on our bench and in the gym completely shifted. We really believed we were going to turn the game around.

Then everything changed in an instant.

Our center, Logan Kaloo (12), went up for a rebound and took a sharp elbow straight to the eye. I was on the floor when it happened, and all I saw was him stumbling away with blood dripping down his face. It didn’t feel like just a normal injury; the whole mood of the game shifted. Logan had to be taken to the hospital, where they ended up gluing his cut shut. No foul was called on the play, and from that point on, the game became even more physical.

Logan says, “It was definitely tough to go out and have to watch the final moments from the first aid bench, but I felt like the injury was a testament to how hard my teammates and I wanted to win the game.”

Losing Logan in the final minutes made everything harder. He’s a huge presence for us under the rim, and without him, ISKL took advantage. Still, we kept pushing and refused to let the score get out of control. Even though we ended up losing by 10, it didn’t feel like a loss—it felt like we had fought until the last second despite everything against us.

Looking back, finishing second wasn’t the main takeaway for me. What stood out to me was how we responded when things got rough. We came together, adjusted, encouraged each other, and battled back from a 24-point hole in a championship game. That’s something I am proud to say I was a part of.

Overall, this tournament taught us a lot: how to stay composed when the officiating is inconsistent, how to respond when emotions run high, and how to support each other through serious moments like Logan’s injury. As the season continues, I am proud to say that last weekend strengthened, toughened, and united us even more as a team.

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