Owen’s middle school basketball team finished third in the season ending Western Japan Athletic Association (WJAA) tournament last weekend. They lost to Canadian Academy of Kobe in the semi finals and came back to defeat Nagoya IS in the consolation match to finish in third place out of eight teams.
The team finished with 9 wins and 5 losses on the season. They defeated every team in the WJAA at least once. The low shooting percentage in the tournament weekend held them back from reaching the finals. The WJAA is a nice middle school league and the basketball season runs from October to early December. A 14-game season is a good number, although I wish they had more games during the week and less Saturdays. I felt Owen and his teammates Ren and Henri were three of the best basketball players in the league. As they grow and mature in high school, I am expecting to see continued success if they stay together.
Owen had a very good season and I was proud of him. Left handed people look unconventional in the sport to me. In Japan in middle school basketball, at 5-4, Owen is solidly a position 3. His strength is a running mid-range shot. He is continuing to develop an accurate outside shot and is pretty good taking it inside for layups. He is not quick or fast, but has good defensive instincts that translate into lots of steals and rebounds.
The soccer season begins in January and I am already looking forward to watching him play.
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