It's only been done twice by DODDS-Pacific schools, Kadena in 1987 and Kubasaki in 1990, then by Faith Academy in 2000.

One school's boys and girls team sweeping the Far East High School Class AA Basketball Tourrnament titles is pretty much as rare a feat as you'll find teeth in a hen's beak.

Seoul American has that chance. The boys (29-9), who won the Class AA title last year, and girls (19-1), who finished second, are each perched atop the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference standings and each brings a triad of strong inside players and solid point-guard play to the table.

Musings and mutterings as Ornauer counts down the days to Far East wrestling (14), Far East basketball (18) and the first official day of spring sports practices (26):

-- To compete at a higher level, Kadena's boys basketball team needs that "ability to sustain," coach Robert Bliss said after the Panthers led Oroku by 10 points in the third quarter, only to fall 76-61 in Sunday's championship game of the 3rd Okinawa-American Shootout. Kadena played well in the first half, just as it did the second half of tis semifinal victory earlier Monday. At 21-11, the Panthers remain competitive but need to "find that consistency," Bliss said.

Boys
1, Yokota, Japan (21-0) -- On collision course for battle with Seoul American in the Class AA title game?
2, Seoul American (29-9) -- See Yokota.
3, Kadena, Okinawa (21-11) -- Don't count out the Panthers; they grew quite a bit in the MLK, Oki-Am shootout.
4. Nile C. Kinnick, Japan (17-6) -- Stumbled against St. Mary's; righted ship against two Japanese teams.
5, Seoul Foreign (16-2) -- On course for Asia-Pacific Activities Conference title.
6, Faith Academy, Philippines (16-9).
7. St. Mary's International, Japan (11-10).
8, American School In Japan (7-7).
9, Robert D. Edgren, Japan (12-5).
10, Daegu American, South Korea (10-7).
Girls

Coach Norzell Harris says he's convinced that Denise Juzang and Lia Gainey have what it takes to be All-Air Force basketball players. So much so, he would like to see all the military services change their long-standing policy and permit dependent spouses, such as Gainey and Juzang, to play in All-Armed Forces tournaments.

Juzang, a four-year player at Division II Midwestern State in Texas, and Gainey, named the tournament's MVP, paced the Yokota Warriors to the women's title in last weekend's 15th Martin Luther King Invitational Basketball Tournament at Okinawa's Camp Foster Field House.

It's what Kadena senior boys basketball guard Brandon Harris terms the "best of both worlds."

Last week, the Panthers got a sort of physical education -- going up against adult interservice and open-team players -- in the 15th Martin Luther King Invitational Tournament.

This week comes their speed education, against the cat-quick press-and-transition style emblematic of Japanese high school teams in the 3rd Okinawa-American Shootout. Both tournaments at the Camp Foster Field House.

OK, campers, we're down to the Final Four. Here are the semifinal pairings in this season's battle for a place in the holy grail of Top 13 wrestlers of the last 25 years.

SportsBlog Nation, time to shout it out! Let me hear who will win these pairings and go on to our mythical championship bouts, which goes up in this space after next week's Rumble on the Rock here on Okinawa.

We'll then crown our champions just after the Feb. 7 Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools tournament at Tokyo's St. Mary's International School. And as a bonus, we'll honor our own mythical Outstanding Wrestler of the past quarter century.

Not much movement this week, with a lot of teams off for semester exams.

Boys
1, Yokota, Japan (20-0) -- On course for unbeaten regular season.
2, Seoul American (29-9) -- Rematch at Seoul Foreign on Feb. 4, KAIAC tourney still loom.
3. Nile C. Kinnick, Japan (15-5) -- Idle last week.
4, Kadena, Okinawa (16-10) -- Don't be fooled by five losses last week; they all came against military teams in the MLK tournament.
5, Seoul Foreign (15-2) -- Stumbled against Seoul American, but still going strong.
6, American School In Japan (7-6). Been on a tear since New Year Classic.
7, Faith Academy, Philippines (13-8).
8, St. Mary's International, Japan (10-10).
9, Robert D. Edgren, Japan (8-5).

Musings and mutterings as we reach the end of the first semester, with Far East winter sports tournaments less than a month away:

-- Test passed. Seoul American's boys and girls basketball teams handily took care of business Friday in Falcon Gym, taking command of the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference title chases. Coach Steve Boyd and the Falcons boys (29-9) have won or shared the last eight KAIAC titles; new coach Billy Ratcliff and the Falcons girls (19-1) take aim at their 17th straight KAIAC title.

Rare is the air enjoyed by those fortunate enough to have been named to the All-Armed Forces basketball team.

Now, try being in your first year of service, being in the Marine Corps, the smallest of the four military services, with the global war on terror going on on two fronts.

That's the rarefied air that Ryan McLellan currently relishes after his breathtaking 2008 basketball journey that took him from home base on Okinawa to Texas to Belgium.

Enjoy his history-making season here.