Yokota is yet young and inexperienced but is always ready for the show.. yokota will suprise alot of teams through out this season. The Panthers have many weapons on both sides of the ball but the main ones are Ricky Byrnes whos a senior, senior point guard Anthony Mcneill, and sophmore who can play almost any position on the floor... they'er hard work will pay off in the end..

St. Mary's should be higher up there. all their losses at the hong kong tourney were only by a few points other then the one to seoul. we definitely could have beat them and it'll be fun the next time we meet.

I agree with Sean.
We may have lost, but we're only going to better from it.

Who is tracking the smaller schools such as Deagu American School. They have an outstanding student/athlete at that school. Brandon Spencer is an outstanding student with a 3.8 GPA and an outstanding athlete that transferred in this summer. He contributed significantly to the sports program in Football and now is really showing his athletic ability in basketball, as well as excelling in his academic endeavors. Let's not get caught up in our larger schools and forget that we have other athletes in the Peninsula besides Seoul American and Zama.

Concerned Fan

I'll be visiting Daegu American School on Thursday, specifically to chat it up with Mr. Spencer. Looking forward to it! :)

Just got back from the Yokota playing Kinnick down in Yokosuka - what a fiasco.

I realize that this is the "no hate" zone- but those refs were a piece of work. Wouldn't call a travel to save their lives- were letting players bang into each other (which benefited Kinnick with their size over Yokota), knock people to the floor, and all but handed the game to the Red Devils.

The kicker has to be the one ref who t-ed up the Yokota bench for protesting a no-call hack that knocked one of our players to the floor - and then proceeded to hand out about a half dozen other t's to the Yokota bench, players, Coach and probably fans to boot.

The Yokota coach was ejected - and the score keepers threatened to "call the game" if "both sides" didn't calm down. Might as well have called it - the refs did their job delivering the game for Kinnick.

Hat's off to Kinnick for making the best of the situation - it's not their fault they have to rely on pro-Yokosuka refs. Though they shouldn't be proud of being the beneficiary of an 8 vs. 5 game.

I totally agree with you Bogo...First of all, KUDOS to the Yokota High School JV and Varsity team players you kept your heads up and played your best given the situation and showed great sportsmanship as usual -- we expect nothing less, KUDOS to Kinnick High School JV and Varsity team players you are a good team with strong players.
Shame on you REFEREES for not calling a fair game and risking the health of all of our young men -- this is not backyard, no rules, street ball this is organized high school basketball that requires the use of rules, fouls are fouls if you call a foul on one team and the other team commits the same foul then the other team should be charged a foul -- there were too many of these instances to count!
I applaud the Yokota coach for standing up for the team and protesting the bogus calls that Yokota teams had been receiving in both games!
The portion of the JV game and the entire Varsity game that I saw was unimaginable, the one-sided foul calls were so obvious, and the traveling that was not called could have been documented on 2 or 3 passports! I certainly hope that these 3 REFEREES will not officiate any future games!
Their unfair officiating, which was apparent because they kept looking at the scoreboard to see if Kinnick was catching up, made this game one of the worst officiated game I have ever witnessed. I never thought homecourt advantage included the REFEREES!
I think that most of the referees, it not all of them are volunteers (military and civilians) and I appreciate their time and efforts that they graciously give up in order to do this, but come on -- other than a win, in my opinion the fans, the teams, the coaches, all want a fair game to be played and called and this game was NOT! Again KUDOS to both teams for playing through the madness, REFs please do a better job next time for the safety of all players involved!

YHS PantherMom

Just for your information Seoul Foreign was 9-1 when you wrote this so now their 9-2 after the loss to SAHS

I gave KUDOS to the Kinnick JV and Varsity teams, they have great players -- so I am not a "hater". My disagreement is with the so-called officiating. We, that includes you...as a fan, player, coach, parent whomever should want to make sure that the game is called fairly and accurately. If a person accept the position as a referee then you should do your job -- just like you would any other job -- to the best of your ability.

YHS PantherMom

Both team has been commended for their attitudes....however the majority of those fouls were committed in the first half...the game got out of control mostly in the second half (fourth quarter)...look at your stats and tell how many of those 19 fouls were called in the 4th quarter! Yokota was in double bonus in the first half...so at least 10 + fouls were committed in the first half! This isn't the first game Yokota lost and certainly will not be the last....the officiating was horrible and if you watched the game, you would have witnessed it! The officials control the impact of the game...if they don't nip the hard physical play earlier; players will get hurt. Kinnick fans were booing the officials as well....so apparently Yokota wasn't the only ones disagreeing with the calls. Yokota was disagreeing before they were trailing but Kinnick only disagreed when they were behind. Did you see the call the official changed: a foul to a traveling...too blatant..and that wasn't the only call! No one is taking the win from Kinnick...but the officials really need to be looked at. When Kinnick plays at other venues; the calls they get away a home may hender them at Far East. Don't be bias...be honest!

o.k. sportsview - here are my responses to your comments...

1) officials are only human. they are bound to make errors

Yes - they are only human. So it's also in the realm of possibility that they were/are biased.

2) as stated by gobigred, the scorebook showed that 19 fouls were called against kinnick and only 9 against yokota. where is the bias?

I never said that they didn't call any fouls - I said that they missed a lot of fouls. It was a hard fought game - and Kinnick was very physical. In the varsity game it took about 2 minutes before our first player was knocked to the floor.

Just because they called more fouls on Kinnick than Yokota doesn't mean that they
made every call - or that they weren't baised.

3) both teams had players that hit the floor. why? because they were both playing hard basketball with their hearts. Not because one team had refs on their side

That's funny - because I don't recall seeing many (if any) Kinnick players on the floor. Why - probably because Kinnick, as a team, was a lot bigger than Yokota. And, Kinnicks play was a lot more physical.

4) Panthermom, you say you TOTALLY agree with bogo, and bogo is saying that there were 8 against 5. So you and bogo both agree that the game was won, solely because the officiating was unfair?

Yup - that about sums it up. I believe if the game was called fair - it would have been a different outcome.

How do you explain with the refs concern with the sccoreboard? We had momentum coming out of the first quarter - and yet the refs seemed to be concerned with what the score was - until Kinnick caught up. I don't know that I've ever seen a basketball ref so concerned with the score.

I think the real test will be when Kinnick comes up for the New Years classic. Let's see how the Red Devils fare when they don't have their own refs helping them out.

If they beat us at home - I'll come on here and say it - they're the better team - and the refs weren't the only reason why they won at Yokosuka.

5) Bogo states that the technicals were the kickers. It's important to know that both players were given Ts for standing up and yelling at the officials. This isn't the NBA, discipline -- no matter how much you disagree -- should be enforced.

Really - both players were given T's? Surely you're talking about both players from Yokota - because I don't remember seeing any Yokota player taking free throws during that whole mess.

6) Bogo, the scorekeepers weren't threatening to cancel the game. They were passing the message that the game could be called if emotions weren't under control. Scorekeepers have no authority. officials do.

O.k. - so it was the officials and not the scorekeepers. I stand corrected. All I heard was that they might have to call the game - and it was the scorekeeper who was saying it into the microphone. I stand corrected.

>>I saw the game. It could've been argued that the officiating was not at its greatest. >>But you can argue that about EVERY game (hence my statement on No. 1)

Yes you can - but clearly this was biased reffing - and you know it. The refs were unprofessional - and there's no two ways about it.

I don't know if you noticed it - but during half time, one of our parents made some comments to the refs like "you need to start making some calls" and "calls things the same both ways" - and the one ref actually responded to him by saying "what's that?" like he was funny or something.

If you can't be professional while you're being a ref - then you shouldn't be a ref. Part of reffing - especially in basketball, is knowing that at least half of the fans aren't going to like you, or agree with your calls. If you cannot handle that - you shouldn't be a ref.

>>Coach Ettel should be applauded for arguing calls that weren't made which could've >>caused injury to the players.

And this was the same concern of the Yokota parents. We were upset because our boys were getting knocked around, and knocked down - and a lot was not being called.

Typical of this was when Kinnick was doing a full court press - the one ref calls a blocking foul on Kinnick - motioning to his knee - then apparently he had an epiphany because he suddenly changed it into a travel.

Despite what you might think - us Yokota fans don't expect to get every call. We know there's going to be calls that we disagree with - or go uncalled. But this was just a systematic attempt on the refs part to hand the game to Kinnick.

>>The attitude of the fans on both sides were uncalled for.

True - but on the Yokota side it was in reaction to the refs. I realize that doesn't make it o.k. - but at the same time, the refs are the professionals. They're the ones who are getting paid for this - and taking the responsibility. If they had been doing their job - and calling the game - fairly and evenly - the Yokota fans wouldn't have been nearly as upset.

>>I think it's possible a technical could have been called on the Kinnick fans as well.

Doubtful - like I mentioned before - I don't recall seeing any Yokota player on the free throw line shooting free throws because of a T.

>>No matter the outcome. I'm glad the players were able to shake hands after the >>game. It shows the type of discipline that both coaches demand of their players. >>What was a great game, turned ugly NOT SOLELY because of officiating, but also >>because of the reactions that the fans took to the game.

I agree - and there were people from the Yokota side who went over and congratulated the Kinnick players. Desipte what you might think - Yokota fans are not mean spirited raving lunatics. We're passionate fans who care about our kids - and don't like to see the sort of garbage that happened down in Yokosuka.

The game turned ugly because of the refs. They were the catalyst. They're the ones who caused it to happen through their inaction, and lack of calls.

Over the course of a basketball game - things get rougher and more physical. Players get upset at the other team because so and so grabbed me, or pushed me, or hacked me - whatever. Players feel slighted, and they want to "get back" at the other player. The kids are playing hard, trying to get a win - so their emotions are involved as well. The longer the game goes on - the more physical it becomes. If you don't get control of the game early - then kids start to get hurt.

If a player knows that a ref is going to call a hack - then they're less likely to take a swipe at a person taking a lay up, or going in for a shot. If a player knows that they can reach in to strip the ball, without getting a call - then they'll go for it. And the more that they can "get away with" - the more they do.

Part of being a ref is taking responsibility for the game - and making sure that play doesn't get so out of control that players start getting hurt.

>>I told my wife who was coming into the gym with my children not to come in, >>because of how everybody was behaving. I was embarassed for the game of >>basketball and for the players who worked hard to make the varsity teams.

I too was embarrassed - but I was more embarrassed for Kinnick - that had to rely on such refs - and embarrassed for Yokosuka for having to employee people who clearly were biased, and whose only interest was making sure "their" team won the game.

We've come down for baseball games - and haven't had a problem with the ump. We've come down for football games, and haven't had a problem with the refs. But clearly - there's issues with the basketball refs.

>>Yokota is a great team that happened to lose that game. Let's all teach our players >>and children that lesson. You win some, you lose some. Move on.

Like I said - the true test will be when Kinnick comes up for the Classic. If Kinnick can win on our floor - without the help of their refs - I'll give them their props and admit that the reason they won on Friday wasn't just because of the refs.

Personally, I don't think that'll happen.

The sad thing about all of this is that the Red Devils will end up bearing the brunt of this. People will be mad because of the refs down in Yokosuka, but they'll take it out on the team.

Yokota will be pumped to face Kinnick again on our home court. The fans all know what's happened - and sadly, Kinnick probably won't get a warm reception.

And it's sad that they have to deal with that because of the poor quality refs employed by Yokosuka.

>>Happy Holidays

And to you!

"If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will."

~ Abraham Lincoln

Come on...I've always said...Fred Sava is a difference maker...best darn coach in the pacific. Should put St Mary's in the top three. And I once coached at Kadena....not very well though.

Well put Dave. Occasionally the officials may be a little one-sided, but I think most of the time they are doing the best they can. One problem with the travel issues here is that there are the "Yokosuka Refs" the "Yokota Refs" "Sasebo Refs" etc and we think they are biased but they are not. I thank them for their dedication and putting up with us when we go crazy.

You can not depend on quotes to settle this one with the refs...it only takes a ref to call fouls on one team...get them in foul trouble; let players be pushed in the backs and to you have 10 to 12 offensive boards and 24 points off those boards to upset a team! I'm not dwelling on the past but just hate those corny quotes/sayings!
Happy New Years!

This issue was "squashed" a few months ago and "we" the YHS Panthers have moved on way past this issue...both teams have got more pressing issues to think about -- such as the Far East Tournament!

Congrats to Kinnick on their win.

YHS PantherMom