Competition Summaries

JV Boys Tennis 1 vs. ACC Men 5 (Loss).

Today's tennis was an opportunity for the JV Tennis Boys to demonstrate their skill development in a rematch with the ACC Men. Patrick L. ('22) stood out for the pace and confident net play he has developed through the season; together with Tsuyoshi M.'s ('22) reliably strong serve, they claimed a long-anticipated win. Jackie C. ('22) found some blistering form today with his forehand and Dylan C. ('22) did a great job of targeting the wide angled shot that would consistently put his opponent off-balance. Both of these players demonstrated strong communication skills together with their respective doubles partners, and this chemistry clearly enhanced their level of play. Shinji Y. ('20) found his rhythm today and with his partner, Clarence L. ('22), sustained some exciting rallies that brought them close to victory. On average, the JV Boys took more games from their opponents this time around, which was a satisfying affirmation of their efforts and enthusiasm through the season.

#1 Doubles: Tsuyoshi M. ('21) & Patrick L. ('22) W, 8-6

#2 Doubles: Jackie C. ('22) & Luke L. ('22) L, 4-8

#3 Doubles: Nicholas C. ('22) and Tai O. ('22) L, 1-8

#4 Doubles: Andrew H. ('22) and Dylan C. ('22) L, 1-8

#5 Doubles: Shinji Y. ('20) and Clarence L. ('22) L, 6-8

Bonus Doubles: Nicholas C. ('22) and Patrick L. ('22) L, 6-8

The varsity boys basketball team finished the weekend with a 2-1 record, moving their overall record to 13-5 despite suffering their first home loss of the season. The team is back in action on Tuesday in the MSG vs. Juangjing VHS before heading to Okinawa to face Kubasaki and Kadena next weekend.

Chihping 74, TAS 70 (OT)
The Tigers home-court magic ran out Saturday afternoon with a disappointing 74-70 loss to a very physical Chihping squad. The boys were playing their second game of the day and third in under 24 hours, which may explain the late fade against a fresher Chihping squad. The Tigers started off a bit slowly and trailed 14-11 after the first quarter, but a strong second quarter found the team with a 38-26 halftime lead. The third quarter went back and forth, but the boys led 55-41 going into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, a combination of turnovers and missed shots, including four missed free throws, allowed Chihping to come all the way back. They tied the game with a three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining, then stole the ball and hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 20 seconds to go. Martin L. ('19) hit a three-pointer to send the game to overtime as the buzzer sounded, but the Tigers were unable to muster enough offense in the extra frame to hang with Chihping. Martin again led all scorers with 29 points as well as four steals in a losing effort, while Andrew Ch. ('19) had one of his best games of the year, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds, and some excellent defensive play. Curtis H. ('19) had one more monster rebounding game, finishing with 14 rebounds to give him a monstrous 48 on the weekend, while also scoring 13 points. Andrew Cha. ('19) also had another strong game with seven points while running the offense. The Tigers look to start a new home winning streak on Tuesday at 5:30 pm in the MSG vs. Juangjing VHS.

Fatigue and the long winter break perhaps caught up to the Tigers in the third game of the weekend as the Tigers would lose a first-quarter lead to eventually fall to a talented and sharp-shooting Chiping Senior High 50-69 in the final game of the weekend. The Tigers once again proved that at times they have one of the best man-to-man defenses around as they were able to hold the high-scoring Chihping team to only three first quarter points and take an 8-3 lead into the second quarter. However in this second quarter Chihping's guards were able to get more open and drained several 3-pointers time after time on their way to a 27-point second quarter outburst and take a 30-18 halftime lead.

Several of the Tigers’ usual leading scorers had to sit considerable minutes due to foul trouble. Cheyenne H. ('19) picked up her third foul in the second quarter and fourth foul quickly in the third quarter, and was thus limited to 13 points in limited minutes. Sabrina C. ('21) therefore had to play point guard for most of the game, but still managed to finish with five points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. Stephanie W. ('19) caught fire in the third quarter and would finish with 11 points and six rebounds, and Sarah J. ('21) and Maya R. ('21) also made strong contributions with each adding eight points and six rebounds. However, the Tigers’ defense showed fatigue in this game and allowed Chihping's sharpshooters to go on several runs on their way to defeating the Tigers 69-50.

Overall the Tigers finished the weekend 2-1 against some of their best competition of the year, and hopefully made great strides towards their IASAS Championship campaign.

After a strong start, the JV boys were even with Luodong for much of the match. However, cumulative fatigue and a relentless opponent saw the TAS boys fall behind on the scoreboard late.

Unfortunately for the TAS varsity boys, their strongest opponent yet was also their first after the holiday break. Despite a concerted team effort and several great scoring opportunities created, the varsity boys were not able to generate enough points to win.

After nearly a month off the court, the JV girls basketball had a slow start to the final three weeks of the season. A rusty beginning offensively and rough go defensively had the Tigers down 6-28 at the end of the half against Taoyuan Jianguo Junior High. With a change of defense and a fresh look at our teamwork and intensity, the ladies came out ready to redeem themselves. Scoring 16 points in the second half and outscoring their opponent in the fourth quarter, the Tigers walked off the court with their heads high. Christine W. (‘22), Faith H. (‘21), Amanda C. (‘20), Kelly P. (‘20) and Anne M. (‘22) each contributed four points to the scoreboard and Stephanie S. (‘20) added a jumper from the baseline. With only two weeks and five games left in the season, the Tigers take on three opponents for JV weekend this Friday and Saturday.

The JV boys basketball team put forth a stirring fourth-quarter comeback effort to force overtime before eventually falling to Zhonghe Junior High for the second time this season, this time by the score of 83-76. After an energetic week of practice the Tigers—peculiarly—failed to display that same energy until the third quarter after they had spotted Zhonghe a 29-19 halftime lead. The Tigers climbed to within five points late in the third quarter before a string of careless turnovers brought the Zhonghe lead to 54-44 to close out the third quarter. The Tigers at last began to chip away with five minutes remaining in the game as they forced numerous Zhonghe turnovers and converted on the other end. Andrew W. ('21) scored nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Nicky H. ('21) caught fire from long rang with three of his four 3-pointers coming in the half on his way to a career-high 20 points. Nick T. ('21) was everywhere, grabbing loose balls and rebounds while finishing in the paint to post nine points. Luke H. ('22) was a solid presence inside and finished with 11 points. The Tigers face the varsity team from Kainan Vocational High on Friday, Jan. 18 in the Derryl Franz Middle School Gymnasium to kick off their first of three JV Weekend games.

The boys were a bit sluggish coming back from winter break and had trouble bringing intensity against Daan's drive-and-kick game. The TAS boys executed their offense, moving the ball well, but their shooting was a bit cold. Dillon S. ('23) led all scorers with 11 points.

The Grade 7 & 8 boys admittedly came out rusty and tentative versus Sanzhi and allowed several tries in the opening minutes. While Sanzhi continued to put excellent pressure on the ball, the boys eventually began to build attacking pressure through ball retention and good forward running, finally resulting in two tries before the first intermission. The next 15 minutes were quite even, but ended with TAS taking a lead and maintaining it through an excellent try-saving defensive effort by Daniel P. ('23). In the final stanza, TAS continued to play well and looked to have a secure lead with a few minutes to go, however two late tries snatched victory from their grasp.