JV Girls Basketball Finish Strong at KAIAC

With just seven players on the active roster, alongside having lost two regular season contributors to the Varsity KAIAC tournament team and another to the flu, the JV Lady Guardians faced quite an uphill battle at the JV Girls KAIAC Championship. On Saturday, January 18, hosted by Cheongna Dalton School in Incheon, YISS entered the tournament seeded 5th.

The JV Guardians started the tournament with a match-up against perennial contender Seoul International School (SIS). YISS jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after one quarter and remained in control in the second to lead 8-4 at halftime. The Lady Guardians were too much for the SIS Tigers as the lead grew further in the second half, ending in a 13-6 victory for YISS. Chloe S. and Isabella P. led the way with 4 points each.

After the strong start against SIS, the team had less than 10 minutes to rest and prepare for the match against the top-seeded squad from Seoul Foreign School (SFS). It was a defensive battle in the first two quarters with SFS leading just 5-2 at halftime. In the second half, the Guardians fought hard but could not overcome the deep bench of the 12-player squad from SFS. The Guardians came up short in the end losing 18-8.

Following the hard-fought loss to SFS, the Lady Guardians had to turn around quickly, once again, for yet another match-up. The 3rd place game featured the YISS Guardians and the Dolphins from Chadwick International (CI). YISS jumped out to a huge 18-2 advantage in the first half led by 6 points from Isabella P. and 4 points from both Maria Y. and Chloe S.. Jaeyoung K. chipped in 3 assists and 8 steals in the first half alone. CI battled back in the second half, taking advantage of their 12-player roster. In the end, though, the YISS lead was too much to surmount as the Guardians held on to win 22-20 and claimed an impressive 3rd place finish at the JV Girls KAIAC Championship.

Two Guardians earned All-Tournament honors: Jaeyoung K. (9) and Isabella P. (9). Jaeyoung K. played an impressive 57 of 72 total minutes, tallying 13 steals, and 6 assists for the tournament. Isabella P. led all Guardian scorers with 16 points for the tournament and hauled in a team best 24 rebounds.