World of Basketball December 16th

Asia

The Empress’s Cup was awarded for the 91st time this weekend in Japan as the quarterfinals were played midweek. On Wednesday, the Red Wave eliminated the Sunshine Rabbits and then the Iris knocked out the last remaining team from below the first division, the Vickies. 30 points from Ramu Tokashiki was just enough for the Wings to hold off the Magic on Thursday and then the Antelopes defeated the Sunflowers. Saturday’s semifinals started with an excellent game that the Red Wave managed to grab against the Iris and then it was even closer when the Wings edged the Antelopes. Sunday’s championship game was won by the Red Wave to grab the trophy for the first time since 2008.

One series was played in Kazakhstan on a Tuesday-Wednesday schedule and Okzhetpes got 30 points from Olga Aksenova in the first game on their way to a sweep of Caspiy. The second division pod also finished on Tuesday with Shahida Erlan recording a 33 point game.

A full week was played in South Korea ahead of a break from regular competition, starting with Wednesday’s Woori Bank win over Hana Bank. BNK lost a game on Thursday to the Blue Minx, but stayed firmly in first place. Woori Bank won again on Friday, this time over the Stars. The S-Birds started working their way out of last place with a win over the Blue Minx on Saturday. BNK bounced back with a win over Hana Bank on Sunday. The S-Birds finished moving up a spot on Monday with a win over Woori Bank.

New Zealand

The semifinals were played this weekend and the Pouakai had the lead early on Saturday only to see the Queens use a fantastic fourth quarter to leave with a win. The Whai took the lead early on Sunday and helped them complete a win over the Kahu to create a championship game without either of the top two seeds.

Around Europe

It was fairly quiet week in multinational leagues, but Emilija Grigaliunaite did have a 20 rebound game in the Baltic’s B division. The cup was awarded in Moldova with the semifinals featuring a 12 assist game from Ecateriana Saramciuc. Irina Nebesnaia had a 22 rebound effort in the final for SSS-1 Academia, but ASEM won the game.

Chase for Promotion

It was a rare round in Turkey’s second division with a local player being the leading scorer as Sule Aktas had 30 points while Channon Fluker was the leading rebounder with 20 boards. Adareva finally won their first game in Spain’s third division. In Portugal’s second division, Mya Burns had 20 rebounds and Aja Blount had 30 points. Egle Juceviciute had a 21 rebound game in Lithuania’s second division. Carlotta Gianolla had a 34 point game to help Udine widen their lead in their half of Italy’s second division. Alarie Mayze had a 32 point game in Iceland’s second division.

Notable Individual Performances

Pully lost in Switzerland despite 36 points from Nila Blackford and 34 points from Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman. Olga Yatskovets had a 31 point game in the Slovakian league. Ciera Johnson had a 33 point, 24 rebound game in Romania. Anaya Peoples had 33 points in an overtime loss in Portugal. Janai Crooms had 20 rebounds in Malta. Jeanae Terry recorded a 14 point, 13 rebound, 13 assist triple-double in Kosovo. Jakia Brown-Turner had a 30 point game in Israel. Jessica Shepard had 30 points to help Athinaikos announce their return to the big stage in Greece. Jada Guinn had a 31 point game in the British league. In Finland, Audrey Warren had 32 points in one game and then Cayro-Lyza Toomingas had 37 points for the team in the next game. Panagiota Themistokleous had a 21 rebound game in Cyprus. Asiah Dingle had a 12 steal game in Croatia. Quay Miller had a 37 point game in Belgium.

Another fun set of games in Iceland included an 11 point, 16 rebound, 11 assist triple-double from Maddie Sutton, a 22 rebound game from Denia Davis-Stewart, and 35 and 38 point games from Jasmine Dickey, the latter coming in a loss that saw Brittany Dinkins score 41 points for the opposition. There were a number of big games in the Bosnian league, including a showdown that had Valicia Demeritte score 37 points in a loss after Dragana Zubac had 35 points for the opposition. Andi Underwood had a 31 point game, Jovana Milakovic grabbed 21 rebounds, Ajla Selimovic had a 32 point game, and Natasa Sobot had a 34 point game.