B.LEAGUE U15 No.1 deciding match begins!
“B.LEAGUE U15 CHAMPIONSHIP 2024” opened on March 27th at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). The tournament will be held over five days, and 36 qualifying league games were played today.
“B. LEAGUE U15 CHAMPIONSHIP” provides an opportunity to build and foster a B. LEAGUE U15 team culture and form the foundation for strengthening training to produce world-class players. This is the seventh edition of the tournament, with a record 48 clubs participating. After the 2-day qualifying league, a 3-day final tournament will be held to determine the No. 1 team. In addition, the top four will be selected to participate in the B.LEAGUE U16 CHALLENGE CUP 2025, a competition that aims to increase awareness of taking on the world challenge through interaction with overseas teams and provide opportunities that will lead to the production of internationally competitive players and teams. will be given the right to participate.
#17 Kazuma Ogasawara of Nagoya D U15 who showed not only game making but also scoring ability
As it is the biggest title for B.LEAGUE U15, many heated battles took place from the first day. Nagoya D U15, who are currently on a three-game winning streak, will face Akita U15. Although they took the lead from the beginning of the match, Akita U15 recovered through physical play. Although the lead was close to 2 points, Nagoya D U15 pulled away again and won 63-54. Nagoya D U15 coach Eiji Yoshida, who was involved with the first team until last season and has been leading the team since this season, said, “There’s pressure on the players to win.However, I’ve been coaching them for a year and tried to have fun doing it.” “It was,” he explained. He then said, “I want to play against” the Ryukyu U15 team, which is currently coached by coach Tomoya Suehiro, who coached the team until last season. “He’s like a mentor to me, and I’ve been working with him for a year, so I’m looking forward to competing against him.First of all, I’ll do my best in the remaining matches.”
The Ryukyu U15s had an easy win against A Chiba U15s with a score of 107-24. Coach Suehiro said, “In the future, I want him to become a player who can use his position and timing to win even if he matches up with an opponent with higher ability than him, so in terms of the content of the match, it’s just a point difference. It was a match that I wasn’t satisfied with,” he said. Regarding the match against his former team, he said, “They’re both players who know what’s going on, so I’m looking forward to seeing it happen. I’ll do my best to help us get there.” He smiled. If they win, the two will face off in the semifinals.
#29 Shunsuke Miyazato becomes a key player for Ryukyu U15 as a two guard with #54 Keiji Koshi
Fukuoka U15, who had the regret of finishing runners-up for the second year in a row, got off to a strong start against Ehime U15 with a score of 25-2 in the first quarter, and then showed no signs of slowing down, winning easily with an 82-34 victory. Looking back on the game, head coach Takahiro Tsuruga said, “We were able to show our tradition of playing defense well,” and said that the team ended up incomplete in the Jr. Winter Cup 2023-24 (they aimed for a consecutive title, but lost in the second round). “The players reflected on that and worked hard for three months with a strong will. We want to make this a tournament where we can show off the results.First of all, we need to play our basketball well.We will work hard one game at a time. I want to win,” he said, hoping to concentrate on the match in front of him and win.
#6 Motoki Nagayoshi (Fukuoka U15), in whom HC Takahiro Tsuruga has full confidence, shows off powerful plays in attack and defense.
Additionally, SR Shibuya U15, who placed 3rd in the Jr. Winter Cup 2023-24, defeated Kumamoto U15 65-55. Head coach Shinji Akiba said, “In the Jr. Winter Cup 2023-24, we were keenly aware that there was a strong wall at the top of the rankings.The big theme was how to break through as a team during a time when we were not able to use our strengths of defense and fast-paced basketball. “I’ve been working on it for the past few months,” he said, emphatically stating that he understands that it won’t be easy and will fight for the championship. In addition, Yokohama BC U15, who placed 3rd last year and is in the best 8 of the Jr. Winter Cup 2023-24, defeated Gifu U15 138-28. Last year’s 4th place Shimane U15 also defeated Osaka U15 57-45.
The remaining 36 qualifying league games are scheduled to be played on March 28, the second day of the tournament. It looks like it’s going to be an even more heated day as there will be more battles to advance to the final tournament.
■March 27th match results
Gunma U15 33-102 Akita U15
Tachikawa U15 68 – 65 Hokkaido U15
Saitama U15 51 – 49 Niigata U15
A Tokyo U15 71 – 86 Ehime U15
Kumamoto U15 46 – 71 FE Nagoya U15
Shiga U15 66 – 48 Shinshu U15
Okayama U15 41 – 51 A Chiba U15
U15 Kawasaki 54 – 41 Kobe U15
Hachioji U15 46 – 67 Osaka U15
Sendai U15 43 -49 Koshigaya U15
Yokohama EX U15 38 – 52 Fukushima U15
Hiroshima U15 76 -55 Gifu U15
Yamaguchi U15 42 – 94 Gunma U15
Saga U15 47 – 43 Tachikawa U15
Nara U15 86 – 39 Saitama U15
Toyama U15 76 – 61 A Tokyo U15
SR Shibuya U15 65 – 55 Kumamoto U15
Tokyo Z U15 53 – 42 Shiga U15
Kyoto U15 55 – 50 Okayama U15
Sanen U15 50 – 79 U15 Kawasaki
Shizuoka U15 71 – 27 Hachioji U15
Kagoshima U15 67 – 61 Sendai U15
Kagawa U15 68 – 62 Yokohama EX U15
Aomori U15 51 – 55 Hiroshima U15
Akita U15 54 – 64 Nagoya D U15
Hokkaido U15 61 – 81 Chiba J U15
Niigata U15 45 – 72 Iwate U15
Ehime U15 34 – 82 Fukuoka U15
FE Nagoya U15 52 – 69 Yamagata U15
Shinshu U15 63 – 66 Ibaraki U15
A Chiba U15 24-107 Ryukyu U15
Kobe U15 69-70 Nagasaki U15
Osaka U15 45-57 U15 Shimane
Koshigaya U15 62-48 Mikawa U15
Fukushima U15 58-53 Utsunomiya U15
Gifu U15 29-138 Yokohama BC U15
2024-03-27 14:41:30
#B.LEAGUE #U15 #CHAMPIONSHIP #begins #Nagoya #U15 #aiming #fourth #consecutive #victory #wins #match
