A notable matchup was realized in the third round of the women’s game of the “SoftBank Winter Cup 2025 2025 78th National High School Basketball Championship”.
They are Osaka Kunei Jogakuin (Osaka), who came in third place in last year’s competition, and Japan Airlines Hokkaido (Hokkaido), which took second place at this year’s Inter-High School. Both teams are known for their up-tempo offense that takes advantage of their abundance of movement. From the first quarter onwards, the team’s characteristics were clearly evident as they competed for points.
Osaka Kunei Girls’ Academy was the first to escape. The score was 30-20 in the first quarter thanks to second-year student #7 Hara Otoha’s bold paint attack, captain #4 Reimi Hatade’s 3-point shot, and a fast break from their signature intense pressure defense.
Even in the second quarter, Osaka Kunuei Girls’ High School continued to attack. They overwhelmed Japan Airlines Hokkaido both offensively and defensively, with a huge lead of 26-54 in the first half. Osaka Kunuei Girls’ High School, which lacks inside size, boldly dived for rebounds to compensate for this and continued to put on their bodies. As a result, they had a perfect first half, drawing 3 fouls from #00 Kamala Fatoumata and not giving freedom to #6 Arisa Ihara of the Japan Women’s U18 National Team.
A huge difference in game content and 28 points — it seemed that Osaka Kunuei Girls’ School would be able to overcome this, but Japan Airlines Hokkaido will not be left alone.
In the second half, Coach Yagura Naochika said, “Rather than using tactics, the only way to win was to steal the ball.We might not be able to reach it, but we had no choice but to do it.”The team played with ferocity, stealing the ball, running, and taking shots one by one. As a result, the score was 30-19 in the third quarter, and they continued to play hard in the fourth quarter, closing in on a one-possession lead (80-83) with 25 seconds left in the game.
In the end, they fell just short and lost, but the way they fought for 20 minutes in the second half was spectacular, showing the pride of being an Inter-High runner-up school.
Ibara had 25 points and 19 rebounds, Fatoumata had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and while the two big men were leading the team, it was #73 Izumi Nakamura, the playmaker, who was taking advantage of the girls and creating a rhythm for Japan Airlines Hokkaido through offense and defense.
He is the only player from Hokkaido, his hometown, among the starters. When I was in junior high school, I never made it to the top in the Hokkaido tournament, let alone the national tournament. However, after entering high school, he won the starting position with his speed, strong will, and aggressive defense, and led the team as the absolute playmaker for three years.
After the match, Nakamura looked back on the match with tears in his eyes. “I could feel that the people of Hokkaido were cheering me on a lot, and my local friends told me a lot, “Do your best in the end.” I wanted to be the best in Japan as a representative of Hokkaido, but I came in runner-up at the Inter-High and fell one step short, so this time it ended with a lot of frustration. We’ve had a lot of tough practices since we were in the first grade, but we all worked together to overcome them, and today, in this match, I wasn’t able to give my 100%, but I think I was able to do it by not giving up until the very end.”
In the first half, they only scored 3 points and struggled against the opponent’s defense. However, in the second half, she showed the will to never give up more than anyone else, as she said, and became the driving force behind the team’s momentum with three-point shots, steals, and assists.
He had a total of 16 points, including 5 3-point shots, 8 assists, and 3 steals. Her presence was so important that Coach Yagura said, “Having Izumi Saki allows us to play to our strengths, and also allows our two big players (Ibara and Fatoumata) to thrive.I don’t think we could have gotten this far without her.She is the starting point for everything, both defense and offense.”
Nakamura enters the game with the words “Number 1 Guard!” written on the back of his hand. It’s safe to say that we have definitely come close to that over the past three years. Nakamura said, “The biggest thing I’ve grown is mentally. I think I’ve become much stronger mentally than when I was a freshman, and over the past three years I’ve developed the ability to make 3-point shots in the second half of games.Our team’s strength is that we have two big men, and it’s the role of the guards to push the ball (to take advantage of that),” expressing confidence in his own play.
In just three years since its founding, Japan Airlines Hokkaido has rapidly grown to a position where it can see the top of the nation. Nakamura, who was the driving force behind this, ended his high school basketball career as one of the best point guards of his generation.
