It can be said that this is the most interesting card in the boys’ first round of the “SoftBank Winter Cup 2025 2025 78th National High School Basketball Championship”.
The first round match between Higashiyama (Kyoto ①) and Chubu University Daiichi (Aichi) was a deadly battle. A physical battle unfolded from the beginning, with both players hitting each other violently, and at the end of the first half, Higashiyama had a lead of just one point, 37-36.
In the second half, the game remained evenly matched, and Chubu University Daiichi came back with a goal from #8 Jonathan Muamba and a 3-point shot from Kenmaki Nishimura. Just as they seemed to be gaining momentum, Higashiyama, led by #5 Nagi Sato, caught up, and the game remained with a three-point lead (54-57) heading into the fourth quarter.
At this point, everyone watching the match could have predicted that it would be a competitive battle until the final stage.
However, the final score of this match was 86-68 in favor of Higashiyama. The lead was an unexpected 32-11 in the fourth quarter.
What happened? Higashiyama #8 Soto Nakamura’s big outburst was the biggest factor in this scoring run.
Nakamura, who had scored 17 points at the end of the third quarter, scored 13 points in the final 10 minutes. He showed great success with a total of 30 points. In particular, starting with his fourth 3-point shot with 7 minutes and 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter, he scored 11 points in a row, including three 3-point shots in just 1 minute and 23 seconds. In that short amount of time, Chubu University Daiichi was forced into a situation where they had no choice but to take two timeouts, and the point difference continued to widen.
The following are the words of Chubu University’s No. 1 coach Ken Tsuneda and #9 player Kotaro Shimada.
“You shouldn’t carry Nakamura after all. I’ve known this since Inter-High…I know…” (Coach Tsuneda)
“I thought I had taken precautions, but I still won. I was so good at it that I was speechless…” (Shimada)
Nakamura’s greatest appeal is his explosive power, and you can understand just by listening to the words of these two players how much of a threat this is to his opponents.
Additionally, in this match, Nakamura showed more determination than ever before, saying, “It’s up to me to decide.” Nakamura looks back on this.
“At the Inter-High School, my shot percentage wasn’t good at all, and I wasn’t able to make many shots, which was really frustrating…Then, I really practiced a lot on my own in preparation for the Winter Cup. That’s why I was able to hit shots with the confidence that “I’ve been doing this much, so I’ll be fine.” I think that’s an area that I’ve improved since the summer.”
After the loss at Inter-High, the team has been focusing on making consecutive shots. What’s more, all of them were moving and more similar to actual battles, and they also put pressure on themselves to score consecutive matches. The results were on display in a closely fought match.
Coach Tetsuya Osawa is also one of those who has noticed a change in Nakamura’s mindset. Regarding his performance, he said, “Ever since we lost in the summer, the way we approach (practice) has changed a lot. I’ve always told him about self-awareness and responsibility. “You have to do it.” I think he showed that in today’s game.”
This year’s Higashiyama is Nagi Sato’s team both in name and reality. However, their true strength will be demonstrated only when Nakamura attacks aggressively like he did today.
It was a shocking performance that made one think that this match might have helped Soto Nakamura evolve to another level.
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