[Local report ⑥ / Men’s 3rd round]The “brilliant stage” returns after 2 years – NOSHIRO BASKETBALL ACADEMY
January 6, 2026
NOSHIRO BASKETBALL ACADEMY (hereinafter referred to as NOSHIRO), which is based in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, which is known as the “city of basketball,” is a powerful club that has produced talented players such as Akito Odajima of Sendai University Meisei High School and Yoji Takahashi of Kaishi Kokusai High School since its establishment in 2020. It is still fresh in my memory that in the previous tournament, we had a fierce battle with Yokkaichi Maryknoll High School, who later won the tournament.
The current team also includes many players who decided to join NOSHIRO because they admired such great seniors. This year’s captain, #2 Kimitake Hatakeyama, is one of them, and says, “Even though Odajima is not very tall, he uses his speed to fight against bigger players, and I want to be like him.” Hatakeyama, whose father, Haruki, graduated from Noshiro Kogyo (currently Noshiro Science and Technology) High School, has spent the past three years with the support of his family, saying, “I often get advice from my father during competitions.”
Coach Tomoya Kakizaki appointed Hatakeyama as captain because he had a lot of trust in him, saying, “He has leadership, and he has the ability to listen well and communicate to each of his teammates.” Last year, we lost in the prefectural preliminaries and missed out on participating in this tournament, although many underclassmen were involved in the game, but this year we have used that disappointment as springboard to focus on building a team.
This year’s team is characterized by Hatakeyama being the spiritual pillar, playmaker #24 Taiga Fujita, scorer #8 Nagi Ito, and rebounder #35 Ao Murakami, who play in a muddy manner. In the prefectural qualifying round held in November, the team leveraged its overall strength to take revenge on its rivals within the prefecture, and decided to participate in the 2025 6th National U15 Basketball Championship Keio Jr. Winter Cup 2025-26, the first time in two years.
In this tournament, he made it through the first and second rounds without any trouble. However, in the men’s third round, where advancement to the top eight was at stake, Kanazawa Gakuin University Junior High School (Ishikawa) stood in their way.
Kanazawa Gakuin University Junior High School is a team to watch as they aim to win the summer national junior high school tournament and win the summer and winter double crowns, although ace #8 Takuma Yahagi missed the tournament due to injury. In the first quarter, the score was 9-18, and the Kanazawa Gakuin University affiliated team controlled the pace. “After playing against them, I realized that their individual strengths were really strong.I felt that their strength was high in various aspects,” coach Kakizaki said. “It was a stressful game as we had a lot of physical contact and it was difficult to create a gap.I told them we would play team basketball, but we ended up playing individually.”
Even so, they were able to limit their conceded points to 12-13 points in each quarter from the second quarter onwards, and they often showed off their speed in reacting to loose balls. Coach Kakizaki also highly praised the team, saying, “I’m sure this experience will give the players confidence against the No. 1 team in the nation.It’s not like we lost 100%.” In the end, we lost 40-56, but Hatakeyama seemed to have done his best, saying, “I’m glad that in the second half we were able to communicate and do our best based on our team concept of “defense, rebounding, and loose balls.”
Returning to this stage for the first time in two years, the players played the tenacious style of basketball that is typical of NOSHIRO. Coach Kakizaki left the venue with renewed enthusiasm, saying, “Last year we also participated in the U15 Club Basketball Games, and last year’s third-year students helped the underclassmen gain experience, but coming back to this national stage made me realize once again, “This is a glorious stage.”I want to become an absolute presence in Akita Prefecture and participate every year.”He left the venue with renewed enthusiasm.
