Queen Bees: Near Victory, Future Challenges | Yamanashi Basketball

report

I chased after him, and I caught up with him — but I still couldn’t reach the victory. The challenges for tomorrow are clear.

A stall at the beginning and a fierce battle at the end. The “40 minute requirement” revealed by the difference

Yamanashi Queen Beads 65-70 Aranmare
(December 5, 2025/Yurihonjo Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Park Nice Arena)

This is the third match between Queen Bees and Aranmare, who are tied in terms of wins and losses.
A must-win match for both teams, currently in 2nd and 3rd place, was held at Aranmare’s home, Yurihonjo Disaster Prevention Park Nice Arena. While the orange cheering that fills most of the stands will support Alanmare, the Queen Bees fan boosters, who are small in number but have the same level of cheering at any venue, will also strongly counter.

Meanwhile, concerns about Queen Bees continue to rear their heads today.
It is a development that was repeated in Game 1 against Niigata, Hitachi High-Tech, and SMBC, where they stumbled in the “first quarter”. In particular, against Hitachi High-Tech and SMBC, they had a tough start, trailing by 10 points in the first 10 minutes.

And that concern is reflected in this match as well.
From the start, Alanmare continued to score at a high rate, and Queenbees were unable to grab defensive rebounds, making it a difficult start as they were pushed by the opponent’s early progress, and the game progressed with Alanmare taking the initiative. Queenbees fought back with a goal from Darameh Malem Doi, but allowed a lead of up to 10 points.
In the first half, Alanmare was far behind in terms of rebounds, with 25 against the Queen Bees’ 13, and the first quarter ended at 12-22, with Alanmare in control.

In the second quarter, Queenbees showed signs of fighting back with Malem’s consecutive points, but they struggled in terms of rebounding, and there were times when they were forced to give up second and third chances. Alanmare expanded their lead to 12 points at one point, but Queenbees switched to zone defense after a timeout and gradually showed signs of improving their rebounding.
As a result, the rebound in the second half was Queen Bees 27 – Alanmare 25, and they regained the momentum. The score was 26-34 in the first half, and they managed to maintain an eight-point lead.

The early stages of the 3rd quarter continued to be tough with neither team scoring. Queenbees were unable to stop Alainmare’s second chance and the lead once again increased to 12 points. After a timeout, Malem and Saki Ikeda showed their tenacity by scoring points in the final stages.
Then, just before the end of the third quarter, Ikeda scored two points on a buzzer beater, cutting the gap to 7 points, 44-37, heading into the fourth and final quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Queen Bees caught up. Immediately after the start, Ikeda’s 2P and then Inoue Momoko’s 3P were made, and the lead quickly closed to 2 points. The following 3P by Mina Kaminaga is also decided and the reversal is successful. Rebounding also works, allowing them to take a lead of up to 5 points.

However, Alanmare held on from this point, and the game took a dramatic turn as they were once again caught up at 53-53 with 1 minute and 15 seconds remaining.
With 31.3 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Alan Mare added a point to bring the score back to 53-55. The Queen Bees called for a timeout, and Inoue was fouled and was given two throws, but both were dropped.

During the battle for the rebound, Aranmare’s Nyan pushed in and the lead was 4 points, 53-57.
With 5 seconds left, Inoue pushed in from the rebound to make it 55-57, then got fouled and got one throw.
Inoue intentionally missed this throw, and Ikeda pushed the ball back in to make the score 57-57. They caught up with only a few remaining attacks.

With three seconds remaining, Alan Mare’s final attack failed to score, and the fourth quarter ended, sending the game into overtime.

The fierce battle continued into overtime.
With 31.9 seconds left, Malem screwed in a rebound to make it 64-64, and then sank a throw after being fouled, making the score 65-64. However, Alanmare’s Tsuchida scored from the set after a timeout, making it 65-66 (7.7 seconds remaining).

The Queenbees lost their offensive rights due to a turnover and entered a foul game. Tsuchida calmly sank two throws to make it 65-68.
The Queenbees took a timeout and tried their last offense from the frontcourt. The Queenbees were aiming for a three, but their superior, Malem, missed a three-point shot with 0.9 seconds remaining.
He tried to get into a foul game again, but couldn’t reach it, and the game ended at 65-70.

The Queen Bees had a tough time giving up the lead from the 1st to 3rd quarters, but they came back with a fierce chase in the 4th quarter, and showed tenacity to tie the score just before the end. As a result, there were five ties and four lead changes, resulting in a fierce battle that ended in overtime.

In the final stages, the Queen Bees showed dramatic persistence to force the match into overtime, but there were times when the players who had played for so long showed signs of fatigue, including in their judgment of the situation. Depending on the circumstances, the final outcome might have been different. But there’s no point in saying that. As expected, it will be difficult to pursue the widening point difference.

Similar to the games against Hitachi High-Tech and SMBC, today’s game fell behind significantly in the first quarter. Not only the difference in points, but also the flow of the game is similar. Although there is pressure from the opponent’s defense, the heavy offense continues to make tough shots, steal rebounds and allow fast breaks, allowing the team to score points before they can even get into position. Additionally, there were many situations in which he was given second and third chances from rebounds.

After the game, the head coach and players also reflected on this period as an issue.

The standings at the end of today’s games are as follows:

Hitachi High Tech 11 wins, 2 losses
Alanmare 10 wins, 3 losses
Queen Bees 9 wins, 4 losses
Mitsubishi Electric 9 wins, 4 losses

Tomorrow will be a race of great significance in order to stay in contention for the championship in the crowded Future League. Tomorrow will be an all-out effort for 40 minutes, including how to cover for the players who played a lot of time today.

Today we were able to express the image of the Queen Bees, who never give up until the end.
Another one tomorrow!
I’d like to see him play his aggressive style of basketball for 40 minutes and push opponents in.

Head coach/player talk

Sachiko Ishikawa Head Coach

I think the players gave their all until the end, so I would like to praise them for that. It’s just a matter of how you enter. We succumbed to the opponent’s pressure and weren’t able to use our offense, so I think we need to make changes tomorrow.

In the first half, we scored about 15 points on first breaks and second chances. We allowed them to take the lead too easily, which caused a bad flow, and we ended up giving them the lead and chasing after them, so we need to improve on that.

I think our defense and rebounding improved a lot in the second half. At halftime, we reminded ourselves that “we can put pressure on ourselves,” and we talked about getting out there.

It was a really disappointing match.
I think I was a little tired at the end. I feel like it affected my play decisions.

It takes power and willpower to catch up, and if we started like that in the beginning, we could see that things would turn out like this.
If we win tomorrow, the situation will go back to 50.
This is a game where we have to win, including the goal difference, so I want everyone on the team to do their best.

Captain Momoko Inoue

We gave up too many rebounds and loose balls early on. I wasn’t able to box out. I feel like I was attacked under the ring by my opponent’s two big men.

If they had stopped it there, I don’t think the difference would have been 10 points. In the second half, we started playing like we always do and it was good that we got our rhythm back, but I felt that if we started the game the way we did, it would be a tough game. Tomorrow, I want to create the opposite situation by applying pressure defensively and leading to a break.

In the first half, our offense didn’t go well either. I think it would have been nice if we could have used more free-lance attacks instead of relying too much on set pieces, and I think we could have emphasized our inside play more from the first half.

However, today wasn’t all bad, there were a lot of good things, so we want to keep that in mind and play at our own rhythm from the beginning tomorrow. We have to keep in mind that we have a goal difference of 7 points, so we will do our best to reverse the situation and take the lead tomorrow as we had a difficult time today.

In the 4th quarter, I missed the final free throw. But I’m really grateful that everyone connected and we were able to take it to overtime.

Dalame Malem Doi

In the first half, we gave our opponents too many second chances and ended up losing ground. The way we scored points was also uneven, so that’s something we want to improve on. However, we had some good moments in the second half, so I want everyone to play well from the beginning tomorrow.

Mina Superior

We started the first half in tatters, we were unable to get rebounds, our second team members were taken away, we couldn’t get loose balls, and we couldn’t create our own flow in the first half. Because we couldn’t rebound or loose, our opponents attacked us, and we couldn’t create the rhythm of pushing breaks and early offense that we usually do.

Even though we were having a difficult time not being able to get the ball around, Malem kept trying to break things up with his posts. But if we did that, we wouldn’t be able to last until the end, and I think the players we needed were missing in important situations, and we weren’t able to compete as a team.

I think our problem was that we couldn’t generate ball pressure from the start.

In the second half, we made some good passes and the flow improved. However, I couldn’t make a single play that would push me away. We started playing less as a team and relied on Ikeda’s picks, and we should have used more different attacking methods. Today’s tasks will be clear tomorrow, so we need to apply pressure from the start and be thorough in rebounding and loose. I want to take a hard look at what I wasn’t able to do today and prepare for tomorrow. We all know that we have no choice but to win tomorrow.

When the opponent is in foul trouble, if not only Malem but other players attack the paint more, I think we will get more fouls. I think we can create a little bit of rest with our free throws and play a better game. I think if we can play while keeping an eye on the opponent’s foul situation, the result will be different.

Today was the last day, and I thought it was a failure for me as a veteran that I couldn’t finish in that scene. We will definitely win tomorrow.