Akama and Kaida Contribute as Huntington Prep Blue goes to 2-0

Akama and Kaida Contribute as Huntington Prep Blue goes to 2-0

The inaugural season for Huntington Prep Blue has been surrounded with a fair amount of anticipation for the organization to court a 2nd competitive team.  Opening on Friday night versus Alice Lloyd College, HPB didn’t hold any punches, cruising to an 83-62 win in front of a home crowd at St. Joseph’s High School.  The team exhibited an even scoring attack, with Alley leading all scorers with 22, Dekoninck dropping 19 and big man Okpomo with 10.  The two Japanese sophmores from Osaka, Japan, Kota Akama and Rintaro Kaida, also contributed solid performances in their first game, posting 9 and 8 points respectively.  Akama started at the point guard position and had a nice floor game, getting other teammates involved.  Rintaro Kaida was not far behind, showing flashes of his sharp shooting and scoring ability.

The second game  at Wesley Christian Red in Allen, KY, was much closer, going down to the last 2 minutes of a neck and neck game.  Huntington was eventually able to pull out an 8 point victory, 64 – 56.  Coach Aholode stressed the importance for all of his players to continue to develop individually and as a team.  “I told Rintaro that he is on of a few guys who have the ‘green light’.  We know he can shoot, so we just want him to be ready to take the shot with confidence and things will start to pick up for him.”  Kaida scored 5 points in the second game and Akama put 3 on the board in limited time.  Alley led all scorers for the second consecutive game at 22 points and Warden followed him with 13 points.

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All Photos by Alicia Anderson

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