Winter High School Sports National Tournament – Girls Basketball The battle for Meiho begins with the aim of becoming the best high school team in Japan[Oita Prefecture]| Oh! S! OITA SPORTS

The starting lineup has been fixed since last year, and the accumulation of two years has taken shape. Over the past year, they have been undefeated in official games within the prefecture, and have decided to participate in the culmination of the tournament, the National High School Basketball Championship (Winter Cup), for the second consecutive year and fourth time. Coach Mayumi Sugiyama, who has led the team for 14 years, expressed his expectations, saying, “We have always had a strong team and had some great players, but this year we have become a well-balanced team with a lot of depth.”

The reason they did not change their starting lineup, centered around captain Runa Suenaga (3rd year), was because they chose “maturity” over “change.” Although there was a risk of the team getting stuck in a rut and competition within the team weakening, Coach Sugiyama said, “There was no option to change the members at all.As the team matured, we were able to give freshmen and sophomores a chance to start playing in the middle.” Of course, the bench members have high expectations for the third-year players, and he has confidence in them, saying, “Whether they’re starters or subs, the third-year players know their respective roles.”

We qualified for the Winter Cup without losing within the prefecture.