The 08-09 basketball season was an up-and-down season for the boys. Jumping from JV to varsity is always a difficult transition, and this was the case for seven seniors, as the ATM boys graduated. Charles Lee, Alex Kim, Jake Jo, Michael “Shaq” Lee, Jeeuk Lim, Joon Lim, and Paul Chung all made the leap after playing JV their junior year. Junior Ryan Park remained as the sole returning player from the Far East Champion team of 07-08. The 16-19 record reflected the inexperience of the team as a whole, but the boys steadily improved as the season progressed. A mid-season tournament in Hawaii, in which the team came in 3rd, propelled this maturing process. The boys had big regular season wins against rival Daegu and a much improved SIS team but also struggled to put a run together, losing to Osan twice and Daegu at home. The regular season and KAIAC tournament were average for the boys, who finished in the middle of the pack for both. Far East would prove to be the high point of the season, with the boys peaking at the right time. Pool play proved to be a wake-up call that the guys needed. They lost all of their pool play games, but after all the seniors but Jeeuk sat out the last game against MC Perry for showing up late, they really pulled together as a team. The Perry game was the turning point for the seniors (who sat out) and for freshman Jon Bai (who played the entire game without a break due to the seniors sitting out). Bracket play began with a blowout win against Hokkaido, and a forfeit win against Osan. The next opponent was the 07-08 tournament runner-up EJ King, who looked to be a strong team. The win against King by more than 30 points defined the tournament for the Guardians. In the semi-finals of the winner’s bracket awaited Morrison, who had already defeated the boys in pool play very handily. While Morrison won the game, the boys continued to play well. Facing a very tall and good Daegu team in the loser’s bracket semi-finals, the guys had their best game yet, beating the Warriors by 13. The third game against Morrison, this time in the Championship game, would prove to have a different outcome, as the Guardians came back in the 4th quarter behind Charles Lee’s shooting to win by 8, forcing an “if” game, a second Championship game. Three games back to back proved to be a little too much for the guys, who lost by only 8, but gave Morrison a run for its money. Alex Kim earned all-Far East honors. And Charles Lee became the 3-point champion as well as earning all-Far East.
Record: 16-19, 4th (KAIAC Conference); 6th (KAIAC Tournament); 2nd (Far East Tournament)
All Conference: Charles Lee
All Tournament: Charles Lee
All Far East: Charles Lee, Alex Kim