2018 NATIONALS RESULTS AND RECAP
2018 KNABA Nationals was hosted in Atlanta Georgia this year at the Suwanee Sports Academy, and the hosts did not fail to deliver on their Southern Hospitality. The competition and brotherhood took center stage, with 13 teams from across North America to reunite, while also introducing new faces to the tournament. While some noticeable players were missing in competition, it only allowed some new faces to take the stage and show that they are ready to step up in the years to come.
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The game followed the tradition of being competitive, with the pride of two east coast cities on the line. This year’s Championship game put on center stage two undefeated teams front and center, the 2015 KO Champions, NYC Spartans, against the defending 2017 KO Champions, Washington DC District. NYC took a commanding lead behind the play of Guard, Josh Hyon’s shooting and the hustle play of perennial big man, Forward, Jin Hong, scoring 10 and 6, respectively of the teams overall 22 points in the first half. DC struggles on offense, only scoring 14 points against NYC, 6 of which came from the charity stripe. The second half however had the DC District tapping into their reserves out scoring NYC, 36 to 19. Lead by the strong play of their twin-towers, Adrian Knoth and Joe Fontinot, scoring a combined 10 and 11 points in the second half, respectively.
This year’s 3rd place game featured San Francisco and Chicago. While both teams were disappointed with not being in the championship game, there was zero time to focus on that as the 3rd place finish was on the line, along with a sense of pride. This game featured an early match-up of each team’s big man; John Wie from SF and Tim So from Chicago. Both showcased their abilities to score from inside and out. Tim started the game off with easy buckets inside, while John Wie would answer with clean 3’s from the top of the key. These two teams went back and forth for much of the first half. Calvin Kang (CHI) displayed his ability to get into the lane and finish at the rim well. The theme of the first half for SF was their ability to get multiple second chance opportunities to keep them neck and neck with Chicago. Chicago was able to stay in the game with some timely three points shots from Mikey Chang. Tyler Klingenbeck kept his team in the game by knocking down multiple shots from distance.
The story of the second half was Chris Cornwell (CHI) waking up and dominating on both ends of the floor, especially the offensive glass. He proved to be the matchup nightmare that he is and wreaked havoc by soaring over both opponents and even his own teammates to secure possessions and easy buckets. SF answered back with strong play from leader and veteran Hong Son. Hong Son being a former player for Chicago had motivation to prove his former team that he still can dominate a game. Hong scored using his patented spin-move on the block. He also showed his ability to step outside and hit 3’s later in the second half. SF also showcased their young, rising star in Brendon Yi. Yi proved to KNABA that he had a strong handle and his quick first step didn’t go unnoticed. Yi and Ben Cho (CHI) were matched up for most of the game and would battle against each other. Cho used a bevy of moves to score from dribble drives to pull-ups as Yi defended him. Chicago began to pull-away towards the middle of the second half as fatigue set in for both teams. Daniel Jeong (Chi) found Mikey Chang for multiple 3’s to put the game out of reach as the game ended 63-52 in favor of Chicago.
The story of the second half was Chris Cornwell (CHI) waking up and dominating on both ends of the floor, especially the offensive glass. He proved to be the matchup nightmare that he is and wreaked havoc by soaring over both opponents and even his own teammates to secure possessions and easy buckets. SF answered back with strong play from leader and veteran Hong Son. Hong Son being a former player for Chicago had motivation to prove his former team that he still can dominate a game. Hong scored using his patented spin-move on the block. He also showed his ability to step outside and hit 3’s later in the second half. SF also showcased their young, rising star in Brendon Yi. Yi proved to KNABA that he had a strong handle and his quick first step didn’t go unnoticed. Yi and Ben Cho (CHI) were matched up for most of the game and would battle against each other. Cho used a bevy of moves to score from dribble drives to pull-ups as Yi defended him. Chicago began to pull-away towards the middle of the second half as fatigue set in for both teams. Daniel Jeong (Chi) found Mikey Chang for multiple 3’s to put the game out of reach as the game ended 63-52 in favor of Chicago.
All Tournament Team
All-Tournament team is selected by captains and coaches throughout the tournament, voting after each game. One player was selected from each team.
1. Tyler Klingenbeck - SF
2. Brian Garcia - Arizona
3. Myles Lake - Atlanta
4. Matt Ziegmann - Dallas
5. Joe Fontinot - DC
6. Ross Plagen - Denver
7. Eddy Kim - Houston
8. Richard Park - Michigan
9. Joshua Hyon - NYC
10. Sam Kim - OC
11. Christopher Kim - Philly
12. Tim So - Chicago (Not Pictured)
13. Calvin Ko - Toronto (Not Pictured)
1. Tyler Klingenbeck - SF
2. Brian Garcia - Arizona
3. Myles Lake - Atlanta
4. Matt Ziegmann - Dallas
5. Joe Fontinot - DC
6. Ross Plagen - Denver
7. Eddy Kim - Houston
8. Richard Park - Michigan
9. Joshua Hyon - NYC
10. Sam Kim - OC
11. Christopher Kim - Philly
12. Tim So - Chicago (Not Pictured)
13. Calvin Ko - Toronto (Not Pictured)