Tottori Johoku understood exactly what stood in its way in the semifinals of the 2026 NBA Rising Stars Invitational: A towering squad from China.
But the Japanese school got a lot of help in preparing for the one-game tussle for a finals berth, and that help came from FEU-Diliman.
The Baby Tamaraws pushed Tottori Johok to its limits in their duel, forcing it to solve problems that would resurface less than 24 hours later against Tsinghua University.
By the time the championship berth was on the line, Johoku already knew the answers.
‘Offensively and defensively, the Philippines was so talented,’ guard Komei Oda told the Inquirer after Johoku escaped Tsinghua, 71-69, on Friday night at the OCBC Arena. ‘We needed to use team effort on the defensive end against them.’
Against FEU-Diliman, Johoku enjoyed a size advantage but struggled to keep pace with the Filipinos’ relentless transition game and collective pressure.
Mismatch
Those lessons became invaluable against Tsinghua.
This time, Johoku found itself on the other side of the size mismatch.
The Chinese school towered over the Japanese squad much the way Johoku had over FEU-Diliman. But instead of trying to match Tsinghua’s size, Johoku leaned on the formula it discovered in the game against the Filipinos.
‘Today, China was a lot bigger than us and we learned that rebounding would be key throughout the game,’ Oda said. ‘We always ran as well and kept outrunning them, and that’s one of the things I learned facing them.’
Oda delivered 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals, finishing just three boards shy of a double-double as Johoku weathered Tsinghua’s interior advantage.
His all-around effort complemented another dominant performance from Philemon Talmon, who finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds after torching FEU-Diliman for 20 points and 23 boards in the semifinal.
Size and shooting
Now Johoku heads into Sunday’s championship game against South Korea’s Kyungbock High School, where another familiar challenge awaits.
Like Tsinghua, Kyungbock brings superior size and outside shooting.
‘Korea is also a very tall team and they can shoot very well, so we’ll do the same things,’ he said. ‘We’ll play team defense, force turnovers and run for easy baskets. We just have to keep working as a team.’
In the girls’ division, defending champion Seika Girls High School of Japan will face Yangming High School of Chinese Taipei in the final.