Check out team capsules in basketball and wrestling.

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa – When it happens not just once, but twice, and on your home court, the memories burn that much brighter, Kadena’s coach and players said.

The senior guard was part of a Panthers boys basketball team that lost in heartbreaking, last-second fashion to Nile C. Kinnick in last January’s Far East Division I tournament final.

That was a year after the Panthers also fell in the D-I final, that one via blowout against St. Mary’s, and again on Kadena’s home court.

“You remember the losses a lot more than the wins,” coach Antiwon Tucker said during Monday’s practice. “We just hope history won’t repeat itself.”

Six Kadena players share that sentiment, Tucker said. They were all part of those two devastating defeats and are back to try to make amends.

Seniors DeShaun Nixon and Jaden Vergara and junior Jaden Patsel man the backcourt, with Cory Tripp returning at forward. Sophomore Jelani McGhee, a skilled soccer midfielder, will try his skills on the hardwood this season.

“We have a pretty good team,” Tucker said. “A lot of players who’ve been through those two straight championship losses.”

Coming in from Judson High School in San Antonio is Mark Francis, a 6-foot-9 post player – perhaps the tallest in the Panthers lineup since Tom Penner, a 6-foot-10 center who played for Kadena in 2000 and 2001.

“So far, it’s a lot harder competition, the pace is a lot faster than in the States,” Francis said.

Whether the Panthers can take that next step up remains to be seen, though Nixon said it would be nice to do it at Kinnick, where the D-I boys Far East is scheduled.

“I’m ready. That would be great,” Nixon said. “We need that revenge.”

Kubasaki is trying to get back into the contention mix. Though not as tall as Francis, Alex James, a 6-foot-3 senior, mans the post for the Dragons, with veteran senior Troy Harris back at guard.

In his 16th season at the Dragons’ helm, coach Jon Fick said his ballclub “will be competitive by the time it’s all said and done.

Girls basketball

Kadena’s lineup looks solid on paper, except for the fact that currently the Panthers are battling injuries, said coach Ed Manalac, back at the helm after taking last season off.

Kadena does have a couple of promising post players, senior Jenna Cook and freshman Genesis Afaisen, to go with veteran guards Reina Ohene and Jazlene Vergara.

“When everybody gets back, it’ll be like training camp in the middle of the season,” Manalac said. “The hope is that by January, we’ll be in mid-season shape. If we hit our stride … anything can happen.”

The Dragons are also hoping to take bigger strides after having beaten Kadena three times during last regular season, coach Robert Barrett said. Seniors Solares Solano, Runa Holladay, Isabella Mabie and Jessica Blackston form the core.

“We have some room to grow, but we’re definitely a better team than last year,” Barrett said.

Wrestling

Joining two of the most competitive boys programs on the Okinawa mats for the first time are Panthers and Dragons girls teams, as part of a pilot program to gauge interest in one of the fastest growing sports in the States.

“We are excited, to say the least” about the pilot program, third-year Dragons coach David Wray said.

The boys teams split the Far East D-I team titles last January, the Dragons capturing the individual freestyle and the Panthers the dual-meet crowns.

They return a total of four defending Far East champions, Tim Cope, Max Lundberg and Noah Starr for the Dragons and two-time champion Josiah Drummer for the Panthers.