Hong Kong International School (HKIS) completed an outstanding sweep of basketball titles when their boys' Grade C team clinched honours earlier this week. The Grade C team have been unbeaten for three years in the Hong Kong schools district competition. They are coached by American Jerry Markin, who also led the HKIS Grade A and B teams to success. Markin played at university level in the United States before he became a coach. The boys wrapped up the Grade C championship with a 54-32 victory over St Joseph's College on Monday. Other teams in the division, such as Queen's College, Chong Gene Hang College, Aberdeen Baptist Lui Ming Choi College, Chinese International School and St Paul's Co-Educational College, were no match for the Tai Tam-based school. The Grade C team won 16 games in all competitions this season, giving them a 38-0 (win-loss) record over the past three years. The boys also dominated the International Christian School League - a weekend tournament - winning nine straight games to take the title. Markin, who writes a basketball column for Young Post every Tuesday, said his team had exceeded all expectations. The coach had hoped to nurture his Grade C side since he had only one player from last season's line-up. 'Jonathan Lau stepped up his game and was the glue that held the team together. He did everything asked of him,' said Markin. 'He led excellent defence, passed unselfishly, and rebounded over taller players. 'A team defence of trapping and stopping the ball almost destroyed opposing offences, leading to numerous steals and assists to open players. 'We also had a point guard, Scotty Ewing, who could just put the ball in the basket. Scotty finishes as well as any guard I have coached. 'I have to thank Mike Murphy who took over the Grade C team for four critical games while I was in Okinawa with the Varsity [Grade A] team recently. 'The most important lesson from this year was that team defence wins games. I'm very proud of the boys because they picked up their game and played excellent team basketball, which resulted in an excellent season.'
