There has been a little shake up in the American Samoa High School Athletic Association (ASHSAA) Boys Basketball Varsity division, with the defending champion Tafuna Warriors dropping two straight games— the latest one against the Leone Lions this past Friday in Tafuna.

The last three games for the Warriors have been sub-par compared to the beginning of their season, which had them running roughshod over their opponents.

These sub-par performances began on January 23 when they barely got by the Fa’asao Marist Crusaders by one point and then the very next day, were defeated by the Samoana Sharks by two points.

These two games were really no big surprises, as the Crusaders and Sharks are now in the top two spots in the rankings. The Lions however, who came into Tafuna last Friday, came sitting just below a .500 record. The Lions must have watched those two last games of the Warriors and taken notes. The Lions were able to do what the Crusaders almost did and what the Sharks did do — and that was crack the hard nosed defense of the Warriors on their way to a 52-47 victory over the Tafuna team.

 With that win, the Lions are at .500 and sit in the middle of the standings seeded at #4, while the Warriors have dropped down one spot and are now seeded at #3 in the standings.

The Sharks— who are now in the #2 spot and have won five straight games— have improved overall on both defense and offense, mainly on the offensive side of the ball since their last loss was to the Crusaders on January 29.

The Crusaders, who are the #1 ranked team at this time, will be making a trip to Samoana today to take on the Sharks.

The Crusaders will most likely be relying on their overall technically sound game that has gotten them to the top of the standings. The Sharks, on the other-hand, are on a roll and have been averaging just over 60 points in the past three games.  They will, most likely, be relying heavily on the momentum they have created for themselves to keep their streak alive.

The other game today, scheduled between the Faga’itua Vikings versus the South Pacific Academy Dolphins, has been postponed.

With this latest win for the Lions, it should give them a boost they will need going into their next game, which will be against the Crusaders this coming Friday.

The Warriors will now have to rally the troops and get back on track if they do not want to be pushed down too low in the standings when the playoffs begin toward the end of the month.

The Vikings and the Nu’uuli Voc-Tech Wildcats each have only two wins, while the Dolphins are still at the bottom without any wins, but are still improving; and still have time to catch the Vikings and Wildcats, but they have to start kicking it into high gear right now with the playoffs just around the corner.

This Thursday, the Warriors will host the Wildcats, as the Sharks take on the Dolphins at Samoana. On Friday, the Crusaders will host the Lions and the Warriors will be hosting the Dolphins.

All Varsity games have a scheduled starting time of 4:30 p.m.

JUNIOR VARSITY

In the latest ASHSAA Boys Basketball Junior Varsity division, the Vikings now stand alone in the rankings with an undefeated record. They defeated the only other previously undefeated team last Saturday— which were the Warriors— by a score of 32-31. The Warriors lost both of their games last Saturday as they were also downed by the Sharks 39-33. The other two games last Saturday had the Sharks defeating the Wildcats 47-30 and Lions defeating the Crusaders by a score of 43-13. The next set of Junior Varsity games will be this coming Saturday at the Malaeloa gymnasium with a scheduled starting time of 8:00 a.m.

Latest ASHSAA Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity Basketball standings:

Varsity Division:

TEAM            L            W            PF            PA

Fa’asao Marist            6            1            318            260

Samoana            6            2            377            303

Tafuna            4            2            270            213

Leone            4            4            364            342

Nu’uuli VocTech            2            4            217            245

Faga’itua            2            5            200            254

South Pacific Academy            0            6            118            247

Junior Varsity Division:

TEAM            W            L

Faga’itua            5            0

Tafuna            4            2

Samoana            3            3

Nu’uuli VocTech            2            3

Fa’asao Marist            1            4

Leone            1            4