"I'm playing in the position I need the most."
Cheongju KB Stars won 66-63 against Hana Bank 2024-2025 Women's Professional Basketball Regular League Busan BNK Sum at Busan Sajik Gymnasium on the 10th.
KB won a dramatic victory after extra time. After recovering from a tying 3-pointer by Nagata Moe at the end of the fourth quarter, KB garnered a valuable victory by maintaining concentration in the extra time.
Without Super Rookie Song Yoon-ha (12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block shot), it would have been difficult to lead the game to extra time. Song Yoon-ha supported his team by scoring a lot of points in the first half when KB was behind BNK.
Using his power from the inside, he persistently targeted BNK's weaknesses. He displayed stable two-to-two games with Heo Ye-eun and others, accumulating scores one by one. He failed to score in succession while starting in the first quarter, but calmly scored afterwards. Soft pick-and-roll was a powerful weapon that could not be stopped.
It is an unusual season for rookies to show off their performance. Song is leading such a sensation among rookies. Since his debut season, he has established himself as a key player in his team and has 7.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on average.
For KB, where Park Ji-soo left for Turkey to take on an overseas challenge, Song is like a lucky charm. KB predicted Song early on to strengthen its weakness since the draft, and has been performing better than expected since the first season. He has posted an average of 12.2 points and 7.4 rebounds in the past five games, which is hardly easy to lose even when faced with foul trouble.
"Since (Song) Yoon-ha is holding out from the inside, there are many goals that are derived. There is a big difference in existence under the basket," coach Kim Wan-soo said after the game. "We are playing with members, and Yoon-ha came in and played in the position that he needs the most."
It has not been more than half a year since he joined the team, but he has already gained trust from sisters who play with him. He shed tears at the end of the game by missing a shot under the basket, but his team members did not care at all and expressed their gratitude to the youngest member of the team.
"Younha is doing so well. She seems to be upset that she missed a lot of shots and rebounds under the basket, but that's not necessary at all, and I don't think she would have made it until now without her. I hope she continues as she is now," Kang said.
Heo Ye-eun also said, "Yoon-ha has saved us in many games, including the Shinhan Bank match in the fifth round. Despite being young, he played a lot of roles in this game and gave us one strong option, even though Yoon-ha was the only option to hit the opponent under the basket. After the game, he showed tears and said, "We still have room for growth. I told him not to cry, 'You and I are still young and we have a lot of ways to go', but I hope he grows up well anyway."
As mentioned earlier, Super Rookie trio Song Yoon-ha, Hong Yoo-soon and Lee Min-ji have been indispensable to the team since their debut season. The fiery competition for Rookie of the Year has also become a major concern at the end of the season. 카지노
Heo Ye-eun said, "All three players, including Yoon-ha, who are competing for the Rookie of the Year award, are amazing, and I wonder if there have been such rookies. I'm a huge fan of Min-ji (Lee) and I like Yoo-soon (Hong), but I think Yoon-ha's influence on the team is appealing the most. I think her role and influence in the team is the biggest," empowering the youngest.
On the day, Song couldn't attend his high school graduation ceremony due to his schedule overlapping with the game. However, he continued his growth as a player by gaining valuable experience as much as his graduation ceremony. "I would have liked to attend his graduation ceremony, but he didn't even show off his performance," coach Kim Wan-su said, expressing his great respect. Song said KB is a great driving force behind the playoff race despite unfavorable injury conditions.