PARIS, France The United States fell to Japan 48-51 on day two of pool play at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Top scorers for the U.S. were Chuck Aoki (Minneapolis, MN) with 19 and Sarah Adam (Naperville, IL) with 9.
Today’s matchup featured aggressive defense on both sides of the court. Japan took an early one try lead in the match and while the U.S. was able keep the score tight, they were unable to capitalize after forcing a turnover just before the end of the second period leaving the score tied at 22 a piece going into halftime.
Coming into the second half the U.S. took their first lead since being up 10-9 in the early minutes of play but Japan quickly answered and as time passed extended their lead to the ultimate 42-45 final score.
“(I am) a little frustrated with today,” said co-captain Aoki. “We know we are a better team than we showed today but ultimately Japan was better today. Now we need to refocus and beat Germany and beat them soundly.”
The U.S. will conclude pool play on Saturday facing Germany at 4:30 a.m. CT “Tomorrow is for us, number one, show up and play good offense,” said head coach Joe Delagrave. “We are responding well, we are playing great defense, playing great key defense we are communicating well, we aren’t getting in the backyard and playing good old pass and catch well right now. Once we do that, we are in a really good spot.”
The conclusion of pool play will determine the seeding for the semi final and medal rounds here in Paris.
For scores, stats and highlights visit usawr.org.