Three-way tie for women’s league lead

Three teams are tied for the lead after the first round of the 2011 BANMI Women’s Summer Basketball League was completed last Wednesday at the TSL Sports Complex.

Sharing the top spot in the four-team field are Mix-A-Lot, Aye Par Battayi, and Party Rockers, which hold similar 2-1 slates. The Lazy Buttsss is also entered in the competition, but dropped all its three matches in the first of the three-round robin league.

Mix-A-Lot, which lost its opening game to Aye Par Battayi last week, claimed back-to-back victories, including an upset over the then unbeaten Party Rockers to force a deadlock for the lead.

Mix-A-Lot downed Party Rockers on Wednesday night, 61-51, and topped the Lazy Buttsss in a make-up game last Tuesday, 59-51

Against the CNMI 15 National Team-led Party Rockers, Mix-A-Lot got off to a good start and hung in there to foil the former’s bid for a first round sweep.

Lalaine Pagarao, who had 40 points in their win over the Lazy Buttsss, knocked in 10 points in the first half to give Mix-A-Lot a 28-16 advantage at halftime. Nikita Hofschneider and Dion Diaz also contributed for Mix-A-Lot in the first half, firing six apiece.

No Party Rockers player scored more than two field goals in the first half, as coach Connie Camacho’s wards had a hard time running the breaks and Diaz did a great job against Rachel Abrams in the paint. Abrams missed several shots inside and was scoreless in the first half.

Abrams made it into the scoreboard in the second half, but her baskets could not come in streak and every time the Party Rockers moved closer, Mix-A-Lot always had answers. Pagarao found an ally on offense in Diaz in the second half to hand Party Rockers their first loss in the competition. Pagarao had 12 more points in the second half to finish with 22, while Diaz ended the game with 17 markers.

Jeraldine Castillo was the lone Party Rockers’ player to score in double figures with 11.

In the first game, Jeralyn Castillo made two clutch baskets in the homestretch to lift Aye Par Battayi to a close 57-53 win over the Lazy Buttsss.

The Lazy Buttsss had the lead for the last time, 53-51, off Ira Palero’s banked shot, with 2:14 left on the clock. Aye Par Battayi went on to silence the Lazy Buttsss in the remaining minutes, while Jeralyn Castillo made a couple of steals and drilled the team’s last four points for the win.

The four-point win allowed Aye Par Battayi to recover from a 44-53 loss to the Party Rockers Tuesday night. The two make-up games last Tuesday were originally set for Sunday, but were rescheduled due to the unplayable court.

The second round of the women’s league will continue on Monday with Aye Par Battayi taking on Mix-A-Lot in the first game at 5:30pm and the Party Rockers battling the Lazy Buttsss in the second match at 6:30pm.
[B] TUESDAY

First Game

Mix-A-Lot 59[/B] – Pagarao 40, Alegre 6, Iriarte 6, Mesa 4, Hofschneider 3.
[B] Lazy Buttsss 51[/B] – Palero 24, Pialug 5, Javier 4, Joseph 4, Lizardo 4.
[B] Scoring by halves:[/B] 30-21, 59-51.

Party Rockers 53[/B] – Castillo 13, Abrams 11, Johnson 8, Lebria 7, Samson 6, Gozon 6, Ito 2.
[B] Aye Par Battayi 44[/B] – Castillo 16, Palero 9, Williams 6, Arboliras 4, K. Ito 2, Bartolo 2, Travilla 2.
[B] Scoring by halves:[/B] 20-18, 53-44.

First Game

Aye Par Battayi 57[/B] – Mendoza 19, Williams 18, Castillo 6, Palero 6, A. Ito 6, Arboliras 2.

Mix-A-Lot 61[/B] – Pagarao 22, Diaz 17, Hofschneider 8, Alegre 4, Iriarte 4, Mesa 2, Palacios 2.
[B] Party Rockers 51[/B] – Castillo 11, Abrams 9, Lebria 8, Johnson 8, Gozon 6, Ito 6, Samson 3.
[B] Scoring by halves:[/B] 28-16, 61-51.