Previous Story
COPSSA kicks off middle school caging tomorrow
The middle school division games in the 2016-2017 Coalition of Private School Sports Association Basketball League will begin tomorrow at the various courts of the participating schools.
Boys division defending champion Mt. Carmel School will start its bid for a second straight title against Grace Christian Academy. The Knights-Eagles tiff will be played at 3:30pm at the GCA court on Navy Hill.
Mt. Carmel won last season’s championship after pulling off a 40-38 victory over Agape Christian School in the exciting finale.
Agape will also play in the opening day as it takes on Marianas Baptist Academy at the former’s turf. One more match is scheduled in the kick-off day with Seventh Day Adventist facing Saipan International School at the SDA court. Saipan Community School has a team, too in the boys middle school division and it drew a bye on opening day.
Saipan Community will have its season-debut game on Jan. 24 against SIS at the Geckos court. Last year’s finalists Mt. Carmel and Agape will have their early rematch next Tuesday with the Torchbearers hosting the Knights in the 3:30pm match. SDA, on the other hand, will visit MBA at the Tigers’ turf in Dandan, while GCA got a bye in the second day of competition.
The seven participating teams will play in a double-round robin regular season which is scheduled to conclude on Feb. 24, weather permitting. Playoffs will run from Feb. 28 to March 3 with the format has yet to be decided.
Meanwhile, only two teams are entered in the girls division—Mt. Carmel and SDA—and they would not be playing until next month.
The Lady Knights will be looking for their third straight championship in the division. Their recent title conquest was against SIS as the Lady Knights eked out a 24-22 victory in overtime of last season’s finale. Mt. Carmel’s other championship was at the expense of GCA as the former coasted to a 28-12 finals win in the 2014-2015 season of the league.
