Saipan CNMI 670 advances to Final Four

Players of Saipan CNMI 670 made their home islands proud by making it to the Final Four of the 2023 Net Rippers Basketball League in Lakewood, Washington.

The team, made up of former Saipan residents Jed Villanueva, Albert Salas, JayMark De Guzman, Ehroll Peredo, Melvin Deocares, Juanis King, and Herbert Maranan and coached by Adrian De Luna, upset No. 2 seed Seattle The Bro in the first round of the playoffs to make it to the semifinals.

As the No. 7 seed, Saipan CNMI 670 negated Seattle The Bro’s twice-to-beat advantage by beating them in their first game, 57-47, with Salas leading the way with 18 points, while De Guzman and Beltran chipped in 15 and 10 markers, respectively. 

In the do-or-die second game for both teams, Saipan CNMI 670 completed the upset by scoring another 10-point win, 63-53. They were again led by the 25 points of Salas and the 12 points of Beltran, while Peredo fired 9 points.

De Luna, who played for Team Rollers, Places, and Division of Youth Services on Saipan, said they will again go for broke in the semifinals against Lakeland Faith Fighters this Aug. 25 at the Lakewood Community Center.

“We will give our best shot to go to finals and make history here in Washington state. That’s been our goal since Day 1. It’s going to be very interesting this coming weekend against Parkland Faith Fighters,” he said.

De Luna, who left Saipan in 2015, said apart from gunslinger Salas, former Blue Haus forward De Guzman has been heaven-sent for the team.

“He’s been a huge help to our team. He knows what he’s doing out there to make the team win. Without him, we can’t win the game. He’s the point god!” he said.

Saipan CNMI 670 finished the regular season with a dismal 4-5 win-loss record, while their victims in the quarterfinals, Seattle The Bros, only had two losses in nine games.

De Luna said he will Facebook Live their game against Parkland Faith Fighters this weekend.

The other semifinal pairing in the 2023 Net Rippers Basketball League  will have No. 1 Bremerton Destroyers (7-1) going up against Lakewood JBLM (4-6).