‘Holiday Hoops’ win just the start—Duenas

The 69ers’ championship run in last week’s 2004 Christmas Basketball Tournament should serve as a harbinger of things to come, according to its coach Ray Duenas.

After a heartbreaking loss in the finals of last year’s Island-wide Youth Village Basketball League, Duenas and his young guns are raring to get back in the mix and finally capture the elusive 14-and-under title this New Year.

“We have one goal this year and that’s is to bring back home to San Antonio the championship of the IVYBL,” said Duenas during the “Holiday Hoops” awards ceremony held Wednesday at the Minatchom Atdao Pavilion across the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Duenas said the maturation of players like tourney MVP Bill Babauta, Jake Maratita, Matt Sablan, and his own son, Ernest Duenas, and the addition of back-up players Alex King and Calvin Fejeran has transformed the 69ers from title pretenders to title contenders.

“Bill, Jake, Matt, and Ernest were more sure of themselves and their confidence was just sky high during the Christmas tourney. We also got help from our ex-Spider players Alex and Calvin, who made our second unit more potent,” said Duenas.

And that fact was never more evident than during the “Holiday Hoops” hoopla.

The 69ers kicked off their campaign with a 72-44 rout of Kagman Cougars last Monday morning. A few hours later, coach Duenas and his players were back on the hardcourt once again, this time against IVYBL conquerors Garapan Rollers.

The game was tight all the way until the 69ers were able to forge ahead in the final couple of minutes and won 45-38.

The 69ers didn’t have that kind of trouble in their next assignment Tuesday, as coach Duenas almost exclusively used his younger wards in beating William S. Reyes Elementary School Kingfishers 42-24, which cemented for them the top seed in Pool B after going 3-0 in the eliminations.

In the crossover semifinals later in the afternoon, the 69ers drew the injury-plagued Tinian All-Stars and proceeded to blow out the visitors from Saipan’s southern shore 72-34.

In the finals Wednesday morning, the 69ers could do nothing wrong as they repeatedly quashed rally attempts from the Saipan Sixers in the third and fourth quarters, to cap their swashbuckling performance in the tournament with a 65-48 crowning of their hated cross-village rivals.

Even opposing coach, Ryan Nisperos, admitted that the 69ers just had too many weapons, which made them tough if not next to impossible to beat.

“They’re a very good team. Ray has assembled a very balanced team with a lot of players able to step up at any given time. They will be hard to beat if they stay together for the IVYBL,” he said.

Duenas has no such plans of dismantling the Holiday Hoops heroes as he already made sure all the players are locked up for a 2005 run on the IVYBL title.

“All of them are coming back. Bill, Jake, Matt, Ernest, and the rest of my players will definitely play in the 14-and-under league. We have unfinished business we need to accomplish,” he said.

The rest of the players of the 2004 Christmas Basketball Tournament champion team 69ers are Martin Pangelinan, Joe White, Reynard Travilla, Christopher Duenas, Ion Benavente, Jessie Delos Reyes, Matthew Duenas, Alex Palacios, Ray Santos, and Roxanne Duenas.

The Division of Sports and Recreation under the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs organized the 2004 Christmas Basketball Tournament with help from the Saipan Mayor’s Office.