Mwaliyas repeat as Rocball champions

Defending champion Mwaliyas went out and accomplished their goal as the team won its second straight title by beating Ochobu in Game 5 of the 2006 World Organized Rocball High School League championship series.

The Marianas High School Gymnasium was again home to intense competition as both teams played their best with the title on the line.

Mwaliyas held a slim 7-6 lead in the third set when action resumed on Day 2 of the match.

Having lost the first two sets, Ochobu was hungry and showed it as the team went on a 6-1 run to swing favor to their corner, 12-8. Mwaliyas responded with a kee by Darrel Roligat, 10-12, but Ramsey Sino gave Ochobu some breathing room as he smacked in a goal for a 15-10 lead.

Mwaliyas came storming back, though, and fought off set point. The defending champions took the lead, 16-15, and both teams took turns serving with set point until Ochobu was able to get through with a 20-19 victory.

The win was only by a point, resulting in Ochobu still trailing by 11 points, 39-50.

The tight battle carried over to the final set of regulation, which began with Shane Yamada knocking down a kee and Pedro Iguel connecting on a kill for a 3-0 Mwaliyas lead. Ochobu quickly tied the game on an ace by Sino, but another kee by Yamada and a kill by Quincy Johnson helped Mwaliyas regain advantage, 6-3.

With their fans cheering them on, Tarnes and Ichnis Kapwich responded with consecutive kees that gave Ochobu the lead, and the back and forth scoring carried on until the end of the set.

A kill by Sino gave Ochobu set point, 14-13, but Iguel came back with a kill of his own to tie the score and give Mwaliyas game point, 14-14.

Sino, however, came through with another kill and Ochobu was able to stay alive by forcing o-kon, 16-14.

Mwaliyas still had the upper hand, though, as the team still led, 64-55, at the end of regulation. With that, Mwaliyas only needed to win one set in overtime to claim the title while Ochobu had to win two sets to win the championship.

Up 3-2, Mwaliyas got a huge lift as Yamada served up a xunk and elected to subtract two points from Ochobu. Yamada scored another xunk and Mwaliyas was up 7-0 when Ochobu fired back and scored six straight points to pull within one, 6-7.

Johnson then came up big for Mwaliyas, blocking three kill attempts with the last one giving Mwaliyas a point for an 8-6 lead. Mwaliyas scored three points after and Sino stopped the spree with a kill, 9-11.

Ochobu finally pulled even at 13-13 courtesy of kills by Sino and David Tisa, but Mwaliyas was able to get back and Darrel Roligat came up with a big serve for the win, 16-14.

Mwaliyas won the first two sets on Monday—15-5 and 16-14.

Yamada finished as the game’s heavy hitter with 18 points on seven kees and two xunks while Iguel finished with nine points on three kees and a goal.

Sino led Ochobu with 11 points courtesy of an ace, three kees, and a goal.

As reported earlier, Ochobu won a hard-fought Game 1 that was decided on the second set of o-kon, while Mwaliyas came back to win Game 2 after trailing through three sets.

Ochobu moved just one win away from dethroning Mwaliyas after winning Game 3 last Tuesday, 62-37, but was not able to close the series as Mwaliyas took Game 4 last Thursday, 67-43, to force the winner-take-all Game 5.

For more information on high school Rocball, contact the sport’s creator Jim Feger at 237-3235.