DCCA, DPS win over opponents • Teams advances to Inter-Government League title match
Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and Department of Public Safety each carved out contrasting wins Wednesday to earn berths in today’s championship game of the inaugural Inter-Government League.
In the first game of the semifinals, DCCA, behind a torrid fastbreak game, routed Commonwealth Health Center to the tune of 64-41. The game was never close as DCCA rung up points immediately after tip-off and maintained the lead up until the horn sounded.
DCCA relied on its solid backcourt in offense. The triumvirate of Ed Diaz, Romeo Iginoef and player-coach Elias Rangamar frolicked on the open court to score a combined 47 points.
If DCCA’s guards were not scoring in the offensive end, they were making play miserable for the ball carriers of CHC with their backcourt pressure defense. If CHC players did escape the trap, they, however, were repeatedly frustrated by DCCA’s solid interior defense.
Diaz, the top scorer of the tourney with a 25.6 points per game clip, was held down to 21 points. But Rangamar and Iginoef more than made that up by scoring 13 points a piece.
However, the big difference in the game was the defensive contribution of DCCA’s gangling center 6’5″ Marvin Williams, who despite scoring only three points, came away with 21 rebounds and seven swats.
“Because the CHC team is bigger, we tried to exhaust them by employing a running game, which was to our advantage, I’m glad it worked,” player-coach Rangamar said.
In the second match, DPS struggled to defeat the Department of Land Regulation Survey, 83-75. The law enforcers were only a shadow of the team that went 7-0 in the elimination round as they allowed DLRS to claw back from a 20-point deficit in the homestretch.
With a shade under three minutes to go and the lead down to six, DPS executed its vaunted half-court set to surgical precision, feeding low post threat Abong Camacho for easy lay-ups under the basket.
The 6’4″ Camacho finished the game with only nine points but most of them were scored during crucial stretches of the ballgame. He also came away with 15 boards as well as invaluable intimidation and experience in the shaded lane.
Top scoring for DPS was Peter Camacho who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. He was ably backed by the 11-point, 12-rebound effort of high-leaping Jerry Ayuyu.
In a losing cause, DLRS was bannered by Jack Diaz’s 20 points, most of them in daring drives to the basket at the height of his team’s rally in the third quarter. Steve Rasa and James Tanaka pitched in 14 points apiece, with Rasa grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds.
With the championship final’s cast complete all appears to be set for a slam-bang basketball affair this evening at the Garapan open basketball court.
The match between DCCA and DPS will be a humdinger of a game as it would feature a duel between teams of contrasting styles — fastbreak, open court, free-flowing basketball on the part of DCCA, and disciplined, slowed-down half-court set for DPS.
