Basketball teams put on clinic

MAJURO, Marshall Islands—The NMI National Women’s and Men’s Basketball Teams dominated the Education and Cultural Center courts once again in the 2024 Micronesian Games yesterday.

The women’s team snatched their second win in a row against Chuuk, 50-28, for a currently undefeated run in their pool.

Coach Connie Camacho said the game was crucial for their seeding and is confident that they are the best in their pool which includes Chuuk, Marshall Islands, and Nauru. She emphasized their goal of reaching the gold medal matchup—whoever it may be—against powerhouse Guam or anyone else.

Cassie Camacho, a forward for the team said of their win, “It felt great. I think it’s a really good boost for our morale and keeps us going.” She said her mindset heading into the game tonight is to just be in the present moment and take it one game at a time.

The women’s team will face off against home team Marshall Islands, who won against winless Nauru yesterday.

For the men’s team’s first day of games, they went on to put on a clinic versus Kiribati, 73-43.

By the end of the first half, NMI led, 42-17. Kiribati tried to make the outside perimeter their point of entry—which worked for a time, but eventually gassed out and fell to a much speedier and seasoned NMI team.

Coby Santos led the team with 21 points, while Preston Basa scored 9. Oklahoma fly-in Antoni Ogumoro was right at home and put up 8 points of his own.

James Lee, assistant coach of the men’s team said after their win, “They executed the game plan well but as always, there’s always room for improvement. Best part of our first game is that we got the jitters out of the way so the boys should be able to perform the way we know they can from here on out.”

“Overall, the Micro Games have been another great experience for me and I’m sure it will be a memory in the book for the men and women basketball athletes,” said Lee.

The men’s team is taking on Chuuk today.

For weightlifting, Riella Ichiuo came away with three silver medals in the 76-kg weight class with one other person. She registered a best snatch of 75 kg, a best clean & jerk of 90 kg, for a total weight of 165 kg.

Antonette Labausa, for her part, settled for three bronze medals in the 81-kg division out of two other competitors. She recorded a best snatch of 75 kg, 95-kg clean & jerk, and 170-kg total weight lifted.

Labausa said of the competition, “It was fun, I enjoyed being in the heat of it and doing my best to battle it out with the women in my weight class. I will bounce back.” She added, “I would like to thank everyone in the Marianas for their love and support for our team no matter what.”

For Lucio Eugenio in the 96-kg weight class, his best lifts were a 95-kg snatch, 115-kg clean & jerk, and a 210-kg total

As for Joseph Pangelinan who opened up the last day of weightlifting competitions, he lifted a best snatch of 90 kg, 107-kg clean & jerk, and 197-kg total weight in the 89-kg category.

Then, the NMI National Fast-Pitch Softball Team wrapped up the games for NMI late yesterday afternoon with a close game versus Pohnpei, 7-9.

NMI took the lead, 5-4, after being down, and let the game unravel against them at the top of the last inning after the bases were loaded. Before the third out was registered, Pohnpei brought in five runs to overtake once again, 9-4.

The NMI had some rally in their bones at the bottom of the inning after a leadoff single by Kiara Borja. Two-sport athlete Destiny Pangelinan then brought her home with an RBI-triple to make it 5-9.

Then, with the bases loaded, Christy Aldan was hit-by-a-pitch which brought in a run, 6-9. After that, Kiana Camacho walked to first, then Allanah Sablan, with the bases loaded again, had an RBI walk to inch even closer, 7-9. But the team came up short as it was already on two outs, and the last out eventually came from a pop fly to end the game, 7-9.

Manager Manny Sablan said after the game that they have a young team playing against seasoned teams as they do not have a women’s fastpitch league back home. He said hopefully this will jump-start a league in order to develop a pool of players for the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau.