FMS, HMS nip 2nd win in boys hoops

Francisco M. Sablan Middle School Napu Riders and Hopwood Middle School Hilitais varsity teams posted their second win in a row in the IT&E Interscholastic Boys Middle School Basketball League 2024-2025 last Wednesday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

The Napu Riders took on Chacha Ocean View Middle School Lancherus and won, 51-29.

The Lancherus put up a good fight against a more dominant FMS team toward the end of the first half. FMS’ lead didn’t stray from close to double digits or nine points as with each FMS point, COVMS retaliated.

COVMS found their rhythm and closed the gap, 17-24, with mere minutes in the first half left. But FMS’ Leon Duenas went on a tear and scored five straight points to end the first half, 30-17.

In the second half, the Napu Riders came out of the gates stronger than before and left an exhausted COVMS in their dust. While COVMS’ Lafayette Villagomez went deep from the 3-point line four times, it just wasn’t enough to put a stop to FMS’ firepower.

In the end, COVMS stagnated at 29 points, while FMS’ lead climbed higher and eventually won with a deficit of 22 points.

Dezmon Camacho led the Napu Riders with 12 points, followed by Duenas’ 10, while Logan Daniel put up 9. Villagomez had a game-high 14 points, while Payton Pangelinan scored 11.

At the same time on the south court, defending champions HMS took on Tanapag Middle School Tatagas. They rallied to win a close, 25-20 game.

The Hilitais got off to a slow start and were behind, 3-7 in the first minutes of the game to a strong TMS team. But later, HMS’ three key players put out all the stops to ensure the mission to come back went according to plan.

It was a hotly contested matchup between two strong teams as back-and-forth action kept fans on the edge of their seats. TMS were up, 12-7 at the end of the first half as Justin Garde led the team with his accurate takes at the basket.

Then, TMS’ lead shrunk to 1 point, 12-11, as the minutes dwindled from quick shots by HMS’ Johnli Tagiuam. It was still anybody’s game but the tide turned when HMS took the lead, 14-14 with 7:33 left.

The tug-of-war with the lead went on as both teams tried to outpace the other and run away with the lead, and finally, HMS took their momentum and rode it out to a 19-16 lead—their biggest in the game.

TMS still had a chance to either reclaim the lead or force overtime as they closed the gap, 18-21, but Hail Marys by TMS came to naught with less than a minute left and HMS’ Zuriel Abejo, Leon Galarse, and Tagiuam closed out the game, 25-20.

In other results, FMS JV outscored COVMS JV, 28-8; HMS JV trounced Dandan Middle School JV, 25-17; DMS beat Grace Christian Academy, 34-11; and Mount Carmel School blanked Saipan Community School, 39-0.

First Game

FMS 51 – Camacho 12, Duenas 10, Daniel 9, John 7, Defang 5, Rogolifoi 4, Gimed 4.

COVMS 29 – Villagomez 14, Pangelinan 11, Jones 3, San Nicolas 1.

Scoring by halves: 30-17, 51-29.

Second Game

HMS 25 – Abejo 9, Galarse 8, Tagiuam 8.

TMS 20 – Garde 9, Sablan 5, Danis 2, Camacho 2, Hosono 2.

Scoring by halves: 7-12, 25-20.