Hoops teams fall short

MAJURO, Marshall Islands—The NMI Women’s and Men’s National Basketball Teams fell short in their matches of the 2024 Micronesian Games yesterday in a jam-packed Education and & Cultural Center.

The women’s team played a nail-biter to the finish, 37-40, against host Republic of Marshall Islands, but still kept their top seeding in Pool B because of points differential.

RMI lost to Chuuk by one point, but NMI beat Chuuk by 25 points, and NMI beat Nauru on the first day.

It was never more than a 1- or 2-point lead for both teams as they took turns scoring and executing their attempts.

The lead swayed back-and-forth throughout until NMI secured a two-point lead at the end of the third quarter, 31-29, from a buzzer beater by Alliyah Fernandez.

Apparent fouls were not being called in favor of the NMI which eventually swayed the momentum to RMI at the fourth quarter. The biggest lead of the game was 6 points, 32-38, as RMI sunk in a 3 after a 32-35 lead.

Then, come crunch time, crucial plays and free throws were not made by NMI as time dwindled. With less than half a second left and the NMI’s possession, they failed to secure a tie-making play.

Coach Connie Camacho said postgame that, “We just got to execute on offense. We didn’t make a lot of the shots we usually make—we missed some layups, but our defense was pretty good.”

“It was so close—it was up and down, and hopefully, we learn from this game, and win the rest of our games,” she said.

With the men’s basketball team’s game in the afternoon, they blew a lead in the second half and lost to Chuuk, 38-58.

The NMI men’s had a 19-7 lead at the end of the first quarter from fastbreak and aggressive plays. By the second, Chuuk was gaining confidence and executing their shots as NMI fumbled with their attempts at the basket.

At the turn of the half, the momentum swung fully to the Chuuk team with multiple misses by NMI from within and out the perimeter. Chuuk continued to apply the pressure and caused multiple turnovers that they converted to fast-break plays, and from there, left NMI in their dust.

The NMI was reduced to just 3 points in the third quarter off a 3-pointer by Coby Santos. Santos tried his best to get the NMI back on track in the fourth and scored two more threes, but Chuuk held them down and kept their momentum going to seal the deal, 58-38.

Earlier in the hot summer Majuro day, the NMI Women’s National Fast Pitch Softball Team let the heat get to them and lost to Palau, 2-13, in a shortened game.

Palau was up 5-0 by the second inning and NMI tried to recover in the next. They managed to get two runs on the board from Kianu Aldan and Kiana Camacho for a 2-5 game, but eventually failed to bring in the next baserunners.

Then, Palau showed NMI pitching no mercy as they scored three in the third and five more in the fourth to end the game on a 11-run deficit.

With their third loss in as many games, coach Manny Sablan said that they are still adjusting to a different environment and playing against much more experienced teams. “There’s a few hiccups but they’re coming through in the game. At least in the three games that we played, we’ve been scoring and haven’t been shut out,” he said.

The challenge, he said, is “our pitching and going up against the different islands. Some of their players are trained in the mainland, so they’re more advanced.”

As they play host and No. 1 seed Republic of Marshall Islands again today at 10am, Sablan said it’s crucial that they win. It’s a double-elimination format and they have to beat RMI twice to advance to the medal round.