Garapan cagers ‘scrimmage’

Garapan Rollers II crushed sister team G-Rollers III, 61-42, in a funky resumption to the 2005 Saipan Rotary Summer Youth Basketball League Wednesday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

In a match that looked more like a scrimmage session than a real game, both Garapan teams had to make do with the quarter-length basketball court on the north side of the gym, as rainwater continued to leak from the roof of the supposedly indoor facility.

The shorter distance from one end of the court to the other seemed to have no profound affect on the game though, as the older G-Rollers II of coach Jose Tumaquip immediately went to work on their younger village-mates.

With bull-strong forward Allan Moses doing damage inside and Donald Camacho complementing him with a solid game, G-Rollers II cruised in the first half and rested at lemon time with a comfortable 36-12 advantage.

G-Rollers III coach Joe Diaz, however, had a few tricks up his sleeves and began to pressure Tumaquip’s ballhandlers starting in the second hand.

G-Rollers II also made it easier for G-Rollers III to make a game of it when they hurried shots and gave away possessions with more frequency than in the first 20 minutes of the ballgame.

Successive successful forays by G-Rollers III cut G-Rollers II’s lead to manageable proportions with a little over six minutes left in the ballgame.

Luckily for Tumaquip and his boys, G-Rollers III slowly began to lose steam near the end, allowing the older and more experienced G-Rollers II to run on every fastbreak opportunity.

James Sablan and Dan Mateo starred in the endgame sprint-athon for G-Rollers II to give their team the 19-point victory.

Moses led the way for G-Rollers II with 12 points, while Camacho, Sablan, and Mateo added at least seven points apiece. Josh Moses and Jason Palacios paced G-Rollers III in the losing cause with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Depending on the condition of the venue, the 18-and-under basketball league was supposed to resume last night with Sixers II and Saints seeing action in the opener and Ol’Aces and Hoops squaring off in the nightcap. Results of the games were still not available as of press time.

Garapan Rollers II 61 – Moses 12, Camacho 10, Sablan 7, Mateo 7, Basila 5, Tellei 4, Avila 4, Sumpay 4, Hildalgo 4, Dong 4.

Garapan Rollers III 52 – Moses 12, J. Palacios 11, Deleon Guerrero 6, Pangelinan 4, Santos 2, D. Palacios 2.

Scoring by halves: 36-12, 61-42.

Referees: Dado Vistal and Noel Delos Santos.