Sonics boom; Southern beats Sixers II

In the first half, the Southern Sonics played nothing like their namesakes in the National Basketball Association, but come the second half it seemed like the only thing missing were the familiar names of Allen, Lewis, Evans, and Ridnour etched at the back of their uniforms.

It was a total night-and-day performance from the team from Saipan Southern High School, as they started sluggishly allowing the Sixers II to stay close in the first 20 minutes of the ballgame before blowing them away in the second and win in a score of 101-67.

Fans of both teams packed the notoriously humid Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium Wednesday, as action in the 2005 Saipan Rotary Club Summer Youth Basketball League continued for a third straight day, following back-to-back-to-back postponements a week earlier.

The layoff seemed to favor Sixers II early on as they matched their former teammates’ play and managed to keep the score down and the Sonics’ lead manageable. Majority of players from the Sonics played for Sixers I a season ago.

Sonics made their first big push in the middle of the first half, when a run led by the high-flying Rowell Aranda gave the Saipan Southern a double-digit spread.

But when everyone inside the gym was about to entertain thoughts of massacre, Sixers II showed some grit and stopped the Sonics’ run-and-gun fastbreak by making stops of their own.

Dwight Buena and Mark Dela Cruz also awoke suddenly on offense, as Sixers II scored a bushel to chop their deficit to a single point, 38-37, at lemon time.

Shocked and embarrassed by their sloppy play against San Antonio’s supposedly junior team, Sonics quickly made amends in the second half.

The foursome of Aranda, Julian Ranas, James Kintz and Mike Eclevia essayed the roles of the four Seattle starters perfectly in the second half, as the lead finally grew by leaps and bounds.

With Aranda marrying his unique athletic ability with his ceiling, ala-Rashard Lewis; Ranas showing he’s a match to Ray Allen’s Jesus Shuttlesworth; Kintz giving Reggie Evans a run for his money rebounding wise; and Eclevia making like a Luke Ridnour clone, the Sonics were off to the races and buried their opponents under a ton of points.

Aranda led the Sonics with a game-high 33 points, while Ranas, Kintz, and Eclevia added 10 points or more for the victors.

Sixers II was by Dela Cruz’s 17, while Buena and Alvin Salas added 16 and 11 in a losing cause.

The 18-and-under league resumed yesterday but the results of the match between Garapan Rollers II and San Antonio in the first game and sister teams Garapan Rollers I and G-Rollers III in the second were still not available as of press time.

Sonics 101 – Aranda 33, Ranas 22, Kintz 13, Eclevia 10, Palacios 4, Echon 2, Lizama 2.

Sixers II – Dela Cruz 17, Buena 16, Salas 11, Echon 7, Flores 5, A. Villegas 5, Chan 2, E. Villegas 2, Delos Santos 2.

Scoring by halves: 38-37, 101-67.

Referees: Jess Pacheco and Noel Delos Santos.