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Posted on Dec 14 2008
Same teams, same results.
Saipan Southern High School won its title rematch against Kagman High School following an 84-63 victory in the junior varsity finals of the 2008-2009 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Basketball League Friday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.
The Rays took last season’s crown after a 115-102 win and an Ayuyus’ fourth-quarter collapse allowed Southern to defend the junior varsity championship.
The game was still in a deadlock at the end of the third period, 53-all, when the Ayuyus fell apart against the Rays’ suffocating trapping defense in the payoff canto.
Southern’s unforgiving defense held the Ayuyus scoreless in the first 3:38 of the fourth quarter.
Jester Kaipat broke the spell with his split free throw, but the Rays were already pulling away leading at 70-54, with 4:22 remaining on the clock.
Kagman made its first field goal in the 3:39 mark with Francisco Mettao drilling an undergoal stab and drawing a foul from John Paul Villanueva.
Mettao missed his bonus charity and that had been the story for the Ayuyus, who in the fourth period muffed 11 free throws, which could have changed the complexion of the game.
Southern also missed several charities, but fastbreak baskets off numerous steals and relentless defense made up for those muffed free throws.
Steals were not recorded in the game’s scoresheets, but the Rays picked the Ayuyus’ pocket more than 10 times in the crucial fourth canto.
Southern had two players firing 20-plus points in the championship match with the league’s unofficial MVP Tristan Ecalnea drilling 25 points. Melvin Cadiang added 24 markers, tallying 11 in the fourth. Villanueva chipped in 17.
Mettao paced Kagman with 15 points making 11 in the third period. But Mettao was limited to two points in the fourth, as he was forced to sit on the bench with only a minute gone by in final canto after he hurt his left arm following a collision with a Southern player. He returned in the 3:46 mark of the fourth and it was already too late, as the Rays had the game in the bag.
[B]
SSHS 84[/B]—Ecalnea 25, Cadiang 24, Villanueva 17, Salem 5, Wesley 3, Paek 2, A. Palacios 2, Ngeskebei 1.
