Rays bask in glory of back-to-back

Tom Landry, one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, once said, “When you want to win a game, you have to teach. When you lose a game, you have to learn.”

This holds true to Saipan Southern High School, which won the 2008-2009 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Basketball League beating Kagman High School in the finals, 84-63, last Dec. 12 for the Rays’ back-to-back junior varsity titles.

Southern won the inaugural junior varsity caging after sweeping the 2007-2008 season and defeating the same team, 115-103.

With a better, stronger, and faster crew this season compared to last year’s Southern roster, the Rays thought another sweep is in the offing and an easy cruise will take them to the Promised Land, anew.

But it took a lone loss at the hands of Marianas High School for the Rays to realize they are not invincible and over confidence is synonymous to losing.

The Rays swept the first round of the three-round robin league, won their first match in the second before the Dolphins halted Southern’s run, 71-70.

The Rays trailed by as much as 20 points in that loss, before they tried to bounce back and fell short.

“It hurt, no doubt, my sophomores wanted to go 16-0 for their JV years and that was a spoiler for us,” Rays coach Joel Punzalan said.

“But it was best thing that happened to my boys this year. It was a humble pie for us, and it was uncharted waters because we never knew what it felt like to lose like the other teams. My boys didn’t like the feeling,” he added.

After the loss, the Rays played like a man possessed beating teams by wide margins and playing relentless defense like they were trailing in the game.

“Obviously in the next few games, Southern woke up a giant, winning games by more than 40. I never doubted my team. This was the best team I coached and the strongest. I had a great group of young men that I watched grow over the last two years,” Punzalan said.

Not even a close title match against Kagman in the first three quarters could force Punzalan to believe they will lose the crown.

The Ayuyus led in the first quarter, the Rays recovered in the second, and the latter took control of the match anew in the third before Southern’s frustrating trapping defense got Kagman fed up.

From a 53-all score at the start of the fourth period, Southern pulled away and led by as much as 23 points.

“I did expect the game to be close, but not that close, for that long. My boys where so pumped up and well prepared for the championship that we over pursued, over committed, and we pressed the issue too much,” Punzalan said.

“During our timeouts, I kept telling my boys to calm down and let the game come to them, to stop trying to force the issue and play Manta basketball. It took three quarters for them to finally execute our plan. Don’t get me wrong, KHS came out to play and they tried to bring our game straight to us. For most of the game they had the opportunity to steal the championship from us,” the Southern coach added.

Punzalan believed Kagman players are as equally talented as his Rays, but conditioning was Southern’s advantage over their foes.

“They played real hard, with heart and gave us a run for our money. I don’t think we really outplayed them, KHS has great athletes, I think we outlasted them. My boys and the teams that I coached are the best conditioned athletes. I make it the top priority in my basketball program to have my players play at the absolute highest level of intensity. So far, this method has brought SSHS three championships in four years,” he added.

Meanwhile, Punzalan thanked the following for making the MISO caging a success: BANMI Referees Association; Rufino Aguon; Gabriel White; James Feger; MHS Safe Haven staff; schools administrators; the staff and director of the Division of Sports and Recreation; and student volunteers.