{"id":385578,"date":"2023-02-17T06:06:47","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T20:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=385578"},"modified":"2023-02-17T06:06:47","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T20:06:47","slug":"mantas-dolphins-drown-opponents-in-hs-hoops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/mantas-dolphins-drown-opponents-in-hs-hoops\/","title":{"rendered":"Mantas, Dolphins drown opponents in HS hoops"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>
Marianas High School\u2019s Khristian David gets some air time as he attempts a layup against a Saipan International School defender in their varsity game of the 2022-2023 IT&E Interscholastic Boys High School Basketball League last Wednesday at the MHS Gymnasium. (LEIGH GASES)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Mantas regained their composure in the second half to win against the Mount Carmel School Knights, 59-46, while the Dolphins enjoyed a lopsided victory over the Saipan International School Geckos, 52-13.<\/p>\n

SSHS\u2019 Christian Lucero and MCS\u2019 Derek Sasamoto both opened the game strong from 3-point range, but a foul against Rasg Asuo shook up the Knights\u2019 defenses a bit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, when the Manta\u2019s Elijah Garcia got into a shooting rhythm, there was no looking back for him as he traversed Knights\u2019 territory with ease, downing 16 consecutive points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Lance Lerio was a Knight in shining armor as he gave the Mantas a run for their money\u2014surpassing Garcia\u2019s point total for 19 of his own for a close 29-28 first half.<\/p>\n

It was anybody\u2019s game heading into the second half, with nerves showing on both sides of the court as the Mantas couldn\u2019t really shake off the Knights just yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mantas\u2019 John Kae Raquepo then gave the team a headstart after being fouled twice but it was an eye-for-an-eye as the Mantas fouled Lerio as well.<\/p>\n

It was a free for all from then on with Garcia still making deadly aim of the target followed closely behind by Lerio, always closing the gap by 2 or 4 points.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of the game though, the Mantas had pulled further away into the lead as Asuo and Jezpher Navarro tossed in a couple of 3-pointers complementing Garcia\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mantas pulled out all the stops with the final minutes ticking by and were not phased even as the Knights tried to engage in a catch-up game. It was a little too late for them as time ran out and the boys hugged it out in a show of good sportsmanship.<\/p>\n

Even with the loss, Lerio went home with 28 big ones, followed by a longshot of teammates Jay Francis Pineda\u2019s 6, Sasamoto\u2019s 5, and San Nicolas\u2019 4.<\/p>\n

Garcia swished the basket in honor of Michael Jordan\u2019s jersey number (23), followed by Asuo and Raquepo\u2019s twinning 10 markers, and Lucero\u2019s 8.<\/p>\n

In the Dolphins-Geckos game right after, the mammals quickly established a huge double-digit lead against the reptiles in the first half and never once stepped on the brakes.<\/p>\n

Led by Charlz Sanchez, the Dolphins early on had the advantage and never let it go. At the end of the first half, Sanchez banked 8, while Aiden Norita had 6 markers, as the Dolphins had the 30-6 lopsided lead.<\/p>\n

Just as the first half, it was a walk in the park for the Dolphins in the second as the Geckos were not able to find their footing or their handle on the ball\u2014and were reduced to just 7 more points in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Gecko\u2019s Yunwoo Nam had 7 markers, Omari Joab had 5, while Dwight Crisostomo added a free throw.<\/p>\n

Sanchez finished the game with 16 points, followed by Khristian David\u2019s 13, Aiden Norita\u2019s 8, and Airson Atan\u2019s 6.<\/p>\n

In the junior varsity games prior, KHS JV beat MCS JV, 38-31 and MHS JV won against MHS JV-2, 35-12.<\/p>\n

In the varsity standings, MHS is now tied in the lead with KHS at 4 wins and no losses each; SSHS bumped up to 3-2; MCS is at 2-2; Agape Christian School is 1-3; SIS is 0-3; and Grace Christian Academy is still 0-4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the junior varsity standings, MHS JV is still undefeated at 5-0; KHS is at 3-2; MHS JV-2 is at 2-3; and MCS JV have yet to win with six losses.<\/p>\n

SSHS 59<\/strong> \u2013 Garcia 23, Raquepo 10, Asuo 10, Lucero 8, Navarro 4, Konman and Addy 2.
\nMCS 46<\/strong> \u2013 Lerio 28, Pineda 6, Sasamoto 5, San Nicolas 4, Regalado 2, Mercado Jr. 1.
\nScoring by halves:<\/strong> 28-27, 59-46<\/p>\n

MHS 52<\/strong> \u2013 Sanchez 16, David 13, Norita 8, Atan 6, Lukas 3, Ong, Takawo, Pelisamen Jr. 2.
\nSIS 13<\/strong> \u2013 Nam 7, Joab 5, Crisostomo 1.
\nScoring by halves:<\/strong> 30-6, 52-13.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mantas regained their composure in the second half to win against the Mount Carmel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":385560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1181,365,699,1624],"class_list":["post-385578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-mcs","tag-mhs","tag-sis","tag-sshs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}