Team Guam Sweeps 19 and Under Tournament

Story by Brett Maluwelmeng of the Pacific Daily News

Team Guam opened a huge lead in the first quarter and never looked back as they defeated the Saipan Southern Sonics 93-56 last night in the 2007 19-and-under Micronesian Youth Basketball Tournament championship game at the University of Guam field house.

"Our goal was to win the championship and I was pleased with that and the way the boys played," Guam head coach Sid Guzman said. "We weren't trying to destroy (the Sonics), we just wanted to play hard-nosed defense. And when you have a 24-second shot clock, you have to shoot the ball," Guzman said. Team Guam and the Sonics met earlier in pool play with Guam edging out a 69-63 victory.

Last night, however, was a totally different story as Guam seemed to outhustle the Sonics to every ball in the opening period. Whether they were drained from the emotional semifinal win over the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands team on Friday night, or just started out flat-footed, it was difficult to tell as Guam began the second quarter with a 21-6 lead.

The slump continued into the second quarter and Guam led 42-10 at one point after a basket by August Sotello. But the Sonics stepped up and closed the half on a 14-4 run that saw them trail 46-24 at the break.

The depth of the Guam bench showed in the second half as they kept up a stingy half-court defense. Guam held a 35-21 edge in points off the bench and by the end of the third quarter they led 70-39. With the outcome never in doubt in the final quarter, Guam highlighted the evening when they produced the rare 5-on-0 fast break that led to third-stringer Christopher Dela Cruz' only basket of the game at the 4-minute mark.

Joseph Blas neared a triple-double for Guam as he finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six steals. Christian Afaisen added 17 points and nine rebounds while point guard Dominic Sablan had eight points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Manuel Ajoste led the Sonics with 25 points, including six 3-pointers. Teammate Jonathan Lim added 11 and Jason Bahillo had nine points and seven rebounds.

Guam shot 45.6 percent from the field, to the Sonics 27.4 percent, and had 24 second-chance points to 10 for the Sonics. Guam also won the battle on the boards 69-38.

s Team CNMI 79, Guam Youth Basketball Association 69: CNMI bounced back from their shock semifinal loss to end on a high note by taking third-place honors. Jericho Cruz led with 23 points and Bill Babauta added 21 as CNMI won despite trailing throughout the first half. Zhi Bao Lin led GYBA with 18 points while teammates Dan Tulabo and John Oqueno added 12 points apiece.

Women's final

s Team Guam 94, Team CNMI 47: Lili Baranda led with 26 points as Guam went 2-0 against CNMI in the tournament. Kathryn Castro added 16 points and Sandy Cruz chipped in ten. Chelsea Ruluked had 16 to lead CNMI, while Noelle Calvo added 11 points.

Last Modified on 28/11/2007 00:51

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