Eagles cruise to varsity finals

 Grace Christian Academy boosted its chances for a three-peat in the boys varsity division of the Coalition of Private Schools Sports Association Basketball League after beating Marianas Baptist Academy, 56-33, and advancing to the finals yesterday.

The Eagles, who claimed the varsity championship in the past two years, will go for their third title in a row tomorrow against the winner of the Mt. Carmel-Agape Christian School semis duel, which was also played yesterday at the Knights home turf. The one-game finals is set for 4:30pm at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium at the TSL Sports Complex in Gualo Rai.

The GCA-MBA tiff was played at the Eagles home court and the host wasted no time in controlling the game with Karlo De Leon, Angelo and Jonathan Salas, and James Libut joining forces in eliminating their semis foe.

De Leon made his first basket from downtown and he went on to finish with five points in the opening canto to give GCA a 14-6 lead. Then in the second quarter, it was Libut and Jonathan Salas’ turn to contribute for the Eagles, as they combined for 11 of the team’s 15 markers, upping their lead to double-digits at the break, 29-10.

The MBA Stormz was held to 10 points in the first half as it was limited to only four field goals and the team continued to struggle in the third period, allowing a GCA breakaway.

By the end of the third, the Eagles’ lead ballooned to 26, 44-18, as Angelo Salas stepped in with two triples and one two-pointer, while Libut added four more points and De Leon drained another triple.

With the game already in the bag, GCA acting coach Genesis Prieto shuffled his players in the fourth quarter and MBA capitalized on the frequent rotation to score 15 points in the final canto, the latter’s best production in a quarter.

At the end of the lopsided match, three GCA players broke into double figures with Angelo Salas, Libut, and De Leon firing 11 points and Jonathan Salas adding eight. Kanata Omori led MBA’s losing cause with his 15 markers, while Justin Poon chipped in 12. Only five players made it to the scoreboard for MBA, while GCA had eight different players scoring.

GCA vs SIS in girls finals

The Lady Eagles are also in the finals, following a 39-36 win over Mt. Carmel School’s Lady Knights last Tuesday at the GCA court.

The Eagles will be playing back-to-back champion Saipan International School in the winner-take-all finals tomorrow at 3:30pm at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Mt. Carmel, which lost to SIS in last year’s finals, 28-40, controlled the first half of its semis duel against GCA, but failed to sustain its momentum in the second.

Kaylani Lebria knocked in six early points for MCS’ 13-8 lead a after the first period, and the Lady Knights hung on to the lead at halftime, 17-13, despite scoring only four points in the second canto.

Another four-point production in the third allowed MCS to lose the driver’s seat. The Lady Eagles were finally in front at the end of the third canto, 26-21, as Jazmin Rayphand continued to anchor GCA’s recovery, scoring six more points in that period. She had already nailed 16 markers after the third canto and was still at it in the fourth, drilling eight more to complete the Eagles’ come-from-behind win.

Rayphand led all scorers with her 24 markers, while Lebria paced MCS with her 13.

Boys

GCA 56 – A. Salas 11, Libut 11, De Leon 11, J. Salas 8, D. Lee 6, L. Lee 3, Jones 2, Del Rosario 1.

MBA 33 – K. Omori 15, Poon 12, Choi 3, Park 3, Fan 1.

Scoring by quarters: 14-6, 29-10, 44-18, 56-33.

Girls

GCA 39 – Rayphand 24, Demapan 5, Cristobal 5, Pangelinan 3, Mueller 2.

MCS 36 – Lebria 13, M. Kautz 8, Travilla 7, R. Kautz 4, Demapan 4.

Scoring by quarters: 8-13, 13-17, 26-21, 39-36.