Slow week for athletes

Action in the sports community slowed down last week with only basketball leagues and two off-island competitions making the headlines.

In the 2nd QQ Car Rental Basketball Cup Invitational League at the Garapan Basketball Court, Mobil notched back-to-back championships after sweeping Smart Cagers in their best-of-three title series. Mobil wrapped up the short series and defended its championship after pulling off an 87-85 win in Game 2.

Gyles Ruluked and Jun Estolas delivered the killer blows for Mobil in Game 2 with the former eventually taking home the Finals MVP award.

Over at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court, Blue Haus caging resumed after having a break for almost two weeks to give way to another league.

Making it to the win column at the resumption of action in the Blue Haus league were Wings Travel, Inchcape, Joeten Superstores, Sherwin Williams, Marianas Water, Fresco Saipan, and Mawati.

At the TSL Sports Complex, the first of the three-round robin competition in the 2011 BANMI Women’s Summer Basketball League was completed last week with three teams tying for the lead.

Locked in a three-way logjam with similar 2-1 records are Mix-A-Lot, Aye Par Battayi, and Party Rockers. Party Rockers failed to sweep the first round when it bowed to Mix-A-Lot, 51-61, last Wednesday. Mix-A-Lot’s lone defeat was at the hands of Aye Par Battayi, who then lost to Party Rockers. Lazy Buttsss completes the four-team cast and is winless in three games.

In off-island events, Northern Marianas Athletics sent Reylynn Sapong in Lille, France for the 2011 IAAF World Youth Championships and Mamiko Oshima-Berger in Queensland, Australia for the 2011 Gold Coast Airport Marathon.

Sapong clocked in at 14.25 seconds in the 100m run in the youth competition to duplicate her personal best time, while Oshima-Berger was among the more than 4,500 finishers in the 42.195-kilometer race after timing in at three hours, 53 minutes, and 30 seconds.

While Sapong and Oshima-Berger completed their off-island trips, the CNMI Major League All-Stars just started their journey last week when they went to Guam for the 2011 Asia Pacific Regional Tournament. The CNMI youth sluggers managed to make it to Guam after getting funding from private companies.