Manta Rays sting Knights in varsity hoops

The Saipan Southern High School Manta Rays rebounded from a sorry loss last Monday by topping the Mount Carmel School Knights, 53-31, in the Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization boys basketball varsity match Wednesday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

The win improved the Manta Rays’ win-loss card to 3-1, while MCS is still searching for its win after four tries.

In junior varsity play, Grace Christian Academy moved into first place in the standings after holding off a second half rally by Saipan Southern High School, 33-22.

The GCA junior Eagles improved to 2-1, while the SIS Geckos came up a little short in its season debut.

In the varsity tiff, SSHS built an early 10-2 advantage off a couple of baskets by Bryle Alegre and Jaymark De Guzman.

The Manta Rays spread the ball around pretty well in the second period and stretched out to a 21-8 margin at halftime.

SSHS turned it up another notch after the pause and pulled away, 40-19, in the third quarter.

The Manta Rays connected on a pair of 3-pointers that complemented eight markers by Alegre in the homestretch.

The game was all but decided by the start of the final stanza and SSHS’ bench took the floor and took care of business.

MCS’ Reynald Calbatica did all he could to keep the Knights in range, but SSHS dominated the battle of the boards down low, minimizing MCS’ second chance opportunities.

Calbatica and SSHS’ Alegre led their respective teams with 13 points apiece; 11 of the former’s came in the second half.

In the junior pairing SIS appeared a little nervous in their first game of the season and were shut down offensively in the opening 10 minutes.

GCA on the other hand came out swinging early in the fight and jumped on top, 14-0. Khemner Suque led the charge with five points.

Then SIS’ Chris Cepeda found his mark for five points in the second period, but his team still remained behind, 25-7, at the break.

GCA had handful of players chip in on offense in the period.

SIS regrouped after halftime and held the Eagles to just three points in the third quarter, however the Geckos still trailed, 28-17, heading into crunch time. SIS’ Cepeda added seven more markers in the rally.

Both offenses cooled off in the clutch, scoring just a handful of points apiece.

GCA’s Tamari Smithee led the Eagles with 10 points, while SIS’ Cepeda topped the field with 14.

The season continues today at 4pm with a junior pairing between Kagman High School (0-1) and SSHS (1-1) followed by the varsity matchup at the MHS Gym. KHS’ varsity Ayuyus will be looking to bump up its flawless streak to three.
[B] VARSITY

SSHS 53[/B] – Alegre 13, Aranda 10, DeGuzman 8, Mizer 5, Hofschneider 4, Villanueva 4, Tudela 3, Atalig 2, Sablan 2, Salem 2.

GCA 33[/B] – Smithee 10, Suque 8, Libut 6, Reyes 5, Del Rosario 2, Lee 2.
[B] SIS 22 [/B]– Cepeda 14, Xu 2, B Kim 2, J Kim 2, Johnson 1, Y Kim 1.
[B] Scoring by quarters:[/B] 14-0, 25-7, 28-17, 33-22.