San Jose Ol’Aces still perfect

The San Jose Ol’Aces’ Jayron Epity drives against an Ol’Aces defender during their U18 division game in the BANMI youth caging last Friday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

San Jose, which is bannered by Tinian players and reinforced by Saipan-based dribblers Kobee Mendoza, Ignacio Borja, and Kevin De Leon, notched its fourth win in as many games to remain at the top spot of the nine-team field. The Keith Nabors-coached team is slightly ahead of Division of Youth Services, which improved to a 5-1 record after downing the Dough Boys, 74-61, last Thursday.

The Top 2 teams in the U18 division worked their way out of a sluggish start in their separate games to cruise to victories.

San Jose turned a 10-12 deficit at the end of the first period to a 23-18 advantage with Borja and Mendoza finding their marks in the second quarter. San Jose never relinquished the driver’ seat from there on, as its much deeper bench also stepped up in the second half after Mendoza and company did the damage early.

Borja top-scored for San Jose with his 14 points, while Mendoza added 10. Eight other San Jose players hit the board, while also five canned baskets for the Ol’Aces, who dropped to a 1-3 record.

In last Thursday game, DYS also made the move in the second quarter to gain its fifth win in six matches.

Clinging to a 10-9 lead after the first frame, DYS zoomed to a 37-20 halftime advantage with Tristan Montes leading the team’s breakaway. Montes fired 14 of his 22 points in the pivotal second period.

In the third canto, DYS pulled away further and this time DJ Ong anchored the attack, nailing 12 markers in that quarter.

Ong went on to match Montes’ output , as he added 5 more markers in the fourth quarter. Mike Muna was the third DYS player to post double figures, contributing 10, while Mareko Tekopua led the Dough Boys, which played only its second game in the league and has one win to its credit before losing to DYS.

THURSDAY
DYS 74 – Ong 22, Montes 22, Muna 10, Salalila 6, J. Santos , Ellama 4, Manalili 2, Flores 2, A. Santos 2.

Dough Boys 61 – Tekopua 20, Esmundo 14, Sto. Domingo 10, Bondoc 6, Guerrero 4, Espinosa 2, Iba 2.

Scoring by quarters: 10-9, 37-20, 63-39, 74-61.

FRIDAY
San Jose Ol’Aces 54 – Borja 14, Mendoza 10, P. Sablan 7, Songao 5, De Leon 4, Hofschneider 3, Dela Cruz 2, Lizama 2, K. Sablan 2, Epity 2.

Ol’Aces 38 – Peter 15, Abobo 12, Borja 5, Cristobal 3, Kabiriel 2.

Scoring by quarters: 10-12, 23-18, 36-30, 54-39.