Meeting for reopening of JP World caging set

Organizers of the 2nd JP World Corp. Customer Appreciation Basketball League and representatives of participating teams will meet this Friday, Nov. 20, to determine the reopening date of the 10-team competition.

It’s been more than three months since the league last played at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium where power has been restored early this month. Power was out and so did the basketball games at the Gualo Rai facility after Typhoon Soudelor struck Saipan last Aug. 2.

League coordinator Marlon Sison said the meeting will be held at 5pm at Mobil Middle Road and they will discuss the date suitable for the resumption of action in the second-edition of the league.

“We need the consensus of the representatives of the 10 teams. Some of their players may still be recovering from Soudelor so we need to find out when are they ready to play again,” Sison said.

Tan Holdings and Micronesian Brokers, Inc./Kentucky Fried Chicken are among the participating teams in this year’s league and are currently tied for first place in the team standings with their similar 2-0 records. The co-leaders, incidentally, were the last teams to play in the league before games were suspended due to the destructive typhoon. Tan Holdings defeated Mariana Resort, 90-78, in the second game of the double-header last July 31 for a fitting follow-up of its season debut win over Joeten, 88-60.

MBI/KFC, on the other hand, came off a hard-earned 86-78 triumph against Commonwealth Utilities Corp. in its first game before topping Docomo, 77-70, to remain unbeaten early in the season.

Close behind MBI/KFC and Tan Holdings is second-running Saipan Ice, which has played only one game so far and won versus Cape Air, 78-41. For the third spot, there is a three-way tie among Mariana Resort, Docomo, and Joeten, which hold identical 1-1 slates. Before bowing to MBI/KFC, Docomo dominated Top Development, Inc., 92-79, while Mariana Resort and Joeten both prevailed against McDonald’s 84-49 and 59-56.

Meanwhile, besides deciding on the reopening of the league, organizers may also discuss the games schedule as there is an on-going league in San Antonio where players from some teams in the JP caging are seeing also seeing action and referees officiating, too. Another league, the Emon Lodge caging, is scheduled to open shop later this month at the Civic Center Basketball Court and that may also affect the schedule of the JP World league. Before the suspension of its games, the JP World caging has Monday, Wednesday, and Friday playdates.