Former national players advance in Kings of The Game

Douglas Schmidt, right, takes off for an open layup during his game against Josh Andrew in the the Marianas International Basketball League’s Kings of The Game played at the Agape Gymnasium last Dec. 12. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Three former NMI national players lived up to high expectations after marching into the quarterfinal round of the Marianas International Basketball League’s Kings of The Game.

Preston Basa, Douglas Schmidt, and Dean Blake, who represented the Commonwealth in regional competitions in the past, won their opening games in the single-elimination tournament played at the Agape Gymnasium last Dec. 12 to take three of the four quarterfinal tickets in Bracket A. Mak Mintac notched the other quarterfinal berth in the group.

Mintac was pitted against former Saipan Southern High School standout Matt Duenas and they kicked off the action in the first one-on-one tournament in the NMI. Mintac eventually advanced after pulling off a 12-11 victory in overtime.

It was a come-from-behind victory for Mintac, as Duenas was just a point away from winning the opener after leading at 11-9, with a little over a minute left in regulation. Each match in the tournament was played for 10 minutes and players had two ways to win—score 12 points first or have the lead at the end of the game.

Duenas had several opportunities to close out the match, but failed to capitalize with his last attempt—a 2-point shot from beyond the arc—in the final two seconds of regulation hitting nothing but air.

Matt Duenas, right, drives against Mak Mintac during their game in the Marianas International Basketball League’s Kings of The Game last Dec. 12 at the Agape Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Mintac on the other hand, made a free throw to move within one and hit the game-tying basket when he drove to the basket for an open layup.

In overtime, Mintac had the first possession and did not waste it, as he again drove to his strong side—left—after backpedaling from inside the free-throw line for a banked shot against the outstretch arm of Duenas. Tournament rules awarded the win to the first player to hit a basket in overtime.

Meanwhile, while Mintac labored for a spot to the next round, Basa and Blake eased their way to victories.

Basa leaned on his main weapon—3-point shooting—to beat Joe Sablan, 13-7. Sablan drew first blood with a short jumper, but it was all Basa after that, as the gunner made his first four baskets from downtown. Actually, of Basa’s 13 points, only one shot did not came from the 3-point area and his last long shot wrapped up the game about three minutes early.

Blake also showed he can connect with shots from the parking lot, as he knocked in five triples to rout Darwin Barbo, 12-0. Blake notched the fourth and last quarterfinal berth in Bracket A.

Schmidt took the third quarterfinals seat after a 10-7 win over Josh Andrew. Both players took a while before they could buy a basket and then traded leads in the first half of the match. Schmidt then found his rhythm a bit and knocked in his last two shots from the 3-point area to retake the driver’s seat and kept it until the final buzzer.

With the victory, Schmidt forced a showdown with Blake for the semis ticket in Bracket A, while Basa was paired against Mintac.

The first round matches in Bracket were shown in Episode 1 of Kings of The Game, which aired on the You Tube Channel of MIBL last Friday. The next episode of the basketball series will be aired on Jan. 1 and will feature games in Bracket B.