Mantas blast past Eagles in boys HS hoops

Saipan Southern High School’s Christian Lucero attempts a layup during their game against Grace Christian Academy in the 2022-2023 IT&E Interscholastic Boys High School Basketball League Wednesday night at the Marianas High School Gymnasium. n(LEIGH GASES)

The Saipan Southern High School Manta Rays boys basketball varsity team blasted through the Grace Christian Academy Eagles varsity, 62-24, during the 2022-2023 IT&E Interscholastic Boys High School Basketball League on Wednesday night at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

The Mantas’ Elijah Garcia started the game with a field goal and was fouled right after, with teammates John Kae Raquepo and Christian Lucero adding two shots each.

The Eagles took some time to get the wheels in their offense going, with 6 of their 10 points in the first half made solely from fouls shots. 

Garcia and Lucero capitalized as the tandem took turns shooting aggressively from the paint—with Garcia sinking a deep one for an extra 3 points and a 10-16 game. The Eagles still had the brakes on their offense as the Mantas kept them at bay with their strong defense. 

The Mantas also kept their explosive offense coming, as Rasg Asuo stepped in and lengthened the gap in the first half. By the end of it, the Mantas were on the moon with their 36 points made by Garcia, Raquepo, Lucero, and Asuo. 

In the second half, the Eagles still couldn’t get their footing and handle on the ball, as they didn’t have many good shots from the perimeter—with their points coming from fouls once again. Ryan Daproza was fouled back to back and shot 5 free throws after he scored 3 free throws in the first half.

The Eagles’ Julian Taitano, Kent Ouyang, Eric Lai, and Steven Adriatico managed to shoot 2 points each, with their last score a free throw made by Heman Addy. At the end of the second half, the Eagles put up 14 points as they were drowned out by the bombardment of shots from the Mantas lineup with 34 points.

After their game, the Kagman High School Ayuyus varsity team took a shot against the Agape Christian School Torchbearers and won, 48-30.

The Ayuyus’ Frankie Satur and Lucio Aldan both took the team home with a double-digit game of 18 and 17 points, respectively, as their teammates assisted on the defensive to shut down the Torchbearers’ attacks on the basket.

The Torchbearers were reduced to only 12 points in the first half and 18 points in the second, led by Caleb Cui’s 10 points.

In the junior varsity games earlier in the afternoon, MHS JV and MHS JV-2 went head to head, with a win for the JV team, 25-20; and the KHS JV defeated the Mount Carmel School Knights JV, 21-13.

In the varsity standings, MCS leads with a 2-0 record; SSHS is 1-0; ACS is at 1-2; KHS and MHS are at 1-0 each; GCA has no wins yet with 0-3; and SIS is 0-1.

In the junior varsity standings, MHS and KHS JV are both undefeated at 2-0; MHS JV-2 is at 1-2; SSHS JV is at 1-1; and MCS JV have yet to win with 0-3.

SSHS 62 – Asuo 14, Garcia and Raquepo 12, Lucero 10, Addy 4, Konman and Pangelinan 3, Defang and Charley 2.
GCA 24 – Daproza 8, Ouyang 4, Taitano 3, Adriatico, Jones, and Lai 2.
Scoring by halves: 36-10; 62-24.

KHS 48 – Satur 18, Aldan 17, Ortiz 8, Hocog 3, Diaz 2.
ACS 30 – Cui 10, Li 6, Luo and Ye 5, Ma and Wang 2.
Scoring by halves: 24-12; 48-30.