Century/Shirley’s, World Resort top foes

Century Hotel/Shirley’s Coffee Shop’s Vince Manibusan, center, is fouled by Mariana Resort’s Richard Miemban, right, during the third quarter of their game in the Inter-Hotel caging last Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

In the first game, World Resort walked away with a 12-point winning margin over Kanoa Resort, 67-55, while in the second match, Century Hotel/Shirley’s walloped Mariana Resort, 72-49.

Century Hotel/Shirley’s held Mariana Resort to two field goals and four points in the third period to pull away and barge into the win column after dropping its opener against World Resort a couple of weeks ago. Mariana Resort, which faced a manageable 10-point lead at the break, 25-35, got its only two baskets from Marty Piadozo and Jazz Roscow and was down by 22 by the end of third period, 51-29. Mariana Resort was scoreless in the first six minutes of the third canto before Roscow got away from the baseline and hit a reverse layup.

While Mariana Resort bled for points in the third, Century Hotel/Shirley’s got several easy baskets on fastbreak plays with lefty Fradel Sedillo mostly on the finishing end. Sedillo drilled eight of his 14 points in the third period to lead the breakaway.

Century Hotel/Shirley’s never relinquished the double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter, as it matched every basket Mariana Resort converted to hand the latter its second loss in as many games. Mariana Resort fell to World Resort in its first game, 38-74.

World Resort improved its record to 3-1 to keep pace with the league-leading Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan (3-0) after beating Kanoa Resort in the curtain-raiser. World Resort’s lone loss in the tournament so far was courtesy of Fiesta, which pulled off an 85-83 overtime victory over the former last week.

Against Fiesta’s sister company, Kanoa, World Resort set up the double-digit winning margin after limiting its neighbor in Susupe to six points in the third period. World Resort and Kanoa were back to square one after the first half before the latter’s lackluster offense allowed the former to gain a 45-40 cushion.

Kanoa hit only two field goals in the third and added two free throws to its dismal showing in the quarter, while Eugene Manglona nearly matched the output of the entire Kanoa crew with his five markers. John Lewis also had five markers for World Resort off a triple and a layup, while Rogel Caruana nailed the team’s last field goal in the third frame.

In the fourth quarter, Lewis unloaded two more triples, while Manglona and Jomar Danas combined for 14 points to power World Resort to its third win.

Manglona paced World Resort with his 23, while Danas and Lewis contributed 15 and 14, respectively. Matt Duenas led Kanoa with his 21 markers.

Inter-government meeting today
Meanwhile, Basketball Association of Northern Mariana Islands is calling on representatives of interested teams to attend today’s meeting for the inter-government league.

The meeting is set for 6:30pm at the conference room of the Ada gym. So far, 12 teams have shown interest in joining the league—DCCA, DPS (Police and Fire), CPA Police and ARRF, Judiciary, Legislature, Office of the Governor, BECQ,DHS, and Finance/Customs.

For more information, contact Abner Venus at 888-3215 or 664-2586/87 or email abnervenus1@gmail.com

First Game
World Resort 67 – Manglona 23, Danas 15, Lewis 14, Mostales 5, Bernardo 4, Vinas 4, Caruana 2, Valle 2.

Kanoa Resort 55 – Duenas 21, Armia 10, Usi 10, Cruz 8, Lumauag 2.

Scoring by quarters: 20-17, 34-34, 45-40, 67-55.

Second Game
Century/Shirley’s 72 – Sedillo 14, Usi 12, Dela Rosa 10, Jugos 9, Rabausto 9, Manibusan 6, Aguilar 4, Domingo 2, Drillon 4, Catungal 2.

Mariana Resort 49 – Manglona 12, Roskow 10, Bansil 8, Gatdula 7, Piadozo 6, Kapileo 4, Miemban 2.

Scoring by quarters: 21-8, 35-25, 51-29, 72-49.