Marianas Water, Saipan Ice advance to Final Four

Marianas Water and host Saipan Ice went through the proverbial eye of the needle before besting separate opponents Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Saipan Ice & Water Co. Inc. 20th Anniversary Basketball League at the Construction Material Supply Basketball Court.

In the first game, Marianas Water played catch up in the first half before taking control in the second en route to an 91-82 win over Subway.

After only scoring four points in the first 20 minutes of action, which incidentally saw Marianas Water trail 17-8 in the first and 37-21 in the second quarter, leading scorer Sonny Lerio finally found his shooting touch in the second half.

Lerio first caught fire with an 18-point performance in the third quarter, as Marianas Water took the driver’s seat 61-57 going into the fourth.

He then picked up right where he left off in the payoff period, torching defenders for 17 more points in the final 10 minutes to tow Marianas Water to the nine-point win.

Lerio went on to score 39 points to lead Marianas Water, while Mike Cabanas and Roter Demigilio scored 21 and 16 points, respectively.

In the second game, Saipan Ice avenged its final regular season loss by vanquishing Diplomats 80-76.

On Monday, Diplomats defeated Saipan Ice, 75-66, relegating the hosts to the sixth seed and a quarterfinal date with No. 3 Diplomats.

Butch Sublemente, Bernard Samson, and Ferdie De La Torre, however, wouldn’t let Saipan Ice lose against the same team in less than four days as the trio combined for 53 points to turn back the Emil De Belen-led Diplomats.

Sublemente was like Mercury on the outdoor court, getting away with 24 points, mostly on transition baskets and high-leaping pull-up jumpers. Samson and De La Torre added 15 and 14 points, respectively in the win. De Belen paced Diplomats in the loss with 17 markers.

The two teams now join Diamond Fixers and Micronesian Brokers, Inc. in the semifinals. Marianas Water gets undefeated Diamond Fixers in the first Final Four game, while Saipan Ice takes on MBI in the second. Organizers have not set a time or date for the semifinal matches.

First Game

Marianas Water 91 – Lerio 39, Cabanas 21, Demigilio 16, Apelo 11, Ojeda 2, Villanueva 2.

Subway 82 – Sese 20, Palacios 19, Bahillo 12, Felix 8, Salvani 7, Musngi 7, Deang 4, Olivarez 3, Kalaw 2.

Scoring by quarters: 8-17, 21-37, 61-57, 91-82.

Second Game

Saipan Ice 80 – Sublemente 24, Samson 15, De La Torre 14, Sabilla 6, Mariano 6, Fernandez 6, Balarao 4, Lopez 3, Carreon 2.

Diplomats 76 – De Belen 17, De Guzman 13, Agbanlog 11, Limpin 8, Fulgencio 7, Pineda 6, Aglubat 6, Tan 5, Hilario 3.

Scoring by quarters: 17-14, 37-35, 59-60, 80-76.