San Antonio stops Breeze

San Antonio shook off a sluggish start before blowing away an inexperienced but nonetheless determined Capitol Hill Breeze team, 85-66, in the nightcap of Thursday night’s 2005 Saipan Rotary Club Youth Basketball League doubleheader at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Breeze players refused to be intimidated by their older and more experienced opponents and managed to stick to San Antonio in the first 20 minutes of the ballgame.

The Capitol Hill team got a big lift from hotshot Syl Tellei, as he fired 12 points in the first half alone. San Antonio, meanwhile, continued to give the ball to their go-to-guy, Joshua Sablan, who led coach Ray Duenas’ squad with 11 points in the opening period.

Unfortunately for coach Joe Diaz’s Breeze team, a completely different San Antonio team greeted them at the start of the second half.

Playing with a renewed commitment on defense and sharing the ball more, San Antonio clamped down on Tellei and his torrid shooting.

Aside from making it harder for Breeze players to put the spheroid through the cylinder, San Antonio played more as a team in the second half and although Sablan still got away with nine points, a lot more of his teammates got valuable touches.

Breeze cagers attempted to rally themselves back in the game—with Jess Villanueva picking up where Tellei left off—but San Antonio was just too strong for them and won the game running away.

Sablan pumped in 20 points to lead San Antonio. Former IVYBL scoring champ Preston Basa and Jasper You backed him up with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Tellei and Villanueva were the only Breeze players to break into double digits, tossing in 16 and 13 markers in the loss.

In the first game, Hoops players didn’t even had to drop a sweat to get a win after Sixers II seeded the match via forfeit.

League officials announced that no games would be played on Monday, Oct. 10, in observance of Columbus Day. Games will resume on Tuesday, Oct. 11, with the Bwibwiis challenging the Saints beginning at 5:30pm.

For more information on the Rotary league, contact Division of Sports and Recreation staff Mario Sablan or Jovie Omar at 664-2502.

San Antonio 85 – Sablan 20, Basa 14, Duenas 13, You 10, Maratita 8, Pangelinan 7, Palacios 7, Blas 6.

Breeze 66 – Tellei 16, Villanueva 13, Joab 8, A. Kaipat 7, Borja 6, Rangamar 5, Dillay 3, Ogumoro 3, Torres 2, R. Kaipat 1.

Scoring by halves: 44-36, 85-66.

Referees: Arnold Mesa and Gilbert Espinosa.