The women did it again

They did it again!

After hoisting the third-place trophy in last year’s Marianas Basketball Tournament in Palau, the CNMI women’s basketball team affirmed its powerhouse status in the region by landing the bronze medal once more in the recent Micronesian Basketball Tournament in Guam.

It was a roller-coaster ride for the 10 cagebelles under the baton of head coach Donald Blondin. They debuted a bit shaky with a 44-72 loss to Palau last July 5 but bounced right back into medal contention after mauling Chuuk 57-46 the next day.

Facing a deep and talented Guam squad in their third game on July 7, Team CNMI holstered its guns—Blondin probably thought prudence was the better part of valor—and succumbed to a 41-90 beating.

The CNMI women then forgot the drubbing by routing Pohnpei 61-51 the very following day. With a win against Palau separating them from meeting Guam in the game for all the marbles, Blondin’s girls scratched and clawed their way before losing 49-60 last July 9.

The women finally salvaged the third-place finish after they repeated over Pohnpei 71-60 on July 10.

The CNMI women’s squad consists of Krista Cruz, Henny Elayda, Chariss Ruluked, Vanessa Diaz, Dana Ngirchongor, Emily Oitreong, Vanessa Mobel, Ladonna Castro, Connie Camacho and All-Tournament Team member Beverly Igitol.

Blondin and the younger players of the squad came back to Saipan in the morning of July 11, while the remaining six members of the team returned later in the afternoon.

Before hopping into a plane for a much-deserved vacation to the Philippines on Monday, Blondin spoke to the Saipan Tribune and said how delighted he was coaching a bunch of young women who—generally—did as they were told and never backed down from anyone.

Blondin said his team was always at a disadvantage throughout the tournament. Not only did he had to make do with a 10-man roster, Blondin also admitted that he was only able to use six players in the games against Guam and Palau because of injuries and the relative inexperience of some of his players.

“We essentially played only six players in those crucial games. Vanessa [Diaz], Chariss [Ruluked], Dana [Ngirchongor], Connie [Camacho], Krista [Cruz], and Beverly [Igitol] was the rotation against Guam and Palau. Vanessa [Mobel] hurt her ankle and the other three players were not yet ready for that level of competition.”

He said despite that handicap he could never really ask for anything more from his players. Blondin said Diaz caught the eye of opposing coaches because of her work inside the shaded lane. Camacho, for her part, was simply a workhorse in the second game against Palau where he shut down that team’s leading scorer.

Blondin also reaped praises on Ruluked and Igitol. He said if he were to pick a team MVP it would be Ruluked because the playmaker was the glue that held them all together.

Igitol, on the other hand, was easily one of the tournament’s most exciting and best players. She managed to be named to the All-Tournament Team despite not practicing at all weeks prior to the MBT because of the death of her sister.

Team-wise, Blondin said the CNMI women are years ahead of Chuuk and Pohnpei but are three to four good players short of battling Guam and Palau for Micronesian basketball supremacy.

“With more regional tournaments under their belts the younger players could only get better. Some of the older ones would have to go off-island for college but we [BANMI] have a good pool of players coming up to replace them,” he said.

Blondin said he hopes to harness the team’s full potential the next few months when the women see action in the 2004 Saipan Rotary Club Basketball League, where they are entered as a guest team.