Dolphins stun defending champions

The Marianas High School Dolphins stunned defending champion Mt. Carmel School Knights as action in the ongoing 2006 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Association High School Basketball League continued yesterday at the MHS Gymnasium.

The Dolphins fought off a double-digit deficit in the third quarter and hit clutch shots down the stretch to beat the Knights, 66-61.

The Knights seemed to have things going their way as brothers Dan and Aitau Barcinas combined for 14 points to match the entire production of the Dolphins. The Barcinas brothers also got help from their teammates and wound up taking a 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams cooled off in the second period as the Knights managed to put up just 11 points on the board and the Dolphins added just eight points to their corner, resulting in Mt. Carmel going into the break with an 11-point edge, 33-22.

The Knights held on to their lead in the early goings of the second half, but later found themselves away from the comfort zone as the Dolphins exploded and began to inch closer. A running jumper and a triple by Joemar Tumaquip followed by a long bomb from Dan Mateo brought the Dolphins to within a point, 36-37, with 5:08 left in the third stanza.

Mateo would find nothing but the bottom of the net in the Dolphins’ next possession to give the team the lead, 39-37.

Buckets by Dan Barcinas and Jeff Deleon Guerrero enabled the Knights to regain the advantage, but the Dolphins were determined to keep pace and did so as Tumaquip nailed another shot while being fouled and converted his free throw for a 42-41 lead.

Favor returned to the Knights’ corner as Dan Barcinas made good on a putback and converted a 3-point play, 48-42, but the Dolphins closed strong and went on a 7-0 run to head into the fourth quarter with a 49-48 lead.

The Dolphins found themselves behind again but Tumaquip was able to come through to bring his team back to the driver’s seat. The guard buried another 3-pointer and converted on a 3-point play to give the Dolphins a 55-53 lead with 6:03 remaining in the game.

The two teams exchanged baskets and with the score pegged at 64-61 with time ticking away, Tyrone Omar was able to step up to the line and nail two free throws for the final score.

Tumaquip led the Dolphins with 16, while Omar and Mateo contributed 14 and 11 points. Javen Tarkong and Santiago Borja also added 10 points apiece.

Dan Barcinas finished with a game-high 25 points, while Aitau Barcinas supported him with 10 points.

MISA action returns on Friday as defending champion Lady Dolphins take on the girls of Saipan Southern High School at 4pm. The Saipan Southern boys will then take on the Knights at 6pm. Both games are rematches of last year’s finals.

MHS 66 – Tumaquip 16, Omar 14, D. Mateo 11, Tarkong 10, Borja 10, N. Mateo 4, Taitano 4.
MCS 61 – D. Barcinas 25, A. Barcinas 10, Deleon Guerrero 8, Naraja 5, Paez 5, Kim 2, Sablan 2, Kintol 2, Tenorio 2.
Scoring by quarters: 14-22, 22-33, 49-48, 66-61.
Referees: Joe Mettao and Jonathan Tenorio.