Ochobu beats Lagooners, enter finals

One of the two finals slot has already been filled in the 2006 World Organized Rocball High School League, as Ochobu turned a tightly fought bout into an easy victory over the Lagooners yesterday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

Heading into the third set down by a point, 30-31, the Ochobu cast stunned their opponents with unmatched firepower and outscored the Lagooners, 36-8, in the final two sets of regulation to juice out, 66-39, and win the best-of-three semifinals series.

After losing Game 2 and getting a run for their money in the first two sets of Game 3, Ochobu came out firing in the third set and quickly took the driver seat.

Ignited by a goal with Ichnis Kapwich, Ochobu dominated the third set. While Ochobu was having its way, the Lagooners hit a brick wall and struggled to get points on the board. With that, Ochobu erased their deficit in the overall points tally courtesy of a walk-in-the-park 18-3 victory.

The win gave Ochobu the upper hand as they headed into the fourth set ahead by 14 points, 48-34.

The Lagooners still had a shot at keeping their hopes alive. All they needed to do was win the fourth set, force o-kon, then win the two overtime sets.

That was not to be for the Lagooners, though, as Ochobu duplicated its third-set performance with another outstanding production in the fourth to juice out. The team scored nine straight points before the Lagooners countered with a kee by Tito Francisco, 3-9.

Ochobu was still able to keep their hot streak going, and a xunk by Anip Tisa dropped the Lagooners’ score from 4 to 2. It was cruise control from there as Kapwich pounded the ball with a fury on match point for a game-winning kee, 18-5.

As reported earlier, both teams were neck and neck from the start, with Daniel pulling the right strings for the Lagooners and Ochobu putting up a balanced attack. Kapwich and Kawes Awes were able to connect on xunks during the first set and Ochobu decided to subtract points from the Lagooners’ corner, which enabled the team to inch by with a 15-14 victory.

The Lagooners came up stronger in the second set and took an 8-2 lead, but Ochobu refused to give up and fought back to tie the set with six unanswered points, 8-8. A kee by Sheila Francisco stopped the run, 10-8, and the Lagooners increased their lead when Graceful Fiden knocked in a goal, 13-8. Fiden scored a couple times later and the Lagooners were able to pull through for an 18-16 win.

Danny Daniel of the Lagooners and Kapwich were the game’s heavy hitter with 11 points apiece. Daniel had three aces, a kee, and a goal, but all those came in the first two sets, while Kapwich had an ace, a xunk, two kees, and a goal. David Tisa also 10 for Ochobu as he had an ace and four kees.

With the win, Ochobu now awaits the winner of the Mwaliyas-Black Magic semifinals series, which will begin on Monday.

The two teams in the finals will battle in a best-of-five championship series.

For more information on high school Rocball, contact Jim Feger at 237-3235.