Agape notches 10th straight victory

Agape Christian School’s Bobby Bao banks a shot during their middle school game against Mt. Carmel School in the CCOPSA caging yesterday at the Koblerville Gymnasium. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

Agape Christian School floored Mount Carmel School, 37-20, in the Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Middle School Basketball League yesterday at the Koblerville Gymnasium.

With the score knotted up at the end of the first half, 15-15, the Torchbearers shifted into overdrive after the break to pull away against the Knights and defeat them by 17 points. Agape kept its unbeaten record (10-0), while Mt. Carmel absorbed its second straight loss and now holds a 7-3 mark.

The Knights fell behind in the second half, as they were hampered by injuries to starters Leo Naraja and Gabby San Nicolas, with the former forced to leave the game late in the second period and the latter exited with 21 seconds left in the third. The Knights’ reserves tried to make up for the absence of their key play-ers, but Agape’s firepower was too much to handle.

David Zheng, Jordan Miao, and Eason Tang teamed up in a 11-2 scoring run in the penultimate period to put Agape on top, 26-17. Miao scored 4 points off a contested putback and a fastbreak layup, while Tang hit a second-chance shot of his own as well. Zheng, on the other hand, drained a trey early in the period and swished a buzzer beating 15-footer to widen the gap. The Knights’ lone field goal came from Raphael Galang’s layup midway through the third canto.

Then in the fourth period, the Torchbearers didn’t let up with Tang gliding in for two fastbreak baskets and Miao drilling a 3-pointer. Samuel He and Caleb Dai also contributed for Agape, while Mt. Carmel was held to one field goal.

Before the second half meltdown, the Knights gave Agape an early scare when they took a 9-5 lead. San Nicolas scored 4 points, while O’Hane Borja knocked in a trey and Derek Sasamoto hit a long-range deuce to give Mt. Carmel a good start.

However, Agape fought back in the second period, as it leaned heavily on Tang, who delivered three field goals. Zheng and Bobby Bao also scored for the standoff at the break.

Meanwhile, Saipan Community School routed the visiting Northern Marianas International School, 48-26.

Isaiah Aleksenko had a personal best and team-high 18 points for the Tsunamis and he got enough sup-port from Charlie McDonald and Daniel Kang, who recorded 10 and 6 markers, respectively. Justin Mateo led the Phoenix with his 8 points, while Eddie Valdoz and J.P. Pineda submitted 6 apiece.

SCS improved to a 4-5 slate, while NMIS spiraled down to a 2-8 card.

In other results,Grace Christian Academy thumped Saipan International School, 46-35.

Co-captains, Lance Lerio and Ryan Daproza led the Eagles after making 11 points apiece, while Justin Du and Railee Yumul chipped in 8 and 6 markers, respectively. Daniel Nam top-scored for the Geckos with his 17 points, while Danny Lee registered 9.

GCA now has a 5-4 slate, while SIS holds an even 5-5 mark.

GCA will go for win No. 6 tomorrow, as it hosts Agape for a double-header, while SIS will visit Sev-enth Day Adventist.

ACS 37—Tang 12, Zheng 9, Miao 7, Bao 2, Dai 2, He 2, Li 2.

MCS 20—Naraja 11, San Nicolas 6, Borja 3.

Scoring by quarters: 5-9, 15-15, 26-17, 37-20