Agape sets title duel vs Mt. Carmel

Agape Christian School’s Haoyu Chen, seen here driving against a Saipan Community School in an earlier game, scored 21 points in their 49-29 semis win against Grace Christian Ac ademy in the middle school division of the COPSSA caging last Wednesday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Agape Christian School and Mt. Carmel School square off today for the boys middle school championship in the 2015-2016 Coalition of Private School Sports Association Basketball League, while MCS also plays in the girls finale opposite Saipan International School at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Knights earned a return trip to the finals after outclassing dethroned champion SIS, 34-30, in their semis match last Wednesday, while Agape marched into the title game for the first time following a 49-29 rout of Grace Christian Academy. The Geckos clinched last season’s boys championship after dominating MCS, 44-27.

In the girls division, the Lady Knights are also returning to the finals after knocking off Seventh Day Adventist last Wednesday, 26-17. Mt. Carmel won last season’s girls tiara over GCA, 28-12, and will be gunning for back-to-back titles when it faces SIS today. The Lady Geckos automatically advanced into the finals after topping the regular season.

In the boys division semis, the favored Agape delivered as expected, taking control of the match early en route to the 20-point win. The Torchbearers came into the semifinals unbeaten in nine games in the regular season, while GCA earned the right to challenge Agape for one of the finals berth after downing Saipan Community School last Tuesday.

Haoyu Chen, who is among the Torcherbearers’ leading scorers, found his form right at the get-go, scoring 8 points to lift Agape to a commanding 16-1 lead. Tian Zhang added 6, while Tychicus Xu nailed the 2 other points for Agape in the opening canto.

GCA, on the other hand, got its lone point off a split free throw from Tae Yong Kim. The Eagles never got out from that deep hole despite Kim’s continued effort to anchor the team’s offense, while Chen remained on target to lead all scorers with his 21 markers. Kim also finished in double figures with his 11.

In the other semis tiff, the Knights played better in the second half to eke out the 4-point win. The Knights faced an 13-18 deficit at the break, but managed to grab the upper hand at the end of the third, 24-22. Mt. Carmel hung on tight in the final canto to keep the driver’s seat and the win that will give the Knights a chance to take the title which eluded the team last season.

The Mt. Carmel-Agape finale will be played at 4:30pm after the 3:30pm title game between the Lady Knights and Lady Geckos.

Agape 49 — Chen 21, Cai 9, Zhang 8, Xiong 4, Lin 4, T. Xu 2, Guintu 1.

GCA 29 —T. Kim 11, Si 8, Hahn 6, Aquino 2, S. Kim 2.

Scoring by quarters: 16-1, 24-9, 40-15, 49-29.