Agape sweeps regular season

Agape Christian School’s David Zheng goes for a layup, while Seventh Day Adventist’s Kaito Rechucher looks on during their middle school game in the CCOPSA caging yesterday at the SDA court in Chalan Kiya. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

Agape Christian School earned perfect records both in the girls and boys divisions of the Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Middle School Basketball League after sweeping its double-header against the Seventh Day Adventist yesterday.

The Torchbearers steamrolled the Guardians in the boys match at the SDA court in Chalan Kiya, 60-19, while Agape also had an easy win in the girls division, 35-13.

Agape went on a 20-4 scoring run in the first quarter to put the game out of the Guardians’ reach. The Torchbearers finished the regular season with an unbeaten 11-0 record to bag the outright semis berth. SDA ended up with a 2-9 card for last place in the seven-team field and will face Mt. Carmel School in the quarterfinals on May 8.

Agape players towered above the Guardians and crashed the boards from the opening tip to the final buzzer to register 32 second-chance points.

Antonio Li cleaned up his teammates’ misfires and banked in three putbacks, while Eason Tang and David Zheng added 4 points each. The Torchbearers spread the wealth, as Caleb Dai, Hilton Jin, and Jordan Miao each knocked in a basket to help Agape pull away after the first period, 20-4. Kaito Rechucher and Tommy Jin had one field goal each to account for SDA’s 4 points.

The Torchbearers continued their selfless play in the second canto, as six of their players chipped in at least one field goal apiece for a commanding 32-6 halftime advantage. SDA managed to hit only one basket off Jin’s banked 12-footer in the final moments of the half.

With Agape firmly in control of the game, reserves Peter Hu and Samuel He came to play in the third period and had 4 markers apiece to keep their safe distance, 46-15.

Rechucher shouldered the Guardian’s 9 points in the penultimate canto after netting a trey and three 15-footers.

Rechucher again, scored all of SDA’s points in the final canto, while Agape’s bench ran a balance offense to finish off the Guardians.

Meanwhile in the girls division game, Jenny Lin’s 19 markers was more than enough for Agape to put SDA out of commission.

Lynn Zhao, Kristy Wang, and Mei Ou contributed 4 points apiece for Agape, which ended the regular season with a 6-0 record. SDA wrapped up the prelims with a dismal 1-5 slate and faces a tough task in the semifinal round, as it will duel the top-ranked Agape anew. Mt. Carmel and Grace Christian Academy will square off in the other semis game on May 7.

Though the playoff pairings have been completed, a few more regular season matches will still be played. Today, GCA will play its last game of the season against Northern Marianas International School at the Eagles court in Navy Hill, while MCS and Saipan Community School will tussle at the Koblerville Gymnasium.

Boys Division
ACS 60—Li 12, Dai 8, He 6, Miao 6, Song 6, Chen 4, Hu 4, Jin 4 Tang 4, Zheng 4, Bao 2.
SDA 19—Rechucher 15, Jin 4.
Scoring by quarters: 20-4, 32-6, 46-15, 60-19

Girls Division
ACS 35—Lin 19, Ou 4, Wang 4, Zhou 4, Yang 2, Zhang 2.
SDA 13—Leona 4, Lopez 3, Ashley 2, Romee 2 .
Scoring by quarters: 10-4, 16-4, 23-7, 35-11