Ayuyus gain first win in MISO caging

Kagman High School survived Mt. Carmel School’s rally to pull off a 58-55 win in the 2008-2009 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Basketball League Wednesday night at the MHS Gymnasium.

The victory put the Ayuyus in the win column after dropping their first two assignments. The Knights absorbed their third loss in as many games.

Kagman led by as much as 13 points in the third period, 44-31, but almost collapsed in the last two minutes of the match, as Mt. Carmel threatened to steal the win.

Matthew Igitol, Min Seung Kim, and Joseph Yoon joined forces in bringing the Knights back into the game.

The Ayuyus led by seven, 54-47, going into the last two minutes of the match, but back-to-back triples from Yoon kept the Knights’ hope alive.

Yoon drilled his first triple from the right key, moving Mt. Carmel within four, 50-54, with 1:52 left on the clock.

Kagman was called for a traveling violation in the ensuing play returning the ball to the Knights, who drew another triple from Yoon from the left key to cut the lead to one, 53-54, with 1:40 left in the game.

But back-to-back layups from Jester Kaipat and a defensive stop from Anthony Salas ended the Knights’ chances to steal the game.

Kaipat drove to the left baseline and made a basket to stop the bleeding for Kagman, widening the Ayuyus’ lead, 56-53, with 1: 15 left on the clock.

Kagman regained possession when Kim stepped on the baseline on an inbound play. But the Ayuyus lost the ball when Kim stole Dominic Reyes’ pass to Salas.

Mt. Carmel had a couple of misses in its offensive play and once Kagman controlled the rebound, Kaipat took charge anew, and drove to the middle for another layup, giving the Ayuyus a 58-53 led, with 48.3 seconds left in the game.

But the Knights refused to give up, as Kim drilled an undergoal stab, cutting the lead to three, 55-58, with 38 seconds remaining on the clock.

Kaipat was on the forefront of the Ayuyus attack in the ensuing play, but was blocked by Geza Baka. Kagman kept the possession with 19 seconds left in the game and less than nine seconds on its 24-second shot clock.

Kagman coach Francis San Nicolas called for a timeout before the inbound play, but the Ayuyus failed to execute a play, as they were called for a 24-second shot clock violation, returning the ball to Mt. Carmel with 10. 2 seconds left in the game.

The Knights were out of timeouts and needed a triple to send the game in overtime. But they made too many passes, as Kagman defenders did a good job guarding Mt. Carmel’s shooters.

After four touches and with the time wining down, Kevin Bautista finally got the possession and found a little room to pull up for a triple at the top of the key, but his shot was partially blocked by Salas.

There was a scramble for the loose ball and neither team had control of the possession as time expired.