Ayuyus earn return trip to MISO finals

When Marianas High School practices for next season’s junior varsity caging, the Dolphins need to spend a lot of time at the free throw area.

The Dolphins missed 15 straight free throws in the third quarter and were 2-for-12 in the fourth allowing Kagman High School to pull away with an 80-66 win in the semifinals of the 2008-2009 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Basketball League Thursday night at the MHS Gymnasium.

Kagman earned a return trip to the finals and will be facing the winner of the Saipan Southern High School-Mt. Carmel School match in the title game on Dec. 12. The Rays and Knight were squaring off for the second finals berth last night. Southern defeated Kagman in last year’s junior varsity finals, 115-102.

The Ayuyus controlled the first half of their semis game going into the locker room with a 47-26 lead.

The Dolphins tried to come back, but their free throw woes spelled the difference between making it to the finals and kissing their title bid goodbye.

The Dolphins went 1-for-16 from the free throw area in the extended last two minutes of the third period. MHS got several offensive rebounds in that stretch, as it missed bundles of charities, but failed to cash in points that would have brought the Dolphins back into the game.

Nino Feria was 0-for-6, Greg Duatin went 0-for-4, and Tim Sula, Aasin Liberato, and Roe Sarmiento all hit 0-for-2, Norman Chan split his charities.

Had MHS made all 16 free throws, Kagman would have led by only one point at the end of the third period, 59-58.

The Dolphins cut the lead to 11 in the fourth quarter, 52-63, after getting three straight baskets. But back-to-back layups from Juan Maratita brought order back into the Ayuyus’ offense.

It was cruise control for the Ayuyus from thereon, as the Dolphins continued to struggle from the stripe in the payoff period.

The Ayuyus went to the 15-foot line not as often as the Dolphins’ in the second half, but when the former did, Kagman had a better showing than MHS.

Kagman was 6-for-13 from the foul line in the second half and 9-for-17 in the first half. MHS made a decent job from the free throw area in the first half going 6-for-15, but overall the Dolphins were 12-for-47 for an awful 25.53 percent clip.

Francisco Mettao paced Kagman with 21 points, while Maratita and Dominic Reyes chipped in 14 apiece.

Ed Manalili led MHS with 17 markers.
[B] KHS 80[/B] – Mettao 21, Maratita 14, Reyes 14, Kaipat 11, Ogo 8, Babauta 3, Chargualaf 2, Salas 2.