Three-peat for Lady Ayuyus

Kagman High School’s cagebelles didn’t mind losing to Marianas High School twice, as the Lady Ayuyus won in the game that counted the most—the championship match in the 2009 MISO Basketball League.

The Lady Ayuyus prevailed in their title rematch against the Lady Dolphins Friday night at the MHS Gymnasium, 56-47, giving the former their third straight championship.

A 15-5 windup in the last three minutes of the game allowed the Lady Ayuyus to beat the Lady Dolphins for the first time this season and keep their reign in the MISO girls varsity caging.

Mercedes Mesa, who traded heated words with Lalaine Pagarao in the early goings of the fourth period after getting tangled up in the shaded lane, vented her ire on the basket. She connected on two triples in the Ayuyus’ 9-0 run in less than a minute, turning a 41-42 deficit to a 50-42 lead, going into the last two minutes of the game.

The Dolphins did not know what hit them in that scoring spree and they continue to get lost in the closing minutes of the championships match, while Yvonne Bennett, Stacie Mizutani, and Agatha Repeki put the finishing touches on the Lady Ayuyus’ title run.

MHS settled for another bridesmaid finish, as the Lady Dolphins also bowed to the Lady Ayuyus in last season’s finals (67-54).

The Lady Dolphins entered this season’s title match as favorites, having swept the Lady Ayuyus in the regular season. MHS won its first meeting with Kagman by five points, 48-43, and the second outing by nine points, 57-48 triumph.

In their third encounter, it seemed the Lady Ayuyus were headed for another loss, as Kagman scored only four points against the Dolphins’ 14 markers in the first quarter.

But the Lady Ayuyus regained their bearings in the second quarter with Mesa, Repeki, and Yvonne leading the team’s recovery. They combined for 12 of the Lady Ayuyus’ 16 points in the second period and Kagman held MHS to five markers to take the lead at halftime, 20-19.

The Lady Ayuyus hung on to the lead in the third period, 38-33, as MHS continued to play an erratic game in that canto.

The Lady Dolphins redeemed themselves in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter with Riza Tacliad’s triple capping an MHS’ 9-0 scoring and giving the host a 42-41 lead.

But Kagman countered with its own 9-0 run with Mesa starting the scoring spree with a triple. Yvonne added a free throw and after she missed her second charity, Kagman took the offensive rebound, setting up Mesa for another triple. Repeki’s layup gave the Lady Ayuyus an eight-point lead, 50-42, entering the last two minutes of the game.
[B] KHS 56[/B] – Yvo. Bennett 17, Mesa 13, Repeki 10, Mizutani 7, Diaz 3, Hofschneider 2, Aldan 2.
[B] MHS 47[/B] – Pagarao 23, Benavente 11, Guzman 6, Tacliad 5, L. Rangamar 2.