Lean boys U15 team off to Palau

A seven-man CNMI Boys U15 Team will be competing in the revived Micronesian Basketball Tournament in Koror, Palau next week.

The short list is composed of Christian Mizer, Jaymie Sanarez, Ankie Manalili, Josephus Aguilar, Jacob Palacios, Christopher Cepeda, and Kobee Mendoza.

“Obviously, this number is a big challenge. We have limited players,” said coach Ed Manalili, who will be assisted by former CNMI Nationals Quincy Johnson.

The CNMI Boys U15 Team ended up with only seven players after three failed to complete the required documents.

“We just lost them three weeks into the tournament. Now, we have to find ways to offset that disadvantage. Our plan is to concentrate more on defense and play a slow down offense. The team can run, but we have to pace ourselves, as we don’t have a deep bench,” Manalili said.

“We will just go out there and execute what we have been practicing for the past three months,” the head coach added.

Manalili said on offense, they will lean on Mizer at the paint. Mizer is the tallest player on the team at 5’10”. The Saipan Southern High School forward played in the 2009-2010 season of the MISO caging and also saw action in the various youth leagues on Saipan.

Beefing up the Commonwealth’s offense are shooting guards Palacios and Ankie Manalili. Both played for the Rollers and G-Stars in the various youth leagues on Saipan. The rest of the team are newcomers.

Basketball Association of Northern Mariana Islands vice president Elias Rangamar, who is helping out in training the U15 teams, said they are not putting much pressure on the youth cagers representing the CNMI to MBT.

“We don’t really know what to expect. We have no clue on the make up of Palau and Guam’s teams whether they have the height or they can run. We hope to progress as we play each team then make adjustments during the playoffs,” Rangamar said.

Both Palau and Guam are fielding two teams in the boys U15 division, while Pohnpei will not be sending any teams to MBT.

Team Palau will have a 10-player roster with Ziske Asanuma as head coach and Jesse Sumor assisting him. Team Belau listed only nine players and will also be coached by Sumor and Asanuma as coaches.

Guam has yet to announce its rosters and coaches for the MBT that will run from June 20 to 24 at the Palau National Stadium in Koror.