Rays sweep Ayuyus in MISO boys basketball

Saipan Southern High School swept Kagman High School in last Friday’s games in the 2011-2012 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Boys Basketball League at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

The Rays’ varsity squad outlasted KHS, 50-35, with a late fourth quarter push, while the junior Rays bested Kagman Ayuyus in the first game, 44-29. Southern’s varsity improved to a 4-1 record, while Kagman absorbed its first defeat after starting the season with a pair of victories. Southern’s juniors moved up to a 2-1 slate and are now tied with Grace Christian Academy atop the standings. Friday marked the junior Ayuyus’ season debut.

In the varsity match, KHS seized a 12-5 lead in the opening 10 minutes as Jason Lampkins and Joshua Jones nailed a couple of baskets. Then KHS was held to eight points in the second quarter, bringing its lead down to three at halftime, 20-17.

Southern drained a couple of three-pointers in the third period and turned the table on KHS, 31-28, heading into crunch time. Jack Aranda led the charge with eight markers.

Kagman kept pace with its rival all the way up until the last five minutes when Southern kicked it in another gear and exploded with its transition defense. Rebounds were hard to come by for KHS as the game progressed and the Ayuyus appeared to have run out of gas late in the game.

An And-1 play by Bryl Alegre seemed to be the straw that broke the Ayuyus back, as KHS was within two possessions up until that point and never recovered. Christian Mizer came alive for the Rays in the last quarter, firing nine markers in the clutch to seal the deal. He led all scorers with 14, while Lampkins scrambled for 10 in the hard fought loss.

In the junior matchup, Southern jumped to an early 12-3 lead off a pair of six-point strings by Edilberto Javier and Emerson Feria.

KHS tightened up its defense and crawled its way back to within three points at midpoint, 11-8, however Southern regrouped at the break and trudged ahead, 32-19, after three quarters. Feria led the charge with six points in the third period. Teams traded baskets in the fourth quarter, allowing Southern to keep the lead and the win.

Feria and Javier combined for 33 points for the Rays, while Jesse and Jonathan Santos teamed up for 21 on the short end for Kagman.

SSHS 44[/B] – Feria 19, Javier 14, Camacho 5, Palacios 2, Ferrer 2, Acopiado 2.

SSHS 50[/B] – Mizer 14, Aranda 10, Tudela 6, De Guzman 5, Mariano 5, Alegre 4, Sablan 2, Salem 2, Villanueva 2.
[B] KHS 35[/B] – Lampkins 10, Jones 9, Taitano 8, Mettao 6, Eugenio 2.