Championship completes perfect season

Blue Haus players and coach Dan Chan pose with their championship and individual awards trophies after winning the open division of the Legends Sports Association Invitational Basketball League last Sunday at the Koblerville Basketball Court. Also in photo are LSA officials.(MARK RABAGO)

Blue Haus outlasted Chang Ming Market, 64-62, in an epic finals of the open division of the Legends Sports Association Invitational Basketball League last Sunday at the Koblerville Basketball Court.

The win completed an undefeated season for the team, but it needed a critical miss by Chang Ming Market’s Don Brennan with 7.1 seconds left and two crucial free throws by Finals MVP Ivan De Vero in the final seconds to seal the deal.

Blue Haus also had to play the last six minutes and change of the championship match without leading scorer and mythical five member Douglas Schmidt who fouled out.

The last game of the season started out slow as both Blue Haus and Chang Ming Market missed shots aplenty and had a boatload of turnovers. 

Nonetheless, Blue Haus made just enough shots to lead, 14-9, following a low-scoring opening quarter. 

Scoring went up a bit in the second quarter with vastly improved center Marlon De Dios giving Blue Haus a spark with 4 points inside the paint that pushed the undefeated team to a 33-27 spread at halftime.

Blue Haus started the first four minutes of the third quarter like a team on a mission, as they quickly dropped a 12-3 run against an unprepared Chang Ming Market to establish their biggest lead, 45-30, on a fastbreak layup by Schmidt. 

Thankfully for coach Dennis Cortez, lead guard Mark Ferrer and reserve forward Chris Lilles scored on a 3 and a 2-pointer to cut it back to 10 points, 45-35, time down to 5:30 in the third quarter.

Chang Ming Market would eventually outscore Blue Haus, 7-9, the rest of the period to cut their deficit to 8 points, 44-52, with the last point courtesy of a free throw from Alvin Almario, who fished Schmidt’s fourth personal foul.

That set up a nip-and-tuck payoff period, where both teams left everything on the court. 

After two minutes of no points, Juan Camacho beat the shot clock to edge Chang Ming Market even closer, 46-52, with 7:32 left in the ballgame,  

A triple by Ferrer at the 6:25 mark made it just a 3-point game.

After Schmidt’s fifth and last foul, Brendon Talania made a nifty pass to a wide-open De Dios under the basket to give Blue Haus some breathing space, 55-49. 

This, however, was quickly answered by a rainbow connection from Brennan that brought it back to just a 3-point deficit, 52-55, with a little over 4 minutes remaining.

Brennan had a chance to tie the game at 57-all when he made a layup plus a foul from Elmer Esdrelon a minute later but missed the free throw.

Talania’s mid-range jumper in the next Blue Haus possession made it 59-56 before a Sidney Quan free throw and a fastbreak layup by Ferrer tied things up at 59-59 with 2:29 ticks left on the game clock. 

Both teams exchanged empty offensive forays then De Dios side-stepped his way for a layup to give favor back to Blue Haus, 61-59. 

This was followed by an airball from Ferrer and daredevil missed layup by Brennan, who came down limping. 

Ferrer would eventually be fouled by Jay-R Barrios when he crossed him over, but made only 1-2 free throws. He redeemed himself moments later when his basket gave Chang Ming Market a 62-61 lead with 46.4 seconds left.

Elmer Esdrelon would be fouled by B.J. Palacios in the next play and the veteran guard would make a free throw to tie the game at 62-all.

Both teams would again trade empty possessions before Alex Standish fouled De Vero 50 feet away from the Blue Haus basket. 

De Vero would make 1-2 with 14.9 second left that gave Blue Haus a 1-point lead. After a Chang Ming Market timeout, Brennan broke away from Fitual for what seemed like uncontested reverse layup that he missed. 

Camacho then fouled De Vero with 7.1 seconds left and the latter again split his charities but not after being given three free throws as Quan was whistled for a warning for distracting the shooter. 

Without a timeout, Chang Ming Market had to make something happen in the final possession, but no Hail Mary shot came as Barrios stole the ball across midcourt to seal Blue Haus’ win and the championship.

Blue Haus coach Dan Chan attributed the win to the team’s unheralded players like De Vero and Talania stepping up after Schmidt fouled out. 

Chan also thanked Blue Haus owner Cecile Camama for continuing to support the team.

Coming into the winner-take-all championship game, Chan also advised his players not to be complacent as Chang Ming Market is a team to be reckoned with and he was proven right as the runners-up almost beat them.

Schmidt went on to pace Blue Haus in scoring with 13 points, while Talania and De Vero added 11 and 10 markers, respectively. De Dios and Kelvin Fitial tossed in 8 apiece for good measure. 

Ferrer led Chang Ming Market in the heartbreaking loss with 16 points, while Brennan fired 14 markers.

The rest of the Blue Haus team is made up of Nate and Dan Mateo, Alex Lauron, Reymark Castro, Mike Aitoge, Bruce Berline, and Junar Guiab.

The result of the masters division championship game between Blue Haus and JSN Construction will be published in tomorrow’s issue of Saipan Tribune.

Blue Haus 64 – Schmidt 13, Talania 11, De Vero 10, Fitial 8, De Dios 8, N. Mateo 5, Esdrelon 4, Aitoge 2, Castro 2, Lauron 1.
Chang Ming Market 62 – Ferrer 16, Brennan 14, Almario 7, Palacios 6, Camacho 6, Lilles 2, Standish 2.
Scoring by quarters: 14-9, 33-27, 52-44, 64-62.