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Coby wins slam dunk contest
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Posted on Jun 28 2021
Mix Breed’s Cody Santos wows the crowd with one of his high-flying dunks in the slam dunk competition of yesterday’s Marianas Mariana Islands Basketball League 3×3 Season 2 tournament at the Marianas High School Gymnasium. (Mark Rabago)
Long and wiry Coby Santos mimicked his somewhat namesake to win the slam dunk competition of the Marianas Mariana Islands Basketball League 3×3 Season 2 tournament yesterday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.
The 20-year-old Northern Marianas College student channeled his inner Kobe Bryant and even sported the late Lakers great’s jersey to beat Erik Joe in the finals, 58-47.
Instead of the regulation 10-foot rim, organizers lowered it to 9 1/2 feet to give competitors a better chance of completing their slam dunks.
In his first dunk in the finals, Santos bounced the ball high before making a 360 and slamming it home for a perfect 30 points from judges Clint Albert, Keith Nabors, and David John Apatang. He made an easier but still impressive slam in his second dunk in the finals that netted him 28 points.
Joe finished with 22 points in his first dunk, as he made a simple slam after being pressed for time. He tried a Vince Carter elbow dunk in his second try but instead completed more like a middle arm dunk. That gave him 25 points as he wound up with 47 points.
In the eliminations, Santos wowed the crowd with his high-flying antics and finished with 56 points in his two dunks (27 and 29). Joe came second with 52 points, as he logged 24 points in his first dunk and 28 points in his second, which saw him dunk over a friend as tall as he is.
Mak Mintac was the third dunker of the competition, but exhaustion got the better of him and he was the first to get the boot with only 50 points (23 and 27) for his two slams in the elimination round.
Santos, who said he first dunked when he was 18 years old in 2019, said he practiced for a day for the competition and tried to perfect three slam dunks. Coming into the slam dunk contest, he wasn’t sure he was going to win.
“I thought I was gonna lose. I thought Mintac was going to take it,” he said.
Santos also said he didn’t hold back in the slam dunk contest even as his Mix Breed team was set to challenge Mintak’s Hole in the Wall in the open championship game later in the day.
“100% I always give my 100%,” when asked how much he exerted in the slam dunk contest.
