Dolphins drub foes for 6th victory; Rays win

Defending champion Marianas High School has been running over its opponents in the 2014-2015 season of the Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization High School Basketball League.

Saipan Southern High School’s James Kintaro, 9, tries to score against the defense of Mt. Carmel School’s Jonah Hahn, 34, and Anthony Deleon Guerrero, partly hidden, in an earlier match. Saipan Southern and Mt. Carmel came up victorious in their respective matches in last Saturday’s jamboree in the Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization High School Basketball League. (Jon Perez)

MHS recorded its sixth straight win after dispatching two more opponents in the one-day jamboree last Saturday at the MHS Gymnasium.

The Dolphins, who have a roster stacked in every position, are scoring an average of 71 a game while holding down their opponents to 32 for a 39-point winning margin average.

Last weekend, MHS played back-to-back games in the jamboree, first scoring a 57-27 thrashing of Mt. Carmel School then had enough energy left in cruising to a 66-34 win over Marianas Baptist Academy in the afternoon match.

John Benavente, Karlo De Leon, Michael Espinosa, Irvyn Malonzo, Ethan Manalili, Kobee Mendoza, Tristan Montes, and DJay Ong have been doing much of the damaged for the Preston Basa-coached squad. The eight are either part of the regular starting unit and off the bench crew for the Dolphins.

Against MBA, MHS bombarded the Stormz with 15 3-pointers en route to the easy win.

Manalili fired four from the rainbow territory to finish with 20 points, while Malonzo buried three from downtown to end up with 10 markers. Montes tallied 9 points, all coming from 3-point range, while Mendoza and Espinosa had two each for 8 and 6 markers apiece. Benavente made the other 3-pointer.

MBA dropped its fifth straight match.

Meanwhile, Kagman High School, in the other match, improved its record to 3-1 following a 51-16 drubbing of Saipan International School.

Melvin Sakisat, Justice Evangelista, and Andrew Palino alternated in delivering the points for the Ayuyus to end up with 13, 11 and 9 points, respectively.

No SIS player finished in double figures with the Geckos scoring only one point in the second period.

Christopher Cepeda had 5 points, while Kim Hwan Ho and Carter Smith chipped in 4 markers each.

Mt. Carmel, in the final match of the day, dealt SIS a second straight loss following a 44-39 tripping to bounce back from that humiliating loss against MHS earlier.

William Camacho scattered 18 points to lead the Knights, who played minus Zander Tkel as the latter joined the Eastern Lightning to play a goodwill game against the CNMI’s southern neighbors in Guam.

Markel Toves finished with 14 points also for MCS, which trailed 6-12 after 10 minutes of play.

Cepeda led the Geckos with 12 markers, while Smith and Andrew Johnson tallied 10 and 8 points, respectively.

In other Saturday games, Saipan Southern High School cruised past its rivals with the Manta Rays waltzing to a 71-29 triumph over the MBA Stormz and closing out the day with a 66-42 ripping of the Grace Christian Academy Eagles.

Kagman opened up the jamboree with a 52-32 trouncing of GCA.

Last Friday, Kagman clipped MBA, 73-28; Mt. Carmel defeated GCA, 49-41; and MHS breezed past SIS, 62-19. The Dolphins also scored an 87-56 triumph against SSHS last Wednesday night.

SATURDAY GAMES
KHS 51–Sakisat 13, Evangelista 11, Palino 9, Paran 6, Parado 5, Lizama 3, Phillips 2, Torres 2.

SIS 16–C. Cepeda 5, Kim 4, Smith 4, Ramsey 2, Park 1.

Scoring by quarters: 15-5, 28-6, 39-14, 51-16.

MHS 66–Manalili 20, Malonzo 10, Montes 9, Mendoza 8, Espinosa 6, Benavente 5, De Leon 4, Ong 4.

MBA 34–Manglona 18, Jong 6, Kong 6, H. Kim 2, W.J Kim 2.

Scoring by quarters: 16-8, 29-18, 42-24, 66-34.

MCS 45–Camacho 18, Toves 14, Deleon Guerrero 5, Kim 4, Lee 3.

SIS 39–C. Cepeda 12, Smith 10, Johnson 8, Kim 4, Joyner 2, Ramsey 2.

Scoring by quarters: 6-12, 22-18, 27-24, 44-39. (Jon Perez)