Duenas Compound crushes Tanapag

Duenas Compound’s J.P. Duenas takes off for a fastbreak layup during the fourth quarter of their game against Tanapag Sports Association in the MIBF outdoor caging last Monday night at the San Antonio court. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Duenas Compound pounced on the hapless Tanapag Sports Association, 81-50, during their open division game in the Mariana Islands Basketball Federation’s Inaugural Men’s Outdoor League last Monday night at the San Antonio court.

A jackrabbit start allowed Duenas Compound to post a 31-point winning margin in its debut in the league. Tanapag, on the other hand, absorbed its second loss in as many games as it was also badly beaten in its opening match after bowing to the Junior Ol’Aces last week, 51-92.

Duenas Compound exploded for 42 points in the first quarter, more than doubling Tanapag’s output as the losing squad made only 18 markers.

Matt and Ernest Duenas and Douglas Schmidt, the trio that gave Kanoa Resort a championship in another league last week, teamed up in Duenas Compound’s rousing start. They combined for 24 points in the first period with Schmidt logging 11 markers and Ernest and Matt adding 7 and 6, respectively, to power Duenas Compound to a commanding 42-18 advantage. The rest of Duenas Compound’s points were evenly distributed among seven other players.

As for Tanapag’s side, Henry Aguon was the lone bright spot on the team, registering 8 points in the opening canto.

Tanapag never made it out of the deep hole in the remaining three quarters of the game as it could not match Duenas Compound’s offensive firepower. Tanapag gave up too many easy baskets to Duenas Compound, which padded its lead to as high as 36 points in the fourth quarter before pulling out its key players midway in the final canto. With Schmidt and company on the bench, Duenas Compound’s offense slowed down a bit, while Tanapag began piling up points to reach half of the century mark.

Schmidt top-scored for Duenas Compound’s with his 17 points, while P.J. Duenas came off the bench and also finished in twin digits with 13. James Kintz added 8, while Matt Duenas contributed 8 and Perry Inos and Ernest Duenas had 7 apiece. Five other players completed Duenas Compound’s box scores.

Henry Aguon paced Tanapag with his 17 markers, while only five other players hit the board for the northern-side team.

Meanwhile, two more squads will have their debuts in the inaugural league tonight as Chinese Association meets Ace Hardware in the second game at 8pm. In the first match at 6:30pm, it will be a battle between sister teams Junior Ol’Aces and Ol’Aces.

Duenas Compound 81 — Schmidt 17, P. Duenas 13, Kintz 9, Matt Duenas 8, Inos 7, E. Duenas 7, Manny Duenas 6, Sacramento 4, Mostales 4, Santos 2, R. Duenas 2.

Tanapag 50 — H. Aguon 17, J. Lifoifoi 8, M. Aguon 7, Kani 7, F. Lifoifoi 6, Mira 6.

Scoring by quarters: 42-18, 59-27, 69-40, 80-50.