GCA pounds Agape to gain second victory

Grace Christian Academy’s Jasmine Phan is hounded by Agape Christian School defenders during their game in the CCOPSA caging yesterday at the Agape court in Gualo Rai. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

Grace Christian Academy smothered Agape Christian School, 55-36, in the girls division game in the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Varsity Basketball League yesterday at the latter’s court in Gualo Rai.
The Lady Eagles dominated the match right from the get-go, thanks to Jasmine Phan’s early explosion. She scored 18 of GCA’s 20 first-quarter points to give the Lady Eagles a double-digit lead, 20-8. GCA never looked back from thereon.

Phan went on to finish the game with 36 points, 18 of them were scored off 3-pointers. Karena Torres joined the Lady Eagles’ 3-point barrage after converting three treys and she also registered double digits with her 15 markers. Tina Choi, Katriel Saures, and Soleil Lamar were the other scorers for GCA, which now has a 2-1 record.

Ivy Yu had 8 points to lead Agape, while Elizabeth Xu, and Lani Lishoalo chipped in 6 apiece. The Lady Torchbearers are still winless after three games.

Meanwhile, in the boys division game, Agape 1 pummeled GCA, 100-40.

Silas Xu had a field day against GCA, as he fired 34 points, while Jonathan Xiong contributed 26 markers. Peter Wang, Jerry Yuan, and Kobe Yang chipped in 14, 8, and 7, respectively, to complete Agape 1’s demolition of the Eagles

Steven Balakrishna was the lone double-figure scorer for GCA with his 13 points, while Seung Jun Baek mustered only 8 markers, as Agape 1’s gunners were too much to handle for the Eagles.

The Torchbearers improved to a 5-2 record and overtook Mount Carmel School 1 (6-3) at the No. 3 spot in the team standings, while the Eagles went down to a 3-7 mark.

In other results, the league-leading Kagman High School edged MCS 1 at the Koblerville Gymnasium, 65-62.

Behind at halftime, 27-32, the Ayuyus regrouped after the extended break and caught up with the Knights by the end of the third period, forcing a deadlock, 43-all.

Then in the fourth quarter, Kagman overcame Mount Carmel’s hot 3-point shooting with an efficient offense to eke out a close victory and foil the Knights bid for an upset. After surviving MCS 1, Kagman upped their record to 9-1.

J.D. Magofna led Kagman with his 14 points, while Dean Blake and Kobe Lifoifoi had 10 markers apiece.

Meanwhile, MCS 2 will face Agape 1 at the latter’s home court in Gualo Rai at 3:30pm today. Tomorrow, a double-header will be played at the Koblerville Gymnasium, with Saipan Southern High School battling Agape 2 at 3:30pm and MCS 2 challenging GCA. Also scheduled for tomorrow is the game between Kagman and Agape 1 at the Kagman Community Center at 3:30pm.

Girls Division
GCA 55—Phan 31, Torres 15, Choi 6, Saures 2, Lamar 1.
Agape 36—I. Yu 8, Lishoalo 6, Xu 6, K. Garcia 5, W. Tang 5, A. Yu 4, Zhang 2.
Scoring by quarters: 20-8, 29-19, 38-27, 55-36.