MISO All-Stars, Settsu girls are champs

  The Settsu Red Impulse Ladies and the Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Boys All-Stars were proclaimed champions of the 4th Annual Settsu-Saipan Friendship Basketball Tournament held at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

Both defending champions fell this year as the MISO standouts defeated the Kagman High School, 90-58.

The Red Impulse Ladies, meanwhile, had their revenge on the Marianas High School Lady Dolphins, 69-38, in Wednesday’s finals.

The MISO All-Stars stole the show in the boys division by sweeping the field.

The MISO All-Stars include Tinian High School’s Marc Babauta, Darius Pettis, and Develle Maui, Saipan Southern High School’s Bryl Alegre, Jack Aranda, Jaymark DeGuzman, Christian Mizer, Nevin Salem, and Jimmy Tudela, and MHS’ Ezra Caro, Erick Dela Rosa, and Ralph Francisco.

The team cruised past the COPSA crew, 44-15; Red Impulse, 30-12; and bested KHS, 40-23, in their first meeting before pulling off the sweep.

In the boys finals, MISO built an early 21-14 edge in the first quarter off a balanced effort from Aranda, Francisco, and Pettis and the group shot in front, 52-24, at midpoint. Salem led the surge with nine points.

KHS picked up its pace after intermission, but the MISO boys showed no signs of letting up.

MISO still trudged ahead, 73-41, heading into the final period; Pettis and Babauta teamed up for 11 points in the third quarter and coasted to an easy win.

Pettis led the field with 15 points, while KHS’ Jason Lampkin managed 14 for the Ayuyus on the short end.

KHS defeated Red Impulse, 24-20, and escaped COPSA, 21-20, to earn its seat at the final table; Red Impulse survived COPSA as well on Tuesday, 17-6.

All in all it was a respectable showing for the Red Impulse boys. Though they fell short of a finals appearance, the group recovered from a pair of hard-fought losses in its round robin to walk away with two wins including a nice, 74-66, victory over the COPSA All-Stars in the consolation match.

The Red Impulse boys are made up of Kyosuke Hidari, Yusuki Hirata, Akiro Miyaura, Reo Moriyama, Ken Saguchi, Yuji Tanaka, and Masaya Ueda.

The Lady Red Impulse, meanwhile, bucked a loss to the same MHS girls in the opener before getting their payback in the finals.

The team is comprised of Ayumi Doshita, Mizuki Iwasaki, Ayumi Nakano, Miyu Nakao, Tsugumi Nakaoka, Kanako Saeki, Hitomi Uno, Reika Yamasaki, and Akane Yamashita.

The Settsu staff includes head coach S. Sakaguchi and assistant coaches Y. Kinoshita and T. Kurohara.

Red Impulse’s Saeki buried a couple of early 3-pointers that went with six free throws and a late trey by teammate Yamasaki to push them ahead, 17-8, in the opening period.

The Lady Dolphins tried to make a stand in the second quarter, but Red Impulse maintained control from the stripe and dropped nine free throws for a comfortable 30-21 margin at the half.

Still flustered after the break, MHS was held to nine points in the third period, while Red Impulse trotted ahead, 50-30. Nakao and Yamashita paced the Settsu ladies with six points apiece in the third quarter.

It was out of reach for reigning champs by the start of the final stanza. Red Impulse’s Uno added seven more points as they ran out the clock and finished with 14 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Yamashita led all scorers with 17 points, while MHS’ special guest player, Iwasaki, bagged seven in the loss.

MHS won the first meeting between the pair, 28-24, on Tuesday, and advanced to the finals as the top seed, dropping the MISO Lady All-Stars, 24-6, and then the COPSA group, 16-9, later that evening.

The Settsu ladies regrouped nicely and advanced past the COPSA Lady All-Stars, 36-23, and the MISO lady band, 31-4, for its finals berth.

Then on Wednesday, the COPSA Lady All-Stars triumphed over the MISO stand outs, 65-49, in the consolation pairing.

All teams were presented with awards after the finals matches. The players also exchanged gifts and took pictures with one another.

Saipan Mayor Donald Flores was also in attendance and handed out the medals. He also offered a proper thanks and farewell to the special guests.

The Settsu coaches also expressed its appreciation for the hospitality and announced plans of returning again next year.

The event was organized by the Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands.

BANMI’s Gabriel White was also on hand throughout the event and thanked everyone who helped facilitate another successful affair.

GIRLS FINALS

Red Impulse 69 – Yamashita 17, Uno 14, Saeki 10, Nakao 9, Nakano 7, Doshita 6, Yamasaki 3, Nakaoka 3.

MHS 38 – Iwasaki 7, J. Castillo 6, Gozon 6, Williams 5, Mendoza 5, Abrams 4, Alegre 3

Scoring by quarters: 17-8, 30-21, 50-30, 69-38.

BOYS FINALS

MISO 90 – Pettis 15, Salem 13, Caro 12, Francisco 12, Aranda 10, Babauta 5, Tudela 5, De Guzman 5, Mizer 4, Dela Rosa 4, Alegre 2, Maui 1.

KHS 58 – Lampkin 14, Mettao 11, Nerro 8, Taitano 8, B Santos 8, Santiago 4, J Santos 3, Foster 2.

Scoring by quarters: 21-14, 52-24, 73-41, 90-58.