MISO All-Stars keep crown

The MISO All-Stars? Marc Babauta of Tinian goes up for a left-handed shot during the second quarter of their title game against Marianas High School in the Settsu-Saipan caging last Friday night at the MHS Gymnasium. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

The MISO All-Stars topped 2014 Settsu-Saipan Friendship Basketball Tournament after a thrilling 69-68 victory over Marianas High School last Friday night at the MHS Gymnasium.
The Dolphins’ Michael Yap split his free throws and missed a jumper at the buzzer, allowing the MISO All-Stars to escape with the 1-point win and retain the boys division championship. The back-to-back champions ruled last year’s tournament against the visiting Settu Red Impulse.

The Red Impulse was relegated to the battle for third place this year and lost to the Notre Dame Royals of Guam, 38-59. The Dolphins and the MISO All-Stars, on the other hand, arranged their title duel after taking the Top 2 spots in the round-robin elimination.

In the winner-take-all finale, the MISO All-Stars controlled majority of the game and even led by as much as 14 points in the third, 51-37, before MHS trimmed the deficit down to 11 at the end of that canto, 58-47.

The Dolphins hung in there, but could not seem to break the 9-point barrier until the last 2:30 of the match when two defensive stops gave way to a point-blank shot from Jaron Ano and a fastbreak basket from Yap and moved coach Preston Basa’s wards within seven, 61-68.

The MISO All-Stars tried to counter attack, but failed to score, as Jared Sablan muffed two charities, while Kobe Mendoza converted a baseline drive to cut the deficit to 5, 63-65, 1:30 left on the clock. Two more missed charities from Lucio Santos and the selection’s two botched offensive sets after the rebound plays kept MHS’ hopes alive, as Mendoza canned another basket. Sensing trouble, MISO All-Stars coach Chris Tenorio sued for time with his team clinging to a 68-67 lead, 19 seconds left on the clock.

When the game resumed, the Dolphins quickly gave up a foul to send Allen Yu to the line. Yu drilled his first shot, but faltered on the second one, while MHS rushed the ball toward its frontcourt with Yap on the finishing end. He missed the layup, but drew a foul on Sanchez.

Yap split his charities, drilling only the first shot. The Dolphins’ Ignacio Borja then won the battle for the rebound against Yu, but ran out of space at the baseline and was forced to kick the ball out to Mendoza. The MHS guard pulled up for a long jumper from the left key, but his shot was too strong. The Dolphins prevailed in the fight for the rebound anew with Justin Cayading soaring high for the ball and landing down the floor where two MISO All-Stars players tried to grab the leather away from him.

The referee called a held ball and MHS got the ball back (possession arrow) with three seconds remaining in the game. It was Basa’s turn to ask for a time out to work out a make-or-break play. The latter happened, as after Yap received the inbound pass from Aaron Pamintuan on the baseline and faked off Sablan’s defense, the MHS shooting guard’s 10-footer hit the back iron of the rim and bounced off as the final buzzer sounded.

Santos top-scored for the MISO All-Stars’ close win, firing 25 points, while Marc Babauta added 17 before fouling out midway in the fourth canto. The duo combined for 19 of the MISO All-Stars 27 points in the third quarter to turn a 35-31 halftime lead to a double-digit advantage entering the final canto.

Mendoza had 20 in the sorry loss, while Ano contributed 11.
Meanwhile, the Settsu-Saipan caging also featured a separate competition for girls and results of four-team contest will be reported in Saipan Tribune this week.

MISO All-Stars 69 – Santos 25, Babauta 17, Feria 11, Sanchez 7, Allen 4, Sablan 2, D. Camacho 2, W. Camacho 1.

MHS 68 – Mendoza 20, Ano 11, Cayading 8, Pamintuan 6, Ong 6, Yap 4, Gabaldon 3, Borka 2, Francisco 2.