Notre Dame wins debut in Settsu caging

Notre Dame?s Destiny Castro drives against the MISO All-Stars? Jeromalyn Santos (red uniform), during the second quarter of their title game in the Settsu caging last Friday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

Destiny Castro powered the Royals to the championship, as she scored 24 points, punishing the MISO All-Stars’ defense with her all-around game. Castro gained points off triples, short jumpers, and several layups and while statistics were not recorded in the title match, she also collared a lot of rebounds and issued several assists.

She was applauded by the crowd on several occasions, as she went for coast-to-coast drives and even got an and-1 play on a fastbreak layup against the MISO All-Stars’ Denise Samson in the first half. However, her most impressive move came midway in the fourth quarter when she converted an alley-oop play from the right baseline off a feed from Bryanika Arceo. The shot capped the Royals’ short 6-0 run and foiled the MISO All-Stars’ bid to trim the deficit to single digits. Before the Royals’ 6 straight points, the MISO All-Stars moved to within 11, 45-56.

The visiting team started controlling the title game when it went on a 14-3 windup in the last four minutes of the opening quarter.

Notre Dame was ahead by only one, 8-7, when Castro sparked the breakaway past the halfway mark of the first period. She scored 13 points, including 6 of their last 8 markers.

The MISO All-Stars never recovered from thereon, as they failed to neutralize Castro and had only Jan Travilla and Michelle Kautz fighting back against the Royals. Travilla matched Castro’s output, while Kautz chipped in 18.

Meanwhile, in the battle for third place, Settsu Red Impulse routed dethroned champions MHS Lady Dolphins, 77-43.

The visiting team broke the game wide open in the second quarter, turning an 18-12 advantage to a 41-23 halftime lead. Yuina Inui led the Red Impulse in the second quarter, as she drilled 9 of her game-high 16 points I that period, while Mizuki Iwasaki contributed 8, including two triples.

Diana Pablo paced MHS with her 14 markers.

Consolation
Settsu 77 – Inui 16, Furutani 13, Mizuta 12, Iwasaki 9, Oida 6, Obayashi 5.
MHS 43 – Pablo 14, Reyes 11, Race 8, Echavez 6, Rastguiy 2, Farro 2.

Scoring by quarters: 18-12, 41-23, 54-31, 77-43.

Finals
Notre Dame 69 – Castro 24, Arceo 14, Brennan 9, Murphy 8, Dudkiewicz 3, Chargualaf 3.
MISO All-Stars 55 – Travilla 24, M. Kautz 18, Lebria 4, Samson 3, Obaldo 2, Reyes 1, Santos 2.
Scoring by quarters: 22-10, 33-22, 51-38, 69-55.