Quan, Barrios are Finals MVPs

Quan

For leading their teams to the Promised Land, Sidney Quan of New Chang Ming Market and J.R. Barrios of Blue Haus were named Finals MVP, respectively, of the open and masters division of the 2nd Annual Saipan Centennial Lions Basketball League.

Quan scored 11 points and played excellent defense in their 82-77 win in the winner-take-all championship game against Maretch-Ol’Aces last Tuesday at the Koblerville Basketball Court.

The 29-year-old, 5’11” forward dedicated his Finals MVP award to God, his parents, and friends and teammates “who continue to help me improve my game.”

As for his tough assignment in guarding Ol’Aces top scorers Douglas “Spyder” Schmidt and Preston Basa, Quan said both were equally difficult to guard and required different approaches. 

“With Preston you need to be sure to not give him much space as he can pull up from anywhere beyond the 3-point line and when guarding Douglas it is important to maintain space to account for his speed and explosiveness.”

Quan, who is the manager of All Star Sporting Goods and Boarderline, said he developed his love for basketball after moving back to Saipan from Hawaii for his senior year of high school. 

Before winning the SCLC caging Finals MVP, he also was part of mythical fives in the past. 

Barrios, for his part, won the Finals MVP after scoring a game-high 22 points in Blue Haus’ 68-66 win against Blue Eagle/Royal Pacific also last Tuesday at the Koblerville Basketball Court.

Barrios

The 40-year-old C&R Corp. employee attributed his shooting display in the finals to practice and the fact that he really has taken the sport of biking seriously.

Barrios said the morning before the championship, he practiced his 3-point shooting for an hour. 

He dedicated his second Finals MVP award to God and family. He previously won the same hardware in a Gualo Rai league years ago. 

The Davao, Philippines native said he prefers the masters division because the pace is slower and he doesn’t have to play against younger players. 

In other awards given out during the championship ceremony, Schmidt and New Chang Ming Market’s Jeff Castro were named best guards in the open division. They were joined in the mythical team by Coby Santos of Puerto Rico Bento and Arnold Arellano of The Game at forward and Santos’ teammate Darryl Foronda at center.

In the masters, the mythical team included Blue Haus’ Elmer Esdrelon and Ol’Aces’ Chris George at guard, Blue Eagle’s Andrew Ashburn and A’s Car Air-conditioning’s Jorge De Guzman at forwards, and Blue Eagle’s De Shawn Reign at center.

Best coach went to Blue Haus’ Dan Chan and New Chang Ming’s Dennis Cortez in the open and masters division, respectively. The sportsmanship award went to Checkpoint International (open) and RNV Construction (masters).

Schmidt and Esdrelon also got the nod for regular season MVP in the open and masters division, respectively. Other awards given were fourth place Puerto Rico Bento (open) A’s Car Air-conditioning (masters), third place The Game (open) and Ol’Aces (masters), second place Martech-Ol’Aces (open) and Blue Eagle (masters), and champions New Chang Ming (open) and Blue Haus (masters).