Settsu teams gain semis berths

Settsu Red Impulse got off to a strong start, posting an unbeaten record in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the 2015 Settsu-Saipan Friendship Basketball Tournament that kicked off last Wednesday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Settsu Red Impulse’s Tomohiro Ishikawa has nowhere to go as he is tightly guarded by Mt. Carmel School defender during the first half of their game in the Settsu-Saipan caging yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

In the men’s division, Settsu won its debut over Marianas High School Yellow, 42-31. The visiting team then went 2-0 in the opening day of the three-day tournament after routing Saipan Southern High School 1, 53-36.

Settsu’s men’s team is composed of Kohei Eguchi, Tomohiro Ishikawa, Tatsumi Yamashita, Taiki Kondo, Ryugi Wada, Haruki Kinumura, and Takuya Sawai. The squad was aiming for a pool sweep against Mt. Carmel School last night, as they were scheduled to slug it out in a 6pm match on Court A.

With its sweep in Day 1, Settsu is assured of one of the two semis berths in Pool A. The semis round will be played today with the top finisher in Pool A facing the second placer in Pool B and vice versa.

Pool B has MHS Blue, Kagman High School, SSHS 2, and TNT Explosives.

MHS Blue leads Pool B as it also went 2-0 in Day 1. The Dolphins got their first victory against Kagman, 58-38, before whipping SSHS 2 in the last game of the night, 45-25.

In other results in the men’s division, SSHS 1 edged Mt. Carmel, 36-34, while SSHS 2 outclassed the TNT Explosives, 41-36.

Meanwhile, in the women’s division, Settsu earned contrasting wins in its first two games.

In the opener of the Basketball Association of Northern Marianas Islands-organized event, Settsu cruised past MHS Yellow, 42-31. Settsu then played in the last game in the division and pulled off a 28-22 victory over Mt. Carmel.

Settsu is in Pool B and the 2-0 mark assured the squad a semis slot. The team is composed of Ayumi Yakano, Maki Maeki, Nanami Hashimoto, Miyu Ohara, Karen Morishita, and Risa Hirayama.

In other results in the women’s division, MHS Blue topped Pool A after defeating Kagman, 36-24, and SSHS, 52-27.

Kagman and Southern were slated to duel for the last semis berth in Pool A last night, while MCS and MHS Yellow were set to battle for the other Final Four berth in Pool B. The semis matches in the women’s division take place at 4pm on Court A and B, while the boys division will have its Final Four games at 5pm. The title match in the women’s division is set for today at 6pm, while the men’s championship tiff is scheduled at 7pm.