Settsu tops MHS in finals rematch

Settsu Red Impulse’s Seina Vijie pulls up for a shot against Marianas High School’s Diane Pablo, right, while Gabrielle Race, left, tries to catch up on defense during the first half of their title game in the Settsu-Saipan caging last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Settsu Red Impulse had a successful title defense bid in the girls division of the 2016 Settsu-Saipan Friendship Basketball Tournament following a methodical 56-21 finals win against Marianas High School last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The visiting squad used its strong fundamentals to prevail in the finals rematch and earn its third straight victory against the Lady Dolphins. Settsu won last year’s finale, 44-27, and defeated the MHS in the battle for third place, 77-43, in the 2014 edition of the competition.

“Settsu’s female players are fundamental sound. They killed us both on offense and defense. Hats off to them,” MHS coach Preston Basa said.

The Susumu Sakaguchi-coach team displayed basic basketball, moving the ball well around the perimeter and dribbling only ones or twice before looking for open shooters and cutters. Settsu players knew exactly where their teammates were that one extra pass usually resulted into an easy basket. On defense, they played man-to-man to shut down the hapless Lady Dolphins.

“Our girls are used to zone so when Settsu played man-to-man, they were lost. They told me it was hard to get open for a shot, so I instructed them to keep moving the ball around and have patience, but still Settsu’s defense was simply great,” Basa said.

Settsu’s defense was so unforgiving that the Lady Dolphins were often left with a second or two to pull up for a shot and when they did, they mostly missed, as they were not squared off for the attempt. The visiting squad’s defense also held MHS scoreless for nearly 11 minutes, bridging the first and second quarter.

The Lady Dolphins were stuck to 6 points, while Settsu turned a shaky 7-6 advantage to a 15-6 cushion after 10 minutes of play. Seina Vijie led Settsu in the first quarter with her 7 points, as she loitered in the wings, waiting for entry passes and also unloaded a couple of long jumpers.

Vijie continued to find her target in the second quarter and found an ally in Chihiro Okumori, as Settsu established a 26-6 lead before a short jumper from Diana Pablo at the 2:07 mark of that period ended MHS’ long silence. The Lady Dolphins went on to score only one more basket after Pablo’s shot with Kyla Ito knocking in a rare 3-pointer, but Settsu remained in full control when the first half wrapped up, 27-11.

The Lady Dolphins never made headway in the second half to cut the deficit to a decent number, as Settsu still played methodical basketball to secure the convincing title twin.

“Our players played very well in this tournament and that’s because they’ve been together for a while—nearly two years. They executed our plays and showed great defense,” Sakaguchi said.

Vijie top-scored for Settsu with her 21 points. Joining her and Okumori on the team were Miku Asai, Tsuzumi Nakaoka, Nanami Hashimoto, Risa Hirayama, Kimi Oida, Jaria Iwamoto, and Mizuki Iwasaki.

Settsu advanced to the finals after whipping Saipan Southern High School in the semis, 45-21, while MHS edged Mt. Carmel School in the other Final Four pairing, 32-26. Settsu was unbeaten in the division, which also featured a team from Tinian Junior High School.

Meanwhile, Kagman and Tinian High School played in the boys finals last Saturday and results will be reported in Saipan Tribune’s Tuesday edition.

Settsu 56—Vijie 21, Okumori 12, Asai 8, Nakaoka 6, Hashimoto 5.

MHS 21—Ito 9, Lopez 8, Pablo 2, Vergara 2.

Scoring by quarters: 15-6, 27-11, 41-15, 56-21.