Shirley’s still unbeaten; Fiesta recovers

Paul Quizon, seen here eluding POI’s J.P. Villanueva in the shaded lane during their game in the opening day of the Tan Holdings caging, scored 19 points in Fiesta Resort & Spa’s 94-60 rout of Saipan Tribune/Realty Management Services last Saturday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Shirley’s routed erstwhile co-leader Kanoa Resort in the first match, 82-62, while Fiesta Resort recovered from a loss to the former with a similar lopsided victory over Saipan Tribune/Realty Management Services in the third game, 94-60. With their easy wins, Shirley’s improved to a flawless 4-0 record for the solo lead in the six-team field, while Fiesta holds a 3-1 mark, sharing second place with Kanoa. Saipan Tribune/RMS remained winless in four matches.

A big third-quarter turnaround allowed Shirley’s to ease past Kanoa. Shirley’s was ahead by only eight at the break, 39-31, when it doubled up Kanoa in the pivotal canto, 26-13, to enter the fourth period with a 21-point advantage, 65-44. In the fourth frame, Shirley’s countered every basket Kanoa converted to keep the big margin and stretch its winning run to four.

Fradel Sedillo and Rommel Usi top-scored for Shirley’s with 22 points each, while Matt Duenas also had 22 markers for Kanoa.

In the Fiesta-Saipan Tribune/RMS one-sided match, the former had the game in the bag right in the first quarter after limiting the latter to two field goals and taking a 22-5 lead. Fiesta went on to move away further in the last three quarters, as it had a lot of options on offense, while Fiesta-Saipan Tribune/RMS drew multiple baskets from only three players.

Four Fiesta players finished in twin digits and four others added at least four points each, while Fiesta-Saipan Tribune/RMS had only Mark Rabago, Irish Pagarao, and Ferdie De La Torre scoring in double figures.

Meanwhile, in the second game, POI notched its second straight win after downing the winless CTSI/D&Q, 80-43.

POI dictated the tempo of the match early, building an 18-8 advantage after the first period. It never looked back, as Ramsa Tenepere cashed in on easy baskets and the rest of his teammates stepped up. Tenepere recorded a game-high 22 points and had three other teammates contributing twin digits. In contrast, only Ariel Jinang finished in double figures for CTSI/D&Q (0-4) with his 19 markers.

First Game
Shirley’s 82 – Sedillo 22, Usi 22, Dela Rosa 13, Jugos 9, Catungal 4, Nicdao 4, Drillon 2.
Kanoa Resort 62 – Duenas 22, Armia 17, Pablo 9, Usi 7, Nunez 3, Bustillo 2.
Scoring by quarters: 22-14, 39-31, 65-44, 82-62.

Second Game
POI 80 – Tenepere 22, Villanueva 18, Kim 14, Salamat 11, Iglecias 6, Matagolai 4, Acosta 2.
CTSI/D&Q 43 – Jinang 19, Garcia 8, Echavez 6, Solidum 4, Canadalla 3, Cornel 1.
Scoring by quarters: 18-8, 40-20, 61-35, 80-43.

Third Game
Fiesta Resort 94 – Quizon 19, Macoto 13, Matsutaro 13, Villamena 10, Galag 9, Esdrelon 6, Alakda 6, Bello 4.
Saipan Tribune/RMS 60 – Rabago 22, Pagarao 13, De La Torre 10, Ong 6, Angeles 5, Moran 2, Pajarillaga 2.
Scoring by quarters: 22-5, 35-24, 60-42, 94-60.