Warriors 1, Ol’Aces Real Deal rout foes

The Ol’Aces Real Deal’s K.J. Kabiriel goes up for a reverse layup, while two Chinatown Titans defenders look on during the fourth quarter of their boys U18 division game in the Diaz youth caging last Monday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Ol’Aces Real Deal reached past the century mark to crush Chinatown Titans, 107-36, while the NSA Warriors 1 also walloped the Law NMI Rollers, 84-36, in the boys U18 division games in the 2018 Frank M. Diaz Memorial Youth League last Monday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Ol’Aces Real Deal now has a 10-0 record, one win away from sweeping the round-robin regular season, while the NSA Warriors 1 finished the elimination with a 7-4 record and is likely to place in the Top 4 going into the eight-team playoffs.

The Warriors 1 was impressive in its last game in the elims after building an early double-digit lead, 24-7. Henry Aguon scored 8 points in the first quarter to help the Warriors 1 gain control of the match.

The Law NMI Rollers, which dropped to a 1-9 record and is already out of the playoff picture, was limited to two field goals and three free throws in the opening canto and never managed to move closer to its opponent.

The losing squad still struggled offensively in the second quarter, scoring only 6 points, while Kobe Lifoifoi picked up where Aguon left off to hand the Warriors 1 a 37-13 halftime lead. Lifoifoi registered the Warriors 1’s first 6 points in the second canto.

Then in the third period, Lifoifoi and Aguon teamed up in burying the Law NMI Rollers for an insurmountable lead, 64-20. Despite more than doubling its opponents output after three periods, the Warriors 1 showed no mercy in the fourth en route to the 48-winning margin.

The Ol’Aces Real Deal was also unforgiving against the hapless Chinatown Titans.

The unbeaten squad had the game in the bag right after the first half, posting acomfortable 51-17 advantage. Then when the game resumed, the Ol’Aces Real Deal continued to pound their opponents for a 79-28 lead. Coby Santos and Dean Blake combined for 18 points in the third quarter to widen the gap further.

Santos was still at it in the final canto and the rest of his teammates also hit their targets, while the Titans could not counter, making only three field goals in the fourth.

With the loss, the Titans fell to a 3-7 record and are in danger of not making it to the playoff round as the team remained at ninth place in the standings behind Saipan Vegas Elite (4-3).