By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

THE Lady Ayuyus of Kagman High School secured the second finals ticket in the MISA High School Basketball League after crushing Southern High School in the semifinals, 60-32, last Wednesday at the Marianas High School Gym.
After missing last year’s championship following a heart-breaking loss to the Lady Rays in the semis, the Lady Ayuyus made sure they would make the finals trip this time dominating the match from start to finish en route to a 28-point win.
Kagman defeated Southern three times in the regular season last year and had the chance to move into the finals, but collapsed in the closing minutes of their semis match against the Lady Rays, who escaped with a 50-46 win that earned them the right to face the Lady Dolphins in the finals.
Entering last year’s semis, Southern was winless in six games and the upset against the Lady Ayuyus was the major comeback in the 2006 season of the league.
Going into this year’s semifinals, the Lady Rays had a 1-5 record, while the Lady Ayuyus had an impressive 6-0 slate.
Kagman kept their undefeated record with the win and escaped Southern’s upset ax, as Chelsea Ruluked led the Lady Ayuyus to an easy win firing 18 points.
Ruluked, who did not play for the Lady Ayuyus last year, was scoreless in the first quarter, which ended with Kagman up by only one, 9-8. But she drilled seven of Kagman’s 16 points in the second quarter, as the Lady Ayuyus started to break the game wide open taking a 25-9 lead at halftime.
Eva Ito was the lone Southern player to score in the second quarter and the Lady Rays failed to recover at the start of the second half, as they only matched the Lady Ayuyus production of 12 points in the third period.
Ruluked put the finishing touches on Kagman’s convincing win adding 11 more points in the fourth quarter.
Tricia Falic added nine points for the Lady Ayuyus, who also got eight points each from Glarisha Mabel and Dion Diaz.
In the first semis match, the Lady Dolphins boosted their chances for a 3-peat earning a return trip to the finals after stunning the second seed Mt. Carmel School, 59-47.
The Lady Dolphins beat Kagman in the finals in 2005 and Southern in 2006 and will be gunning for their third straight championship against the Lady Ayuyus.
MHS finished third in the regular season with a 1-5 record and was the underdog against MCS (4-2).
But the Lady Dolphins came more prepared for the semis match, as they played heads-up basketball at the start of the game.
Riza Tacliad led MHS’s strong start firing seven points in the first quarter, the end of which saw the Lady Dolphins leading by six, 17-11.
Laliane Pagarao took over in the last three quarters scoring 22 points. Her 14 points in the fourth quarter helped the Lady Dolphins foil the Lady Knights repeated comeback bids.
The winner-take-all finals duel between the Lady Dolphins and the Lady Ayuyus will take place on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Southern and Mt. Carmel will meet in the first game at 4:30 for the consolation trophy.
Scores:
First Game
MHS 59—Pagarao 22, Tacliad 10, Agbanlog 10, Diaz 10, Ermitanio 4, Palero 2, Jang 1.
MCS 47—Calvo 20, Lebria 9, Ta 8, De Brum 6, Takai 4.
Quarterscores: 17-11, 28-19, 35-29, 59-47
Second Game
KHS 60—Ruluked 18, Falig 9, Mabel 8, Diaz 8, Repeki 7, Tudela 4, Bennett 2, Reyes 2, W. Camacho 1.
SSHS 32—S. Maratita 12, Cabrera 10, Hesus 6, Ke. Babauta 2, Ito 2.
Quarterscores: 9-7, 25-9, 37-21, 60-32