By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

THE Lady Ayuyus of Kagman High School capped their perfect 2007 season with a 51-44 title win against the Lady Dolphins in the MISA High School Basketball League girls’ finals last Wednesday in the Marianas High School Gym.
The Lady Ayuyus were undefeated in eight games and reclaimed the championship they held in 2004.
Kagman’s victory also foiled the Lady Dolphins bid for a 3-peat.
The Lady Dolphins, who lost to the Lady Ayuyus twice in the regular season, earned a chance to defend their title when they stunned the second-ranked Mt. Carmel School in the semifinals last Wednesday, 59-47.
But they failed to complete their uphill climb in the winner-take-all finals, as former CNMI National Women’s Team member Chelsea Ruluked delivered the goods for the Ayuyus.
Ruluked scored 21 points and got enough support from Agatha Repeki, Tricia Falig and Glarisha Mabel to thwart the upset minded Lady Dolphins.
Unlike in their first two meeting when the Lady Ayuyus led by big margins, the Lady Dolphins kept pace with the Kagman girls, especially in the first half.
With Ruluked sitting on the bench in the first few minutes of the first quarter, MHS even took the lead, 8-2.
Ruluked entered the game midway in the first period and started asserting her might scoring nine points.
The first period ended in a tie, 12-all and the situation was unchanged after the second quarter with the first half tied at 26-all.
Both teams struggled offensively at the start of the second half, but the Lady Ayuyus took the lead at the end of the third period, 36-34, with Ruluked nailing eight of Kagman’s 10 points in that canto.
The Lady Dolphins were held to eight points in the third period, their lowest output in a quarter. No MHS players scored more than one fieldgoal in the third quarter. Laliane Pagarao, who fired 12 points in the first half, had two points, while Rochelle Ermitanio, who nailed seven in the first two quarters, was scoreless in the third.
Ruluked was limited to four points in the payoff period, but it did not hurt the Lady Ayuyus’ chance to steal the title from the Lady Dolphins, as her teammates stepped up.
Mabel drilled all her six markers in the fourth, Falig had a triple and Repeki had two points.
The Lady Dolphins with only Pagarao and Ermitanio scoring more than one fieldgoal made only 10 points in the fourth quarter ending their two-year reign in the annual caging.
Pagarao led MHS’s losing cause with 18 points.
Dolphins, Rays duel for boys’ crown
The underdog Dolphins hope to save MHS pride when they face the defending champion Manta Rays of Southern High School tonight.
The Dolphins lost to the Rays twice in the regular season. Southern swept the regular season and will be gunning for back-to-back titles.
Although Southern is highly favored in the do-or-die finals, the Dolphins in their two meetings have proven that they can match up well against the Rays.
In their second outing, MHS took a 12-point lead going into the last four minutes of the game before it collapsed and Southern veterans Bill Babauta, Preston Basa and Mike Eclevia bailed the Rays out of trouble in overtime.
The Knights and the Ayuyus collide in the first game at 4:30 p.m. for the third place trophy.
The championship game will start at 6:30 p.m. and organizers are reminding the public that the Gym will be closed during the second half of the title match.