By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

ORGANIZERS of the 2007 MISA High School Basketball League named the members of the boys’ and girls’ All Conference Teams in a brief award ceremony last Friday at the Marianas High School Gym after the boys’ championship match.
Two Saipan Southern High School players and one each from Marianas High School, Mt. Carmel School and Kagman High School made the boys’ team.
The Rays’ veterans Preston Basa and Bill Babauta led the list, which also included the Dolphins’ Ivan De Vero, the Knights’ Aitau Barcinas and the Ayuyus’ Keoni Chariton.
Babauta and Basa led Southern to a perfect 6-0 record in the regular season before the Dolphins snapped the winning streak and dethroned the Rays with a 99-78 win in the winner-take-all finals match last Friday.
De Vero, who was inconsistent in his games during the regular season, stepped up big time in the playoffs. He had 22 points in the championship game scoring on layups, jumpers and undergoal stabs.
He, Jayvan Tarkong, Jericho Cruz and Joemar Tumaquip formed the MHS quartet that foiled the Manta Rays’ bid for back-to-back titles.
Barcinas failed to give the Knights a single win this season, but he was among the top scorers for MCS.
Chariton helped the Ayuyus secure a trophy this season. He scored 13 points in the Ayuyus’ 88-85 win against the Knights in the battle for third place last Friday.
Former CNMI Women’s Team member Chelsea Ruluked led the Girls’ All Conference Team.
The Ayuyus gunner was the unofficial top scorer in the girls’ division averaging 15 points a game in the regular season. Ruluked scored 21 points in the Ayuyus’ 51-44 win over the dethroned champion Lady Dolphins. She is only a rookie and is expected to lead Kagman in the next three seasons.
Joining Ruluked on the team were teammate Tricia Falig, MHS’s Lalaine Pagarao, Mt. Carmel’s Nicole Lebria and Southern’s Minerva Cabrera.
Meanwhile, league organizer Joel Punzalan thanked participating teams, teachers, students and parents for supporting the high school caging.
He also made special mention of MHS’s James Feger, who with other MHS staff took care of the venue and assigned students/staff to handle the game statistics.
Punzalan vowed to bring a more exciting league next year, as he and the coaches of the participating teams continue to raise the level of competition in high school basketball on the island.