All was well in the first quarter of the game for the Sonics. Neither of the teams scored a point until three minutes passed by in the quarter. Melvin Cadiang of the Sonics broke this monotonous routine and made the first shot of the game. Jimmy Tudela and Tristan Ecalnea jumped into the new routine and scored 4 points a piece for the Sonics sending their fans in an uproar.
The Sonics managed to grab hold of the lead by 4 shaky points at the bottom of the quarter after team player Angelo Salas sealed the quarter shot with a successful free throw shot.
The Ol Aces got their act together upon entering the second quarter if the game after Coach Tyron Omar devised very successfully offensive tactics.
The Ol Aces were able to snatch the lead from the Sonics, something that wasn’t possible during the seasonal competitions, after Kevin De Leon scored 4 points followed by an artillery of jump shots from Wes Tomokane, Trevor Ogumoro, MVP Juan Maratita, and Luther Taylor to collar more than 10 points for the Ol Aces.
By half time the Ol Aces not only closed the gap but aviated past the Sonics by two points after Taylor copied Salas from the Sonics and sealed the first half of the game with two successful charity shots.
Both teams entered the second half of the bout strong and ready to play some ball. The Sonics achieved the lead after Cadiang scored 8 more points and edged past the Ol Aces by two points yet again. But MVP Juan Maratita refused to go down without a fight.
Maratita scored 8 whopping points by himself while Luther Taylor contributed his four pence to keep the Sonics at bay and not let the gap move past more than two points throughout the game.
It all came down to final quarter as the atmosphere displayed tension between the fans and the two competing teams. The Ol Aces were able to slip past the Sonics, 66-51 in the last three minutes of the game.
Possession was then given to Sonics. MVP Maratita then fouled an on coming Sonics giving the team but the Sonics offense was not able to sink a single charity in.
The rebound was then grabbed by Leo Galarse and he was able to score another two points to move the score to 61-57.
As the final seconds ticked down the score was 65-64 in the last 5 seconds of the quarter. Coach Omar Ajoste of the Sonics then called for a time out to devise a final jump shot to secure the Sonics’ win. But Coach Tyron Omar was ready and commanded Ryan Ichihara to block and stay with Leo Galarse.
Galarse then made a swift cut pass to Tristan Ecalnea. As the buzzer rang to seal the game shut Ecalnea threw the ball up. The ball connected from the back board and bounced off of the rim sending the Ol Aces fan shooting up from the seats to cheer the Ol Aces on as they won the 19 and under Saipan Rotary Youth Basketball League Championships for the 8th year in a row.
The results from the awards ceremony will be posted on the Thursday edition of the Marianas Variety along with the 15 and under results.
Scores:
Ol Aces– J. Maratita 14, T. Ogumoro 11, W. Tomokane 10, R. Lisua 8, K. De Leon 6, R. Ichihara 6, A. Webb 6.
Sonics– M. Cadiang 13, T. Ecalnea 12, L. Galarse 12, J. Tudela 10, J. Villanueava 5, A. Palacios 4, D. Jeon 3, A. Salas 2.
