The MHS team members pose with the boys division championship trophy during the awards ceremony of the IT&E Interscholastic Basketball League at the MHS gym on Saturday.
MARIANAS High School silenced all doubters during the IT&E Interscholastic Basketball League championship as they bested Kagman High School by one free-throw shot, 56-55, to win the boys high school division title on Saturday at the MHS gym.
It was a championship game like no other with MHS as the underdogs, but they managed to beat the odds as they cleared their way to secure a spot in the finals against KHS.
In the title game, KHS led by Lucio Aldan were the aggressors. The point guard wreaked havoc on the court, thanks to his ability to handle the ball, slip through defenders and finish at the rim. He opened the first half with 14 points to give KHS the lead.
MHS, for their part, relied on teamwork with Khristian David and Aiden Suba combining for 10 points. But KHS’ Alejandro Oritz drained back-to-back buckets to maintain the lead, 24-21.
In the second half, KHS continued to control the pace as Frankie Satur and Oritz stepped up with a combined 11 points in the first 10 minutes while Anthony Dikito’s three-pointer and Nobet Hocog’s jumper gave KHS an eight-point advantage.
But MHS gradually heated up as David and Airson Atan scored consecutive jump shots and finishes at the rim to seize the lead, 55-53, with less than 30 seconds left on the clock.
MHS had a chance to widen their lead after a defensive stop, but suffered the same fate on the offensive which handed KHS an opportunity to tie the game, 55-55, with 16 seconds remaining.
Both teams fought hard to gain the upper hand but neither could connect the much-needed shot.
During the game’s final five seconds, the ball was in the hands of MHS’ Suba who drew the foul as he went through the middle to finish with a layup with one second left on the clock.
Suba connected his first free-throw attempt but missed the second shot which went out of bounds and was followed by a timeout.
KHS still had a chance as they were placed at halfcourt for the inbound play, but they failed to convert and had to settle for defeat, 55-56.
During the regular season, KHS was considered the team to beat. MHS, for their part, saw their flaws and adjusted well.
“We changed how we played,” said MHS coach Dan Wollak. “We were not at all happy with our regular season games. We were playing a lot of individual ball offensively and didn’t bring the intensity we needed defensively.”
He added, “Sometimes a loss could be a good thing and we used it as fuel coming into the playoffs and came in with a much better game plan. We were really confident with all 14 players we had, and we knew if we kept the game in reach, we could use our depth and tire them out and that was our strategy.”
MHS went undefeated during the playoffs while KHS dropped to the losers bracket in the quarterfinals but redeemed themselves after eliminating SSHS, 48-40, to reach the finals.
SSHS were handed their first loss by MHS but made it to the semifinals of the losers bracket which resulted in a battle between father and son: SSHS coach Mike Mercado and MCS player Michael Mercado. SSHS won, 47-41.
MHS’ Aiden Suba takes the off-balanced one-handed shot against KHS’ Frankie Satur during the boys high school division championship game of the IT&E Interscholastic Basketball League on Saturday at the MHS gym.
MHS’ Dylan Mister attempts the fadeaway shot against three KHS defenders during the boys high school division championship game of the IT&E Interscholastic Basketball League on Saturday at the MHS gym.
