Saipan International School’s swift offensive, paired with a solid defense from Adele Hudkins and Phalai Frink,
proved fatal to Grace Christian Academy. The Eagles had only minutes to recover before falling out, 19-13.
The Geckos crawled forward with four points in the first quarter, leaving the scoreless Eagles behind. SIS bumped ahead with 10 points to end the first half, and led 14-2 in the third quarter. Both Hudkins and Frink missed on their free throws, but churned out six points each. Seoung Hyun Lee pulled through with one out of two free throws two minutes in the final quarter. Lee garnered three points and Emily Jones scored four.
The Eagles, scoring no baskets in the first and third quarter, came back in the last five minutes. GCA’s Zena Demapan landed two jump shots for four points. Jazmin Rayphand scored three out of five free throws and a layup, piling five points. Danica Canedo pulled away with another jumper for two points.
Frequent out-of-bound passes and fouls had both teams scrambling back and forth. Frink charged for a clean steal in the last five seconds, but was too far from the basket.
SIS also defeated Saipan Community School, 30-12 in Monday’s quarterfinal game. They will face the top-seeded Whispering Palms School in today’s championship match at Ada Gym. WPS – which routed Seventh-day Adventist School, 36-20 on Monday – needed only one game to reach the finals.
Scores:
Saipan International School 19 – A. Hudkins 6, P. Frink 6, E. Jones 4, S. Lee 3
Grace Christian Academy 13 – J. Rayphand 5, Z. Demapan 4, Lee 2, D. Canedo 2
Quarterscores: 4-0, 10-2, 14-2, 19-13
