Shots Fired’s Jezpher Navarro, Austin Diaz, and Christian Lucero pose for a photo after winning the third tournament of the Marianas Arsenal 3×3 Series at the Ada gym on Saturday.
Shots Fired’s Jezpher Navarro pulls up for the midrange shot over Team Nesian Built’s Jack Lizama during the finale of the third tournament of the Marianas Arsenal 3×3 Series at the Ada gym on Saturday.
SHOTS Fired stole the show with an upset victory over two-time defending champions Team Nesian Built, 21-19, in the third tournament of the Marianas Arsenal 3×3 Series at the Ada gym on Saturday.
Shots Fired, which consisted of U16 players Jezpher Navarro, Christian Lucero and Austin Diaz, trailed behind Team Nesian Built after the first few minutes of the final game.
Team Nesian Built powered their way to the hoop led by Jack Lizama with back-to-back finishes underneath the rim while Douglas Schmidt used his speed to get through the defenders for the easy finish. Teammate Coby Santos, for his part, kept their offensive options open with long-ranged buckets to push a near double-digit advantage.
Despite a rough start, Shots Fired put up a fight and were rewarded with several second-chance buckets courtesy of Austin Diaz.
Teammates Navarro and Lucero started to pitch in and managed to cut the lead with less than two minutes left on the clock.
After a few more exchanges, Team Nesian Built’s Preston Basa subbed in for Coby Santos, looking to secure the win with several three-point shot attempts, but none found the bottom of the net.
Each missed shot, however, turned into scoring opportunities for Shots Fired with Lucero igniting the run by delivering three consecutive triples followed by another courtesy of Navarro to grasp control, 20-19.
After another missed shot by Team Nesian Built, Shots Fired quickly reset the possession and created an opening for Navarro, who popped the floater from the top of the key to clinch victory and win the title.
In an interview, the 15-year-old Navarro said, “To me [our win] was very surprising. I know there is a lot of competition and I just want to experience it and see what happens.”
Although the team is too young to compete for the FIBA Asia 3×3 Cup, he said their “strength was shooting so our strategy was to just screen and shoot and let it fly.”
Asked what was going through his mind as he made the game-winning shot, Navarro said, “I was very happy and lucky to make that shot. We did great. At first, we had a negative mindset, but as we played it was lifted, and we got the victory.”
