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By Errol Alegre, Jr.

Warriors’ Joy Pangelinan scores over the much taller Islander defender Aria Perez-Theisan. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

The St. Paul campus gym was filled with roaring basketball fans Friday night during IIAAG high school girls basketball action as the St. Paul Warriors defeated the JFK Islanders 55-50 after four quarters of crowd-pleasing ball play.

With the Warriors up 53-47 and just 24 seconds left in the game, it seemed that the home team was going to ride off with the win after a hard-fought battle. But the Islanders had other plans and got the Warriors back on their toes after Tess Reyes sunk a layup and got fouled in the process for the and-one play. After making the key free throw and bringing the score within three, the spectators’ roars got even louder as Reyes stole the Warriors’ in-bounds pass allowing the Islanders to call a timeout. After advancing the ball to the half court line, the Islanders were able to get off a layup inside. But the Warriors defense was too much as they managed to contest the ball, force the miss and obtain the rebound to call a timeout of their own. With less than ten seconds left, the Islanders knew they still had a chance at the game. However, all hope was lost as Warriors big man, Kindra Young, received the ensuing in-bounds pass right under the rim and made the easy layup to seal the win.

Both teams started the game off with fire under their shoes, but it was the Warriors who had the upper hand with their full court press that held the Islanders at bay for the first four minutes of play. The Islanders finally put their first points on the board after Reyes sunk in an and-one layup, but the Warriors did not let up. Led by multiple hard-fought drives to the basket by Justin Yeban and Joy Pangelinan, the Warriors jumped on their biggest lead of the game at 12-2 with four minutes left in the quarter. However, the Islanders did not back down and capitalized on some stifling defense of their own as they forced the Warriors into four straight turnovers. Closing the quarter on a good note for the Islanders was Krystal Pardilla who sunk a trey to bring the game within two at 11-13.

Islanders’ Tess Reyes attempts the fast break layup past the defense of Warriors’ Justin Yeban. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

The second and third quarters featured the Warriors going on momentary streaks but being unable to pull away with it. The home team upped their defense once again to full court press and forced the Islanders into four straight turnovers. The defensive onslaught was capped off by Aven Jesser who scored a layup to put the Warriors up 36-26 in their 10-0 run. Islanders’ Hiromi Atem went on a scoring and offensive rebounding tear to lead her team in a short run. From then on, it was a back-and-forth affair with both teams earning their points inside, one after the other.

The Islanders were able to keep the score close throughout the game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the balanced offensive and defensive attack from the home team. Leading the Warriors in their win was Joy Pangelinan who had a game-high 25 points while teammate Justin Yeban chipped in 18. In the losing effort, Islanders’ Atem put on an impressive performance with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals. Aiding her was teammates Tess Reyes and Caroline Poppe who had 13 points apiece.

In the JV match up, the Islanders defeated the Warrriors 37-29.

In other games:

The Okkodo Bulldogs defeated the St. John’s Knights 64-61, despite Knights’ Destiny Castro’s game-high of 41 points. Okkodo’s JV team also earned a win against the Knights defeating them 44-13.

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Warriors’ Cara Young and Islanders’ Tess Reyes hustle to gain possession of the loose ball. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Warriors’ Joy Pangelinan hops steps into three Islanders defenders. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Warriors’ Cara Young scores the fast break layup off her steal. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Warriors’ Joy Pangelinan tries to keep the ball away from the defense of Islanders’ Krystal Pardilla. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Islanders’ Caroline Poppe uses the drop step to get around the defense of Warriors’ Jaz Guerrero. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

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