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By Regina Shiroma
Surviving the Geckos attempt at a comeback, the Okkodo Bulldogs knocked GW out of the playoffs and out of their way on their road to the finals. Despite the loss, the Geckos proved to be a worthy opponent, as a 15-point deficit at the half did not prevent the Geckos from fighting back with vengeance. Nevertheless, even though they were handed a scare in the third quarter, the Bulldogs regained composure just in time to seal their win 61-52.
The Bulldogs sat in a comfortable 39-24 lead at the half, but as the comfort sunk in the Geckos capitalized on this. Geckos’ Devin Maluwelmeng went on to score 14 points in the third quarter alone to bring his team within one point and the end of the period.
“I told them to calm down, and run our set. Just relax and move the ball around; take better shots, and buckle down defensively,” said Bulldog’s head coach Ed Manalac.
With four minutes left in the game, Okkodo’s Joseph Ruppen began what would be an 8-0 run with a three that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
“Everyone on our team can score, but everyone’s gong to have off days, so everyone has to step up,” said Ruppen, with a game-high of 25 points.
“We just gotta put in four good quarters, which something we’ve struggled to do all season,” said Coach Manalac.
With the win, the Bulldogs will face the FD Friars, who defeated the Sanchez Sharks in their quarterfinal bout.
“They play great defense, we have to be almost at a 100% to pull that off, but we’ll definitely give it a shot,” said Coach Manalac about their upcoming game.
“If we play like we did in that third quarter, it’s going to be hard to beat FD. We need four good quarters and we need to value each possession.”
Ruppen contributed 25 points, six steals, three rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and one turnover. Teammate Joel Oyardo finished with six points, two steals, seven rebounds and three assists. Forward Jeddou Antonio tallied 13 points and seven rebounds.
In the losing effort, Maluwelmeng gathered 17 points, six rebounds amd three assists. Rashaun Blas finished with 10 points, seven steals, three rebounds, and three turnovers.
The Bulldogs will face the Friars Tuesday in one of two semifinal matches at the JFK gymnasium.
In other games:
FD 49, Sanchez 34
St. Paul 66, Southern 51 (SP: Carino/San Andres 22 pts; So: Candaso 11 pts)
St. John’s 51, Guam High 48 (OT) (SJ: Flores 21 pts, Sevilla 12 pts)
Semifinals Tuesday at JFK
5:30 p.m. St. John’s (3) vs. St. Paul (1)
7 p.m. Okkodo (2) vs. FD (1)
PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Start of the semifinals game with GW’s Devin Maluwelmeng gaining control of the ball over OHS’s Jeddou Antonio. (photo by Jesse Castro)
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GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
12th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2K/5K
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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