[sixcol_five_last]
By Regina Shiroma

Friars’ Jonathan Onedera defends the three point shot from Bulldogs’ Aaron Blaz. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)
They had the best record all season, and on paper, they looked like they had the win in the bag. They were bigger and stronger, but in a night of upsets, the Okkodo Bulldogs overthrew the top-ranked FD Friars 62-45 in their semifinal bout Thursday night at the JFK gym.
“It feels good to finally beat that top team. Even though they were way bigger than us, we knew we could fight; we could put up a game with them,” said Okkodo’s Aaron Blaz who was a big defensive help throughout the game.
After five lead changes and three ties, the Bulldogs began to pull away with less than four minutes left on the clock. Tied at 41-all, Bulldog’s Joseph Ruppen dropped in a layup and on his way down was fouled. Ruppen made the and-one shot and the Bulldogs took off from there. With one minute, forty left in regulation, Okkodo’s Keeno Madrazo took a wide open shot at the three that had the northern school’s fans jumping to their feet, holding three fingers in the air as the ball swished through the net. Now leading 49-43, the fans became more antsy as the end came near. The Friars saw some life when Christian Chang scored a quick basket off an inbound play, however this would be the last basket of the game they’d make with one and a half minutes left.
Scrambling for the ball, FD committed numerous fouls giving the Bulldogs five opportunities at the line. Going 10 for 11, Okkodo jumped ahead 59-45 with 30 seconds left. Sensing the victory, the Okkodo crowd began to cheer for their team. Blaz intercepted a pass and converted the layup to seal the deal. And for the icing on the cake Garren Reyes scored their last points of the game right before the buzzer went off.

McDonald’s Defensive Player of the Game: Bulldogs’ Aaron Blaz. 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists
Blaz proved to be a defensive threat tallying five steals (three in the fourth quarter) and grabbing six rebounds.
“The coaches told me every time out, entering the half, ‘Just move your feet, work on that D.’ In my mind I was like, I don’t care about scoring, I want to play D for the team,” said Blaz.
On the other side of the ball, Ruppen was a thorn in the side of FD’s defense. Ruppen led with a game high of 24 points, including three and-one plays.
“We’re going to practice hard, get lots of rest and hopefully…win,” said Ruppen after the game.
The Bulldogs will face the St. Johns Knights in Saturday’s championship game at the UOG Field House at 7P.M. Watch live video streaming of the game from the GSPN website!
PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Bulldogs’ Joel Oyardo attempts the fade away over Friars’ Michael Sakazaki and Bruce Merrill after grabbing the offensive rebound. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Friars’ Nick Aglubat soars through the defense of Bulldogs’ Aaron Blaz to score the first basket of the game. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Friars’ John Baza attempts the hard fought layup but gets denied from behind by an outreached hand of Bulldogs’ Neil Oledan. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Bulldogs’ Garren Reyes laughs as he scores the layup after pump-faking Friars’ Jonathan Onedera past him on the fast break. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Friars’ Michael Sakazaki attempts the mid range jump shot over the defense of Bulldogs’ Neil Oledan and Aaron Blaz. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Bulldogs’ Joel Oyardo utilizes his speed to get the ball quickly down court on offense. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Bulldogs’ Aaron Blaz attempts the half court shot in the closing seconds of the first quarter. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)
WATCH THE KNIGHTS AND BULLDOGS LIVE ON WWW.GUAMSPORTSNETWORK.COM SATURDAY NIGHT AT 7 P.M.
[fbshare url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/?p=24617″ type=”button”] [fblike url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/?p=24617″ style=”standard” showfaces=”false” width=”450″ verb=”like” font=”arial”]
[/sixcol_five_last][useful_banner_manager_banner_rotation banners=38, 53 interval=8 width=120 height=600 orderby=rand]


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

Basketball
BULLDOGS WIN BATTLE OF 4-0 TEAMS

Baseball
MUNA LEADS DODGERS TO TOURNEY FINALS

MMA/Boxing
JONES TO FACE FORMER UFC CHAMPION

Baseball
GECKOS SWING BIG IN SEASON OPENER

Baseball
FRIARS EDGE ROYALS IN PITCHER’S DUEL

Basketball
FRIARS TAKE DOWN PANTHERS 74-68

Running/Track
GECKOS, SHARKS BUILDING TRACK CONFIDENCE
