[sixcol_five_last]
By Kolby Chang

Royals’ Destiny “Queen-B” Castro dribbles past Gemilie Ilao and was able to go on to score the basket. (photo by Joey Blas)
The Academy Cougars were simply too much for the ND Royals. A well-balanced Cougars squad overwhelmed the Royals and romped to a 54-28 win in the IIAAG Girls Basketball League Friday night at the Academy gym and ended the season with an impressive 11-1 record – best in the league.
The defending champion Cougars begin their quest for another title next week when the playoffs start.
“It’s always important to end the regular season with a victory,” said Cougars’ coach Eddie Pelkey. “We got to get focused and we got to get our mind set. We’re going to enjoy this victory tonight but the real season starts on Tuesday.”
Pelkey added that it’s critical that the team focus all their attention on the next game because that will decide if the Cougars advance to the next round or go home empty-handed.
“We’re not looking past anyone else. Whoever we’re playing on Tuesday is our biggest threat because if we can’t win that game we can’t get to where we want to go,” Pelkey said.
Alina “ICE” Bonto led the Cougars with a game-high 22 points, while Gemilie Ilao chipped in seven points. The Cougars bench provided some scoring punch as well as Dolores Herrera scored eight points and Kali Benavente added six points along with five assists.

Cougars’ Alina “ICE” Bonto drills the three pointer to increase the lead over the Royals. (photo by Joey Blas)
Bonto opened the game with a strong left-handed drive straight to the rack and followed it up with another layup off a fast break. Not to be outdone, Royals’ guard Destiny “Queen-B” Castro split the Cougar defense and laid the ball off the glass to make the score 4-2.
The two-point deficit was as close as the Royals were going to get as the Cougars had too many weapons on offense for the visiting team to contain. Benavente entered the fray about midway through the first quarter and converted a fast break layup to put the Cougars up 10-4.
In the second quarter, Benavente fired a crosscourt dime to Bonto who drove baseline and buried a layup plus the foul to make it 15-4. Castro and the Royals, however, rallied and cut the deficit to 17-12 after Castro stole a pass and drained a 12-foot jumper on the fast break.
The Cougars answered with a 10-0 run capped off by a Bonto triple from the corner. Towards the end of the quarter, Benavente ripped away a pass and dropped a no-look assist to Erin Wong for the bucket and foul.
Pelkey put in his bench early in the third quarter and Herrera responded by knocking down back-to-back three pointers and sunk in a short jumper in the paint. Bonto and Ilao reentered the game in the final minute of the fourth quarter and Bonto sealed a stellar performance with another three-pointer for the final score.
Castro paced the Royals with 15 points and Corina Dudkiewicz added four points. The Royals ended their season with a 5-7 record.
Other Scores
Southern 62, Guam High 19 (SO: Flores 14 pts, Tenorio 12 pts)
Okkodo 62, St. Paul 58
Sanchez 44, JFK 43 (2OT)
PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
[fbshare url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/basketball/cougars-end-with-win/” type=”button”] [fblike url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/basketball/cougars-end-with-win/” style=”standard” showfaces=”false” width=”450″ verb=”like” font=”arial”]
[/sixcol_five_last][useful_banner_manager_banner_rotation banners=53, 38, 83, 86 interval=8 width=120 height=600 orderby=rand]


GPS Sports Calendar
September 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for September
3rd
Events for September
5th
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
8th
IIAAG H.S. CROSS COUNTRY
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Events for September
9th
Events for September
14th
ISA H.S CROSS COUNTRY
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
15th
IIAAG H.S. CROSS COUNTRY
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
17th
GUAM NATIONAL TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIP
80’s 3.5 MILE GLOW RUN
Events for September
18th
ISA H.S CROSS COUNTRY
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
19th
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
19th
Events for September
21st
ISA H.S CROSS COUNTRY
ISA M.S. CROSS COUNTRY
ISA H.S. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
22nd
IIAAG H.S. CROSS COUNTRY
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
23rd
Events for September
25th
ISA H.S CROSS COUNTRY
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
26th
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
28th
ISA H.S CROSS COUNTRY
ISA H.S. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG M.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for September
29th
IIAAG H.S. CROSS COUNTRY
IIAAG GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Events for September
30th
ISA H.S. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7

MMA/Boxing
BRAWL 3 TO PACK A PUNCH WITH LOADED CARD

Weightlifting
POWERLIFTERS REPRESENT WELL IN TEXAS MEET

Weightlifting
POWERLIFTERS REPRESENT WELL IN TEXAS MEET

MMA/Boxing
BRAWL 3 TO PACK A PUNCH WITH LOADED CARD
COMING SOON …
- Brawl 3: Oct 13
- Guam’s Strongest Man and Woman Competition October 29