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By Robert Balajadia

“Nice try, bro” : Guam’s U19 Michael Sakazaki got a block on younger brother David Sakazaki. (photo by Kevin Wang)

Both the U19 Men’s and Women’s team have played against the U16 teams in the 2013 Micronesia Basketball Tournament and both U19 teams have dominated.

A day after the U19 Women’s team dismantled the U16 team 77-22, the Men’s U19 team ran away to an 87-26 win over the U16 team.  Guam U16 had difficulty taking care of the ball turning the ball over on majority of their possessions.

Michael Sakazaki delivered another great performance netting 20 points to lead the well balanced U19 team of scorers, alongside Sammy Setik’s 13 points.

Guam U19 put the U16 team in a 16-4 whole in the first quarter which they never managed to recover from.  Guam U19 posted 23 second quarter points while the U16 team only managed two late baskets in the quarter to score four points which resulted in a 46-16 halftime score.

The U16 team got a nice lift from Billy Belger who led the team with seven points but the pressure put on by the U19 team made it difficult for any interior scoring, forcing the U16 team into a lot of turnovers tough jump shots.

(MEN’S) PALAU 75, CNMI 72

In the game of the night, Palau managed to pull out a clutch victory over team CNMI off big buckets from Palau’s Marvic Ngchar who finished with a league high 32 points.

Ngchar was hot behind the three-point arc sinking six treys, including four in the first quarter, but it was his final bucket and two free-throws that helped Palau move past CNMI.

Team Palau was trailing 40-34 at halftime but used a 23-point third quarter to take back the lead 57-55.  Ngchar scored 10 points in the third quarter, also hitting his final two three pointers.

CNMI’s Jack Aranda had a team high 17 points followed by a 15 point outing from Marc Babauta.  Aranda scored seven points in the fourth quarter and Babauta scored two late buckets for CNMI but it was not enough to topple the scoring performance from Ngchar.

(WOMEN’S) CNMI 51, PALAU 36

Rachel Abrams 22 and teammate Geraldine Castillo’s 17 points paved the way for CNMI who had an impressive showing against Palau.  Michealani Adelbai led Palau with 17 points in the loss.

Abrams had a healthy dose of scoring through three quarters, giving CNMI the 45-20 lead before taking their foot off the gas pedal while coasting to the finish.

The battle of the two unbeaten teams will play Wednesday night in the Women’s CNMI team and the Women’s Guam U19 team.

TOURNAMENT RECAPS:

Day One

Day Two

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

U16’s Billy Belger and U19’s Ricky Pak race to the ball after a turn-over left the ball loose. (photo by Kevin Wang)

Guam’s U19 Michael Sakazaki goes for a one-man fast break lay up. (photo by Kevin Wang)

Guam’s U16 RJ Rokop attempts the layup as he squeezes through several defenders. (photo by Kevin Wang)

Guam’s U19 Christian Chang blocks the shot attempt from Joshua McCarrel. (photo by Kevin Wang)

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