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By John Odtohan
The St. Paul Warriors extend their undefeated streak to 8-0 as they pick up a win against the GW Geckos 68-58 Tuesday night at SPCS gymnasium giving the defending champs their third loss in their last four games.
Despite sitting out most of the fourth quarter due to an injury, Warriors’ Sheik Cariño had the game high 25 points and added five steals.
“I felt good, I knew I had to step it up. I had to do my best to keep my team on top,” stated Cariño on the win.
The Geckos were down by as much as 19 points but with their resiliency, they were able to pull off a tremendous comeback by creating a 16-0 run in the third quarter. They showed an excellent display of ball movement and passing that led to wide open three pointers, two of them coming from Jacob Frias. They also held down the Warriors offense by playing excellent defense. To end the third quarter, Geckos’ Rashaun Blas made a fascinating reverse lay-up over two defenders to cut the lead to 45-42.
“Their run started when we slacked off on defense,” stated Cariño when asked about his thoughts on the Geckos comeback.
With a sense of urgency, the Warriors quickly started the fourth quarter strong with a 6-0 run, led by team captain Tito Canovas. However, the Geckos would not give up as they fought their way back to cut the lead to only two points. With Warriors’ guard Cariño out for the game due to a calf injury, Warriors’ Jason Aquino stepped up his game. Aquino made a crucial steal and converted it to a lay-up to stop the Geckos momentum. The Geckos were desperate to get the possession back and executed a deadly man-to-man pressure that had the Warriors scrambling, nearly losing the ball multiple times. Unfortunately, Warriors’ Brian Tsujii was able to come up with an easy lay-up and teammate Jason Aquino sealed the game by hitting clutch free-throws in the final seconds.
The Warriors applied suffocating defense in the first half and were able to start the game off on a 7-0 run. The Geckos had no offensive rhythm in the first quarter as they had more turnovers than points.
Warriors’ Cariño displayed amazing skills on the offensive end, stunning the crowd with ball handling skills that made the Geckos’ man-to-man pressure look like a walk in the park. He also got the crowd on their feet when he scored ten straight points including a step back three point shot followed by a step back, mid-range fadeaway that included an “and one”.
Warriors’ Aquino had 19 points and teammate John San Andres finished with 2 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Geckos’ Rashaun Blas had a team high 19 points and also contributed six rebounds and five steals.
With the win, the Warriors move on to face their toughest opponent yet on Friday night; a highly anticipated “battle of the undefeated” game against the Father Duenas Friars (8-0).
“I’m definitely excited. I want to show them we are the undefeated team to beat and that we are going to ride it all the way to the championship,” Cariño stated.
In the Junior Varsity game the Geckos defeated the Warriors 61-37. Ryan Sonlik led the Geckos with 17 points and Adrian Manansala led the Warriors with 19.
In other games:
FD 50, Okkodo 46
Guam High 57, St. John’s 53
Sanchez 70, Notre Dame 58
Southern def. Harvest
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GPS Sports Calendar
March 2024
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for February
1st
ISA SOFTBALL
IIAAG MS GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
Events for March
2nd
HS RUGBY
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for March
2nd
Events for March
4th
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
ISA SOFTBALL ALL-ISLAND COACHES MEETING
Events for March
5th
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Events for March
8th
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS PLAYOFFS
Events for March
9th
ISA SOFTBALL FINALS
HS RUGBY FINALS
Events for March
9th
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14th
- 17
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- 23
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16th
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18th
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19th
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20th
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22nd
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24th
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25th
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27th
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28th
Events for March
29th
- 31
- 1
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- 3
- 4
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- 6
Events for March
30th
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
COMING SOON …
4th Quarter Sports
- Guam Marathon