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By John Odtohan

Warriors’ Tito Canovas dribbles past the defense of Geckos’ Allen Camacho. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

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.

McDonald’s player of the game: Warriors’ Sheik Carino. 25 point, 5 steals

“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.

Geckos’ Rashaun Blas skies high for the fast break layup. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

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

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Warriors’ John San Andres scores in the post over two Geckos defenders. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Allen Camacho scores the fast break layup. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Warriros’ Sheik Carino gets past Geckos’ Devin Maluwelmeng to attempt the layup. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Warriors’ Jason Aquino was able to score the layup despite the tight defense from Geckos’ Devin Maluwelmeng. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Rashaun Blas gets the block on Warriors’ Tito Canovas. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Warriors’ Sheik Carino slashes through the Geckos defense to score the easy layup. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Devin Maluwelmeng and Warriors’ John San Andres fight for the rebound. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Warriors’ Jason Aquino scores the fast break layup. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

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