PANTHERS TOP GECKOS 55-49

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By Colin Leon Guerrero

Panthers’ LJ Aguon gets called for the blocking foul on Geckos’ Rashaun Blas who scores the and-one layup. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Building off momentum from last weekend at the Far East tournament, the Guam High Panthers successfully defended their home court against the George Washington Geckos routing them 55-49 Tuesday night extending their winning streak to five games.

Michael Stewart led the Panthers with 16 points including five straight points at the end of the third quarter giving Guam High a convincing ten point lead 42-32.

“We held down our defense and came out strong in the second half which is usually our weak point, but we believe in each other,” said Stewart.

The Geckos began to pick up momentum in the fourth cutting the lead 52-45 after a big layup by Rashaun Blas, but costly turnovers prevented the Geckos from taking the lead from the Panthers.

McDonald’s player of the game: Panthers’ Michael Stewart. 16 points

The Geckos had a strong first half, leading at the end of the first quarter 10-9.

But early foul trouble and turnovers thwarted GW’s plan of taking over the game. Stewart used the Geckos’ mistakes to his advantage, scoring seven points at the end of the first half tying the score at 21-21 by halftime.

Stewart got the crowd roaring after sinking in five back-to-back points, including an impressive give and go play between Stewart and teammate Austy Hines extending their lead to ten at the end of the third quarter.

Blas did his best to keep GW in the game scoring 16 points in a losing effort, but foul trouble and Guam High’s defense was enough to keep the Geckos at bay.

“We played them in Far East, and we learned from that game which helped us lock them down tonight,” said Stewart when asked about their plan defensively on GW.

This is a significant win for the Panthers; not only do they improve their record to 7-5 with the win, they move into second place over GW (7-5) in the Gadao division.

Guam High won the JV game 69-63

In Other Games
Sanchez def. Saint Paul 65-57

FD def. Southern 46-40

St John’s def. JFK 61-58

Okkodo def. Harvest 83-41

JV Scores:
Sanchez def. Saint Paul 38-21

FD def. Southern 45-25

JFK def. St John’s 44-26

Okkodo def. Harvest 66-32

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Panthers’ Austin Hines gets past the Geckos defense to score the layup off his own steal. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Rashaun Blas hustles to the ball to try and keep the play alive. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Allen Camacho skies for the defensive rebound. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Devin Maluwelmeng scores the easy basket off an offensive rebound. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Panthers’ Michael Stewart gets past Geckos Rashaun Blas to score the reverse layup. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Jason Frias tries to score over two Panthers defenders in an attempt to reduce the gap late in the game. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Geckos’ Rashaun Blas goes coast-to-coast to score the layup late in the fourth quarter. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

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