DOLPHINS BLOW OUT COUGARS

By Jeffrey Ochavillo

The Southern High School Dolphins were led by April “Speedy” Talledo during Tuesday night’s IIAG girls basketball game, who helped prevent the Academy Cougars from snapping their two game losing steak as Southern came up with a 68-30 victory win at home.

With Kali Benavente still on the sidelines from a recent injury, April Talledo took advantage of her absence and had put in work on both sides of the court throughout the course of the game coming up with steals that led to easy fast break points.

“When I saw her not warming up or on the court, I really wanted her to play because it would be more competitive,” said Talledo on Benavente’s injury. “However, while she is out on the bench, I had to do my part and play my ball game to try and get the win.”

The Dolphins stumped the Cougars as they only allowed them to score just single digit points in all four quarters.

Coming out of the half, the Cougars were only down 29-16, however, they were struggling offensively with too many turnovers and offensive errors, which had plagued them through the game, giving the second half to the Dolphins.

Dolphins April Talledo was able to pass the ball behind and outstretched Cougar defender. (photo by Jose Perez)

Right when the 3rd quarter started, the Dolphins when on a 8-0 run that started with Talledo showing her range with a step back 3-pointer, followed by teammate Kimberly Malalis, who attempted a 3-pointer that missed and had followed her shot to head to the free throw line where she made one. Her missed free throw was picked up by Marlisah Tenorio who finished with a putback.

After that, Talledo deflected Cougars’ Kiersten Pangelinan’s pass and went coast-to-coast where she was fouled and went to the free throw line to add two more points to the Dolphin lead.

“All we did was we ran our offense the way we wanted. We did have problems with communication, but we were able to make it up on defense which helped us a lot in the game,” said Talledo.

The Cougars did have some fight in them when Cougar’s guard Angelica Bautista drove baseline and went up strong to the basket to draw the contact and get to the free throw line to drain both her free throws to trim the large lead 37-18.

However, that was not enough as the Dolphins then went on an 11-0 run that helped give them 46-21 lead before heading to the last quarter.

In the 4th quarter, the Dolphins outscored the Cougars 24-9. They came out just as energetic from the start with Malalis using a spin move in transition and finished with a layup in the paint. Afterwards, Tenorio picked up the steal and passed it to Malalis to finish with another layup in transition. Then, Talledo pulled up with a key jumper to go up 52-21.

Despite the offensive drought, the Cougars were not giving up as they slowly started adding points on the board with Jasie Villenueva hitting a free throw, and followed the play after with a layup after getting a pass from Pangelinan.

Cougars Angelica Bautista focuses on the rim while being surrounded by Dolphins defenders. (photo by Jose Perez)

Coming down to the final thirty-seconds of the last quarter with both coaches using their bench players, the power had gone out leaving the gym in darkness except the emergency lights. With the Dolphins ahead with an impressive score of 68-30, both coaches agreed to call the game to an end.

April Talledo led the Dolphins in the blowout and had a game high of 25 points and compiled a total of 12 steals in the entire game. Followed by Marlisah Tenorio, who scored 16 points and had a few steals to contribute. For the Cougars, Angelica Bautista led the team with 6 points.

“Compared to our games from the beginning of the season, you can see the improvement on how we gelled. It was hard that there were only a few returnees but we made it work,” stated Talledo about her team. “With playoffs just around the corner and I know that Kali’s injury won’t be that long, I just want to make sure that we are in the best condition to play in the post season. Looking forward to it.”

The Dolphins are now in the race for the first place seed with a record of 7-1. The Cougars are on a three game losing streak and drop to 6-3.

Other Scores 

ND 55, GW 47
JFK 40, Sanchez 24

PHOTO GALLERY:

Dolphins Zoe Surber was all alone taking the ball to the rim. (photo by Jose Perez)

Taking it baseline, Cougars Brittany Meno is fouled. (photo by Jose Perez)

Everyone fighting for that lose ball. (photo by Jose Perez)

At the buzzer to end the 3rd quarter. Dolphins April Talledo lets one go from behind the arc. (photo by Jose Perez)

After stealing the ball, Dolphins April Talledo takes it to the rim for an easy two points. (photo by Jose Perez)

Dolphins Nadine Calceta steals the ball away from Cougars Angelica Bautista. (photo by Jose Perez)

Cougars Kiersten Pangelinan releases her shot outside of the key. (photo by Jose Perez)

A very sneaky and quick Dolphins April Talledo steals the ball away from Cougar Caroline Poppe. (photo by Jose Perez)