MICRO GAMES: GUAM DOMINATES DAY 3

By Robert Balajadia

POHNPEI – The swimmers wrapped up their stay in Pohnpei competition with a plethora of medals, The Guam men and women’s basketball team got big wins over their opponents in the afternoon, the men of Guam successfully bounced back getting wins in softball and baseball in the morning, and the girls softball game got rained out.

Hardware Hunters

Guam concluded their final swimming events taking home 17 medals – 9 gold, 5 silver, and 3 bronze. Olympians Benji Schulte, Chris Duenas, and Pilar Shimizu dominated their events but young swimmer Jagger Stephens made the biggest splash all Games long grabbing gold in all four events he participated in, including the relay.

Here are all the medal winners from the swimmers final day:

200m Butterfly Men
Tanner Poppe- Silver
Champ Quinata- Bronze

200m Butterfly Women
Lorelei Poppe- Gold

50m Backstroke Men
Jagger Stephens- Gold
Alejandro Atoigue- Silver

Jagger Stephens takes a bite of his gold medal winning the 50 meter heat. (Photo by Joey Blas)

50m Freestyle Men
Jagger Stephens- Gold
Christopher Duenas- Silver

50m Freestyle Women
Pilar Shimizu- Gold

100m Breaststroke Men
Benjamin Schulte- Gold
Tanner Poppe- Bronze

100m Breaststroke Women
Pilar Shimizu- Gold

400m Freestyle Men
Jagger Stephens- Gold
Tommy Imazu- Silver

400m Freestyle Women
Amanda Poppe- Bronze

4×800 Mix Relay
Gold
Champ Quinata
Taloani Atoigue
Amanda Poppe
Tommy Imazu

4x50m Men’s Relay
Gold
Jagger Stephens
Christopher Duenas
Alejandro Atoigue
Tanner Poppe

4x50m Women’s Relay
Silver
Pilar Shimizu
Jessica Jones
Taloani Atoigue
Madison Packbier

Young Stars Push Guam Over Palau

With an injured Kathryn Castro and Jocelyn Pardilla in foul trouble for majority of the game, Guam’s Alina Bonto and Destiny Castro supplied majority of the offense scoring 20 points each, though Castro left the game early do to a late collision colliding knees with Pohnpei’s Sarabeth Ksano.

Guam defeated Palau 79-46 as the newcomers took over.

Both teams were in a cold funk to start the game but Bonto carried the early scoring load scoring eight of the teams first 11 points off nifty moves around the basket and fast break layups.

Guam’s defense has been showing strong in the first two games allowing Palau just five points off wild shot attempts.

Guam’s Destiny Castro fights through contact between Palau’s Mahealani Adelbai. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Palau came as close as 25-18 in the second quarter after fast break buckets from Trinity Misech and Sweety Kalbesang. Bonto aided in a 6-0 run to end the quarter going into halftime with a 31-18 lead.

Castro did most of her damage in the third quarter after Pardilla made an early exit. On the floor were Team Guam’s newest members in Castro, Bonto, Kali Benavente, and Felicia Borja with Bonto being the only one not in high school having just graduated.

The talented female ballers showed glimpses of the future assuring Guam basketball is in good hands. The group stretched the halftime 31-18 halftime lead to 57-29 with Castro scoring 11 points in the quarter.

Guam then cruised in the 4th quarter with Sam Nauta putting points on the board for Guam. Nauta finished with 10 points scoring six in the 4th quarter.

Every member from Team Guam scored again in the game.

Guahan Solider co-player of the game Destiny Castro.

Guahan Soldier co-player of the game Alina Bonto.

Guam Too Much For Yap

After defeating Kosrae in physical fashion, Team Guam was able to open up a big lead against Yap which had them cruise to a 107-61 win.

Guam’s hot start blew the game wide open as Guam scored 33 points in the first quarter with Joe Blas scoring as many points as Yap in the quarter matching the squad at 11 points. Blas finished with 19 points for Guam.

The men’s team scored 55 points in the first half and 57 in the second getting a great team effort with everyone contributing in the win.

Joe Blas fights through two players from Yap on his way to two points. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Women’s Game Called Off

Heavy rain all day had delayed action in the men’s softball and baseball game but officially called off the women’s game against Kosrae. Palau and RMI were playing beforehand but had gotten rained out. There has not been an official word on how these games will be played out.

Guam’s volleyball team took the game against the home team Pohnpei and Guam Baseball and Softball bounced back from their first game losses. Both the men and women’s tennis teams captured the gold team medals as well.

PHOTO GALLERY:

Guam’s Kali Benavente pulls up for a jumper. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Guam’s Felicia Borja fights through contact for a layup. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Guam’s Kris uses a post move to in the 4th quarter. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Guam’s volleyball team made an appearance for the girls basketball game. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Guam’s Will Stinnett controls the offense late in the second half. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Guam’s Kyle Husslein works his way to the basket through the Yap defense. (photo by Robert Balajadia)