TALLEDO TOO MUCH FOR ISLANDERS

By Robert Balajadia

Dolphins guard April “Speedy” Talledo had her best outing of the 2014 season against the JFK Islanders where Talledo racked up 33 points in a strong 60-49 win at the Islander gym on IIAAG girls basketball Saturday night.

Talledo was magnificent in the first half where she scored 22 of her 33 points, but her seven points late in the 4th quarter were by far the most important as the Dolphins were trying to hold off the Islanders, who rallied back in the second half.

“[Islanders] have a very good defense. They have a height advantage over us along with good ball handlers and shooters, so we just had to play strong defense inside and keep rotating,” said Talledo on facing JFK.

Down 31-14 to begin the second half, JFK got a big lift from Alison Bowman and Rufina Royster as the two combined for 14 points, which helped get the Islanders back into form. The Dolphins got back-to-back buckets from center Mar Tenorio to keep their lead still at large 48-32 heading into the final period.

Full court pressure from the beginning of the 4th period forced the Dolphins into bad passes, allowing JFK to quickly shave off points part of a 10-0 run to get within 48-42.

Southern’s April Talledo had control of the game from the get go. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Talledo then took matters into her own hands by converting on a floater to begin her streak. She then converted on an and-one to go up 54-44 with under two minutes left to play. Talledo then stole the ensuing inbound pass after the free throw, converting on the fast break layup to go up 56-44.

“Since we were leading, I tried to slow the game down and kept trying to pass the ball to my teammates to give everyone a chance to score some points,” said Talledo on what changed in the second half.

JFK had a horrific first quarter as the team only managed to score three points missing all but one field goal while going 1/9 from the free throw line, with their lone basket score coming off a floater from Rufina Royster under the quarters one-minute mark.

The Islanders had a better 2nd quarter, but they still struggled from the field by scoring just nine points which led to their big half-time deficit.

Bowman led the Islanders with 25 points, but she struggled from the free throw line going just 3-15 from the charity stripe. Royster had 18 points in the loss to round out the Islanders top scorers.

Tenorio had nine points for the Dolphins playing sparingly in the game due to foul troubles.

The Dolphins begin their 2014 title defense (4-0) while the Islanders suffer their second straight loss (3-2) after falling to the Okkodo Bulldogs Friday night.

Other Scores

ND 44, Guam High 41
Okkodo 66, Harvest 37
Sanchez 36, Tiyan 35

PHOTO GALLERY:

Bowman scores on her signature turnaround shot in the 4th quarter. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Islanders Rufina Royster scores on a jumper part of their 3rd quarter run. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Islanders Regine Tugade scores on a fastbreak layup. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Islanders Alison Bowman scores on the turnaround post move. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Talledo nails a three pointer in the 2nd quarter to go up big. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

April Talledo converts on a floater in the second quarter. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Dolphins April Talledo drives past Jordan for a basket. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Islanders Alison Bowman gets smothered by the Dolphins defense in the first quarter. (photo by Robert Balajadia)