ANDERSEN BOMBERS CHAMPS OF SUMMER JAM

By John Baza

GSPN Player of the Game, Ollie Bradley of the Andersen Bombers. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Capping off the Tamuning Summer Jam league, the championship game saw a battle between two of the league’s top teams. The Andersen Bombers and the Tamuning Typhoons put on a show for fans who came to support, but it was the Bombers who would prevail and take the ‘ship as they won 76-65.

The Bombers’ Ollie Bradley lead all scorers with 22 points, also taking home the MVP award. Teammates Ledget Glover and Barry Endsley contributed with 13 and 10 points respectively.

The Bombers felt confident from the start and it showed as they hit their first three shots of the contest to jump out to an 8-0 lead. Ledget Glover started the night on a strong note as he flexed his range and hit two straight three-pointers, coming off a 23-point performance in the semifinals on Saturday.

Fellow teammate Barry Endsley soared high for an alley-oop in the early run, forcing a timeout from the Typhoons.

Tamuning Typhoons’ Billy Belger hit a three from the wing hoping to start a run, but the duo of Glover and Endsley countered back with points in the paint (12-3).

The Bombers’ Bradley, looking to get in on the action, put up two straight threes of his own as the Bombers caught fire, shooting 11-for-13 from the field and out-hustling the Typhoons on the boards.

“We knew they were a good team so we wanted to push the tempo and get them out of their comfort zone… we got our shots up early and were fortunate that they went down tonight”, replied Bradley on his team’s hot start.

Breaking away with time winding down in the first half, the Bombers took a convincing 40-12 lead despite the effort from Typhoons’ Derrick Royster and Young Gao in the paint.

But the Typhoons looked hungrier in the final five minutes of the half as they improved their shot selection and became more aggressive on the boards.

Looking to gain momentum in the final minutes, the Typhoons’ Derrick Royster drove baseline for a strong “and-one” bucket followed by a five point run from teammate Edgardo Baza.

But playing momentum killer was the Bombers’ Brian Cooper who put five points of his own to close out the half and help keep his team in the lead (47-27).

Typhoons fire back

Bombers’ Tony Moses takes it to the hoop with a layup. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Determined to keep his team in contention, the Typhoons’ Maks Kepwe showed hustle throughout much of the half as his timely buckets helped cut at the Bombers lead.

After the Bombers’ Bradley and the Typhoons’ Baza traded threes, Kepwe sparked a 6-point run (52-41) to give his team a boost and force a Bombers timeout.

With the game becoming tighter, both teams began to play with more of a sense of urgency and a more exciting pace of play compared to the first half.

The Bombers reverted back to their starting five who were all business scoring four straight points courtesy of buckets from Bradley and Greg Wilson.

Typhoons’ Reed Meyer countered with a midrange basket, but the highlight came from teammate Gao who dunked off of great fast break passing to finally cut the bombers lead to single digits (56-47).

Hitting the halfway mark of the half, the Bombers’ Cooper once again hit a three to spoil the Typhoons’ run.

The Typhoons’ Baza spun through two defenders for the smooth and-one play (63-52), teammate Meyer contributed two strong baskets in the paint in an effort to gain the lead.

But the Bombers’ Chris Dawley hit a layup with the contact for an added three points to the Bombers lead (66-56).

With five minutes remaining, both teams knew that it was far from over, but a deep three from the Bombers’ Bradley and an and-one from Wilson proved costly as the Bombers pulled away (72-56).

With time closing out the Typhoons were not going down without a fight, as Kepwe and Gao scored in the paint including a Baza three-pointer. But the effort came up short as the Bombers held on to claim the championship.

“Most of us have been playing long enough to know that it’s a game of runs, they had their run and we knew it was our turn to make the next run so we just stayed on top from there”, said Bradley his teams effort to keep the Typhoons at bay.

In the loss, the Typhoons were lead by Baza’s 19 points followed by Gao and Kepwe who chipped in 15 and 10.

Other Scores

The Tamuning Typhoons, led by Felicia ‘Fearless’ Borja, defeated the MTM Falcons 55-49 in the cooed recreational division. Borja was also awarded the top scorer of the league.

14U Coed – Island Wolves 38, Falcons White 27
MVP: Mia San Nicolas (Island Wolves), Top ScorerL Reo Aiken (Tamuning Typhoons)

12U Coed – Island Wolves 37, Inarajan Heat 28
MVP: Josh Sebastian (Island Wolves), Top Scorer: Elijah Cruz (MCS Phoenix)

8U Coed – Tamuning Typhoons 32, Inarajan Heat 26
CO MVP: Josiah Madrazo (Tamuning Typhoons), Jon Mikol Crisostomo (Inarajan Heat, Top Scorer: Jordan Madrazo (Tamuning Typhoons)

10U Coed – Tamuning Typhoons 48, Inarajan Heat 34
CO MVP: Alfred Leon Guerrero (Tamuning Typhoons), Alura Hernandez (Inarajan Heat), Top Scorer: Yoshi Sayama(Tamuning Typhoons)

16U Competitive – Tamuning Typhoons 68, Island Wolves 67
MVP: Michael Min (Tamuning Typhoons), Top Scorer: Ken Brozo (Sinajana Blazers)

18U Competitive – Thunder 82, Central Blazers 66
MVP: Wayne Jesus (Thunder), Top Scorer: Wayne Jesus (Thunder)

PHOTO GALLERY:

Typhoons’ Young Gao sinks a three before the defense could get to him. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Gregory Wilson slips past a Typhoon defender and shoots from the inside. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Both teams collide with each other to catch the rebound. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Surrounded by Bombers, Alfredo Royster takes a chance and shoots. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Gino Soulik of the Typhoons struggles to get a shot up. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Barry Endsely of the Bombers tips the ball back in after a missed shot. (photo by Daniel Paran)