By Christine-Danielle Leon Guerrero
The Academy Cougars capped off a dream season, going undefeated while ending the St. Paul Warriors’ four-year reign as champs.
Meeting for the fourth time in five years in the title game, the Cougars had their way by cruising to a 57-36 win Thursday night at the UOG Calvo Field House.
Mia Taitano, Coco Paulino, Annika Almario and Co. were just too much as they were for the entire season, leaving no doubt.
St. Paul hung around early, trailing only 10-7 after the first quarter. That was before Academy charged out to a 12-2 run to open the second quarter sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from Oriana Sevilla.
The Cougars defense held the Warriors to eight points for the quarter and behind guards Paulino’s 11 and Almario’s eight first half points, the Cougars entered the half with a 30-15 lead.
Academy’s offense found a plethora of scoring opportunities shooting 12-of-32 in the first half including six three-pointers. Almario being the recipient of ¼ of the first half shot attempts most of which she took from beyond the arc felt at home from the 3-point line saying, “I knew that even if I wasn’t hitting my shots, my teammates got my back,” Almario said. “My teammates and I have good chemistry.”
With only two quarters away from capturing that elusive title, Cougars Coach Jimmy Yi had only one message for his girls.
“Finish the game, finish the job!”
Paulino gladly took the message to heart after coming up short last year. “We stayed on the game plan and new not to let our energy down, so we just kept going and pushing,” said Paulino when asked if adjustments were made heading into the 2nd half.
The Warriors managed to keep the deficit within 15 after three quarters.
However, it was team leader Taitano who came up big in the second half scoring eight points with seven rebounds and three steals in the second half alone.
“I had to give everything,” said Taitano who was sidelined her freshman year due to an injury, adding that “it’s our last shot and we don’t want to be known as the team that was almost there but couldn’t get over the hump…its just the best feeling in the world.” Taitano ended the night with 10 pts, 8 rebs, 5 stls.
With a little over a minute left in the game, the Cougars began to sub out their seniors allowing them to receive an ovation from the many fans in attendance.
It’s been seven years since Academy last won the title and coincidentally went undefeated that year as well. Cougars Coach Yi credited the process and the journey to his team’s success. “It’s the process…we did it right,” said Yi. “We lost girls to transfers, we coached the girls that wanted to stay and we worked at it…and they made it happen.”
Paulino led all scores with 13 points while adding seven assists, four boards, two steals and a block. Teammate Almario finished with 11 pts, 4 ast, 3 rebs and a steal.
A. Tenorio-Hernandez and R. Ngirchomlei scored eight points apiece for the Warriors.
In the 3rd place game, the Notre Dame Royals defeated the Guam High Panthers 39-38 in OT. Arri Arceo made 1 of 2 free throws with 1.4 seconds left in OT to win it for the Royals.
CHAMPION vs. CHAMPION on Saturday
With the win, the Cougars have punched their ticket to the 2022 Guam High School National Championships to face the winner of the ISA Girls basketball Championship game Friday night between the Okkodo Bulldogs and the JFK Islanders. The Girls Varsity National Championship game is set for Saturday 4 pm at the UOG Calvo Field House.
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GPS Sports Calendar
March 2024
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for February
1st
ISA SOFTBALL
IIAAG MS GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
Events for March
2nd
HS RUGBY
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for March
2nd
Events for March
4th
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
ISA SOFTBALL ALL-ISLAND COACHES MEETING
Events for March
5th
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Events for March
8th
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS PLAYOFFS
Events for March
9th
ISA SOFTBALL FINALS
HS RUGBY FINALS
Events for March
9th
Events for March
14th
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
Events for March
16th
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17th
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18th
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19th
Events for March
20th
Events for March
22nd
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24th
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25th
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27th
Events for March
28th
Events for March
29th
- 31
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Events for March
30th
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
COMING SOON …
4th Quarter Sports
- Guam Marathon