SEASON OF DESTINY FOR THE KNIGHTS

By Jay Leon Guerrero

It was the season of destiny for the St. John’s Knights as they made school history Monday night at the UOG Calvo Field House, winning its their ever girls high school basketball championship.

The top-ranked Knights came back to defeat the 2nd-seed Academy Cougars 56-53 in a dramatic contest to win the Guam Basketball Confederation’s Girls High School Basketball League Championship. 

Junior star Jia Peters led the Knights once again with 26 points, four rebounds and four assists to complete a season that felt destined for the title.

“It feels awesome to win this one. I’ve been with most of these girls my whole life, and it’s an honor to share this championship with them,” said Peters, who will lead the entire team back to defend next year as there is not a single senior on the roster.

Academy’s Maria-Jean Paulino left it all on the court, stuffing the stat sheet with 26 points, six steals, five rebounds and five assists. The Cougars had momentum on their side with 6:50 remaining in regulation after Mylie Butters hit a jump shot followed by a steal and lay-up by Paulino to go up 49-41, the largest lead by either team in the game.

The Knights used a timeout and answered with freshman forward Zoe Whitehead, converting a three-point play off a nice pass from Amara Del Carmen. Whitehead finished the game with 12 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks.

“I was getting nervous when they got a big lead. I’m proud of my team on how they came back and fought hard. These are the best teammates ever, and I’m proud of our MVP, Jia.”

– Knights freshman Zoe Whitehead

Peters played like an MVP and shined under the spotlight. She made key plays down the stretch to help the Knights cut the nets.

With less than two minutes in regulation, Peters, who was heavily guarded by Paulino, found some space and drained a long three-pointer to tie the game at 53-53.

The Knights played good defense and were able to secure the rebound with 90 seconds left. Peters found Teia Ada-Vibar in the corner for a wide open three-pointer that put the Knights up for good. Ada-Vibar’s shot was the eventual game winner, with both teams unable to score in the final 50 seconds of the game.

“We practice every day with this team, and I had the utmost confidence in her (Ada-Vibar) to take that shot,” said Peters. “She’s been making those shots all season.”

Head coach Fred Peters, Jia’s dad, said he was proud of the team and the hard work they put in all season.

“Personally, I was thinking we might come up short tonight because we were turning the ball over at the end. We have the utmost respect for Academy. They played a great game tonight. Things could have gone either way, but I’m glad it went our way in the end, ” said coach Peters.

“I’ve been out of coaching for three years, I enjoyed coming back. Who knows? We don’t have any seniors on this team, so we are going to try and run it back again next year,” said the coach, who now has championships with the boys and girls after winning with Takumi Simon and Michael Min a few years back.

The Cougars played great defense the entire game and recorded 13 total steals. Maddy Ada had 10 points, five rebounds and five steals for the Cougars. Butters had eight points and four rebounds.

Basketball does not end here for the Cougars. The team will travel to Japan next month to defend their Kanto Classic Girls Championship. 

3rd place game

The JFK Islanders edged out the St. Paul Warriors 48-47 in the consolation game.

Franchesca Aguilar led the Islander with 25 points despite going scoreless in the 1st quarter. Sazzy Quintanilla led the Warriors with 18.

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