In the first game of Day 1, Peched Reds came up against Echang South Coast in an exciting match. The score was close throughout the first half and by the major break it was South Coast with just 2 points lead. The 3^rd quarter was also close and only in the final quarter did South Coast manage to draw away to win 55-42. For Peched Reds Medermel Yaoch showed lots of promose to have a game high 23 points and his team mate Jalen Tewid helped with 17 points. For the winners the scoring was more evenly spread with Scotty Tacheluw banging in 16 points and Peace Sumor getting 11.

Game 2 was a bit of blow out with Meda Juniors being under manned in size and skills. Meyuns dominated from the start and by half time had a comfortable 48-7 lead. It didn’t get any better for Meda Juniors in the second half and Meyuns had an easy 81-11 win. For Meda Juniors Brett Manang tried hard as did Gerome Petrus, Christine Tellei and Jaycee Nolan. For the victors Tanaka Iyar led all scorers with 25 points while Spence Wasisang had 12.

What a great game it was in Game 3 between Peched and Ngermid. The better defence kept the scoring low, and the coaches used their team benches to good effect to counter each others substitutions. At the main break it was Peched by 2 points (23 – 21) and at the end of the 3^rd quarter it was just 1 point in favor of Ngermid (30 – 29). The final quarter was close throughout with the score tied at 2 minutes remaining. Then with Ngermid up by just 1 point with 12 seconds on the clock, one of the smallest players in Rull Kloulubak hit a 3 pointer for Ngermid to put the result out of doubt. For the winners Tyler Otei hit a game high 17 points while Excel Otei and Rull Kloulubak chipped in for 9 and 8 respectively. For Peched their top scorer was Jackson Kadiasang with 13 points and Edwin Yaoch had 9.

In the final game of the day, Ngerchemai Ranchers took on Meda. The game was close throughout, although Meda was always the leader. Ranchers are one of two teams that have girls in their line-up and with these being 3 of the better 14 year old girls in Palau they were quite capable of mixing it with the boys. The extra experience and skill of RB Dorado for Meda made the difference when it counted each time Ranchers made a run at their lead. The final score was 58 - 46 in favor of Meda. For Meda Cody Ngiraungil had 16 points and RB Dorado had 13, while for Ranchers Sharton Ngiraklei scored 11 and Chama Ngiraimau and Shawn Augustine had 8 each.

Tomorrow’s games are:

TUESDAY 28TH DECEMBER

                                                       HOME                                       AWAY

9.00am                 Pool B                   Ngerchemai                              Meda Juniors

11.00am               Pool A                   Peched                                     Peched Red

1.00pm                 Pool B                   Dngerongel/Meketii Combo        Meyuns

3.00pm                 Pool A                   Ididers                                    Echang South Coast

Byes                      PoolA Ngermid, Pool B Meda