2007 19 and Under Micronesian Youth Basketball Tou

Guam grabs victory
By Arleen Mad
For Pacific Daily News

With Roque Charfauros at the helm, Team Guam grabbed a 67-63 victory overcoming a tenacious Saipan Southern Sonics in the opening night of the 2007 Under-19 Micronesian Youth Basketball Tournament at the University of Guam field house.

The tournament, a showcase of the region's youth talent, will be played this week at the field house with eight men's teams and seven women's teams battling for bragging rights.

In the first half, Team Guam rattled the Saipan cages, pressing and harassing to hold a steady 10-point lead. The Sonics, led by point man Manuel Ajoste, refused to back down, however. Hungry in the second half, the Sonics hustled the length of the floor, steadily chipping into Guam's lead.

In the final minute, the Sonics' Ajoste split the defenders to find the back of the net to make it a one-point game at 64-63. Guam's Christian Afaisen gave his team some breathing room with a thundering putback. Though the Sonics got a few clean looks at the basket, it wasn't enough as Guam's Joe Blas iced the victory with a free throw with only ticks on the clock.

Blas led Guam with 13, while Charfauros and Afaisen chipped in 12 apiece for the win. Saipan's Jonathan Lim led all scorers with 18 points, while Ajoste and Joaquin Lizama added 15 and 13, respectively.

Other games

s Guam Dragons 70, Saipan G-Rollers 65: Led by Jamie Sapoerna's 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals, the Guam Dragons edged the G-Rollers. Turning up the firepower in the second half, the Dragons outscored the G-Rollers 44-32 for the win. Jimmisiah George added 10 in the win. Zack Tudela led the G-Rollers with 17, while Manny Matagolai added 13 in the loss.

s Guam Youth Basketball 77, Southern Youth Basketball 61: Though SYBA took the lead early in the game, the GYBA All-Stars kept their composure for the win. John Oqueno led GYBA with 21, while Derrick Royster added 19. Jonathan Fayton led SYBA with 15 points, six steals.

The results of the CNMI-Palau game and Guam-CNMI women's games were unavailable as of press time. Visit fibaoceania.com for updated results.

Last Modified on 24/11/2007 12:01

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