Islanders handle Sharks in ISA hoops

Before the visiting Simon Sanchez High School Sharks settled in and found their rhythm, they trailed 19-0 to the undefeated, championship-minded John F. Kennedy High School Islanders on Monday night at JFK in Guam Department of Education Interscholastic Sports Association girls basketball action. On the Sharks' first possession, they were aggressive, missing shots, but playing hard on the offensive glass. Summing up their night, on that opening drive, they grabbed four offensive rebounds but shots wouldn't fall. From then, JFK was off to the races, as the Islanders soared to a 59-37 victory. 'We knew that we could do that from the beginning, but tonight we finally brought it out,' said JFK point guard Laila Smartt. 'We came out with intensity, and I feel like we kept that up throughout the game.' Smartt told The Guam Daily Post the Islanders needed to try and push the tempo early, knowing the Sharks are capable of beating good teams. 'They only have one loss,' Smartt said. 'We were a little intimidated because they just beat Okkodo. That's why we came up with a lot of intensity. We wanted to show them what's up!' With the Islanders' Jada Han and Laila Smartt taking turns running the offense, JFK moved efficiently without the ball. Drawing the defense in, the pair dished to Franchesca Aguilar and Hannah Gogue. In the first quarter, Aguilar scored 4 points and Gogue finished with a bucket and a free throw. 'Before the game, I told them to run their lanes, and they listened,' Han said. 'I just found a white jersey and just threw it to them, hoping they can catch it, and they did it really well.' When Han and Smartt weren't dishing to teammates, the 17-year-old seniors moved without the ball, received passes and finished strong. In the first eight minutes, Han scored 5 points and Smartt dropped in 7 points, including an early, tempo-setting 3-pointer. Han and Smartt finished the game with co-team-high 11 points each. Han, on pace for an MVP season, also finished with seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks. Smartt ended her night with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. 'I think our transitioning was a lot better, and our defense,' Han said. 'Our communication was really good, too. And it was also our second-to-last game of the season, so we just wanted to finish strong.' The Islanders will wrap up the Guam Department of Education Interscholastic Sports Association regular season against the Okkodo High School Bulldogs on Wednesday - a Senior Night showdown on the Islanders' home court. 'It's going to be really emotional,' Han said. 'I really want all of our seniors to score, maybe double digits, possibly.' The Islanders held the Sharks scoreless in the first quarter, but Sanchez finally got its offense going in the second frame. Just over a minute in, Ronnie Dela Cruz drained a free throw. Dela Cruz scored all 5 of her points in the quarter. The Sharks scored their first point, but the Islanders defense remained strong, holding Sanchez without a field goal until four minutes left in the period, when Zyla Soriano drained a 3-pointer. Soriano finished the game with 6 points, two baskets scored from behind the arc. The Sharks' Kayna Kanemoto scored 4 points in the frame, but the Islanders led 32-12 at the half. In the third quarter, the game became a runaway, with seven different Islanders contributing on offense, while Soriano and Ronnie Ollet scored the Sharks' three field goals, a pair of layups from Ollet and Soriano's second 3-pointer. Most of JFK's starters watched the fourth quarter from the bench, which allowed the Sharks to score 21 points in the period, two more points than they had scored in the first three quarters. In the final quarter, Ollet scored eight of her game-high 12 points in the paint. Teammate Paula Macaldo drained three free throws and Aleia Alcantara, providing her team a much-needed but too-late spark, scored 7 points in the final two minutes. Alcantara played fiercely, driving the baseline and splashing short-range jumpers and layups, but the hole was too deep and the clock too fast to make a run at the league-best Islanders.
Courtesy of: postguam.com