3-peat for Lady Rays in basketball

‘Tis really is the season to be jolly as Saipan Southern High School Lady Manta Rays clinched their third championship in a row in the PSS-NMIBF-IT&E Girls High School Basketball League. In this 2025-2026 season, they went through undefeated and beat rival Marianas High School Lady Dolphins in a 34-17 masterclass final on Friday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Lady Rays basically ended the season how they started it—dominant and undefeated. Coasting through the season as the top team, the Manta Rays continued to ride the wave of their teamwork, chemistry, and skill over every team, eventually facing MHS once again.

Aiyanah Fatialofa opened the game with a bucket, then gave way to older sister Azzy, who went on a shooting spree and converted 10 straight points. SSHS put lock and key on both the ball and the game, and it was Jahsmin Ramon’s turn to shine with five consecutive markers of her own.

The Lady Rays continued to let it rain buckets as they scored seven more points, while MHS found only two by way of free throws for a 24-2 first-half lead. The second half was more of the same, but it got physical, and the Lady Dolphins made multiple trips to the free-throw line. They struggled to keep up with SSHS’ impenetrable defense, but managed to keep their offense to a minimum compared to the first half. However, MHS’ struggles with the ball didn’t let up, and just as Aiyanah started the game, she ended it with a final shot for a 34-17 final.

Azzy led the way with 13 points, while Ramon contributed 9. For MHS, Stacy Arriola and Valerie Estella put up twin numbers at five a-piece.

With the Fatialofa sisters and Ramon were Rosie Saralu, Teneasha Diaz, Patricia Matsumoto, Kalia Mendiola, Phoenix Gross, Billie Pangelinan, Maria Quipid, Mikaenna Nishimura, Alexis Taitingfong, Oren Sasamoto, Beatrice Gross, and Althea Bocago.

SSHS head coach Mike Mercado said of their 3-peat, “Obviously we are happy and content winning our 3rd straight title. But at the same time it’s a bitter sweet moment because this was Azzy’s last dance. We dedicated this season not only for SSHS but specifically to Azzy.”

With Azzy, who is a standout multi-sport athlete and is graduating this school year, Mercado said, “it will definitely somewhat even out the playing field next season but the core is still intact and as long as we consistently dedicate to our weekly trainings throughout the year then it is definitely possible to compete for the title.”

Mercado went on to say that throughout the season and the finals, their strategy was tight defense. “Like the old saying goes, defense wins championships and that's exactly what we did. We played tight defense until we weren’t allowed to do so.”

On how he kept the team’s energy up throughout the season, Mercado, a former teacher at SSHS said, “We held each other accountable but at the same time, these are students. As a former teacher, I always believed in creating a safe learning environment and most importantly having fun at the same time. We treated each other more like a family rather than teammates so everyone always wanted to be at practice.”

As for the mindset heading into this season, he said everyone had to buy into a system and that's accepting roles whether big or small. “The girls knew our veteran players earned more playing time and that their time would come as well. The important part is that everyone knew the system so anyone who was placed in a specific position would be able to operate at that moment. We coveted this 3 peat so that served as our inspiration to play for each other and bring glory to SSHS,” said Mercado.

He then thanked SSHS admin for their trust, the parents, staff, teachers, and students for supporting the team, and to PSS for continuing to offer sports. Lastly, he said, “thank you to the teams we challenged for giving us a good fight. We are opponents and not enemies.”