The Sports Leigh-Out Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 2026

Hafa Adai and Tirow sports fans, this is Leigh Gases with this week’s Sports Leigh-Out brought to you by Joeten Motors!

Let’s take a closer look at what our athletes have been up to in off-island competitions and on their home turf—whether it’s on the pitch, mat, courts, fields, track, pools, or the beautiful ocean.

HMS retains girls soccer tiara

Hopwood Middle School has retained their tiara in the PSS-NMIFA Girls Middle School Soccer League with a championship win over Saipan Community School, 3-2, on Thursday, Nov. 5, at the loud and lively NMI Soccer Training Center. Third place went to Saipan International School.

MVP: Darshwana Chhetri

Golden Boot: Darshwana Chhetri with 20 goals in the season

Stay tuned for the full story.

Unity Trade clinches men’s 3x3 crown

The 2026 NMIBF Men’s 3x3 Basketball Tournament’s top teams clashed in the championships with Unity Trade uniting as one, beating out formidable foe Think Tank Pacific, 16-12, on Friday, Oct. 30, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Unity Trade was made up of national team players Coby Santos, Airson Atan, John Thongaram Jr., and Chioni Dela Cruz, and went up against Ervin Villarin, Chris Diwa, Wesley Walker, and Jeffrey Yugummang.

The 3x3 format is whoever scores 21 points first wins—or if 10 minutes are up before that, whoever has the most points wins.

Unity Trade found the net first with a shot outside the arc by Thongaram, and two minutes into the game, led 5-1. After a quick time out, Think Tank got within one, 4-5, with shots by Walker, Villarin, and Yugummang.

But, time was winding down fast and Unity Trade resorted to deep buckets by Thongaram and Santos to lead, 8-4. Aggressive attacks under the basket led to shots from the free throw line and with just 5:17 left on the clock, the game was tied at 8 points a piece.

Santos then broke through with another basket past the arc to give them the lead, 10-8. For Think Tank, Walker and Diwa gave their team their last push—as Unity Trade silenced them with just three minutes left on the clock. Santos stayed hot and shot another from downtown, with Atan adding one too for the 16-12 final.

Santos led the team with seven points, Atan had five markers, and Thongaram sank in four.

Dela Cruz said on their win, “Honestly it feels good. We haven’t really been playing basketball, but I feel like this is a great way for us all to come back together.”

Facing off again against Think Tank, who they lost to in the regular season, Thongaram said, “What we did differently was our defense. I feel like we were sagging too much.” Dela Cruz added, “They’re a tough team but I’m glad we were able to come together and pull it off. We’re all from the national team so we’ve played with each other previously. But yeah, we’ve been going at it too in the past business leagues so I figured it would be a good way to come together and see how we can do.”

They then thanked their supporters, families, friends, God, and their sponsor Paul Quizon and Unity Trade.

NSA Braves bag W in Kim Taekyun Int’l Baseball tourney on Guam

The NSA Braves bagged more than treats on Halloween weekend as they won a game in the 2026 Kim Taekyun International Baseball Invitational Tournament from Oct. 30-31, which hosted teams from Guam, NMI, and South Korea at the Dededo Sports Complex.

Their win in the tourney came against Guam on the last day in a nail-biting game, 5-4. They then faced off against Korea one last time and lost, 3-5. They first went up against Korea on the first day and lost, 2-10, after holding them down, 2-0 in the first four innings. The Korea team came out unscathed as they also beat Guam, 11-2, and defeated them again, 18-1.

The Braves team was made up of Nathan Nekai, Dylan Barcinas, Chance Reyes, Roque Camacho Jr., Jesse Cabrera II, Ralph Magofna Jr., Elijah Babauta, Damian Herman, Lennox Sablan, and Nethaniel Neth, along with coaches Nick Nekai Jr. and Cal Deleon Guerrero.

The NSA partnered with the Guam Amateur Baseball Academy to make the tournament possible. The event was initially scheduled to take place in Korea before being moved to Saipan. However, due to the typhoons throughout the year, they relocated the tournament to Guam.

Listen to interviews of Braves coach Nick Nekai Jr., as well as third baseman Nathaniel Neth, and pitcher/left fielder Chance Reyes on the last day of games.

MP’s Guam Correspondent Eliseo Silverio III reports from Guam.

Nine wrestlers to compete in Thailand; fundraising continues

Nine NMI wrestlers are training hard on the mats as they prepare to represent the CNMI at the 2026 United World Wrestling Thailand Open from Nov. 18-22, while continuing to seek community support to help fund their trip.

The team has held several fundraisers leading up to the competition, but efforts are still underway. The latest fundraiser will be a Bingo night tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 7, at 6pm on the second floor of the Afetnas Building in San Antonio. Bingo packets are available for $30 each.

The federation will also hold a send-off ceremony for the team on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6pm in the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The nine wrestlers will compete across three age divisions: Cadet (U17), Junior (U20), and Senior (20+).

In the Cadet division, Seth Sablan will compete in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman at 65kg, while Grant Li will compete in both styles at 71kg. Frank Laniyo will represent the CNMI in Freestyle and Greco-Roman at 92kg.

Lincoln Manibusan is the lone CNMI representative in the Junior division, competing in Freestyle at 65kg and Greco-Roman at 67kg.

The Senior division will feature five wrestlers. Ray Santos will compete in Freestyle at 57kg and Greco-Roman at 55kg, while Daryn Roufs will compete at 61kg in Freestyle and 63kg in Greco-Roman. Nimesh Fonseka will compete in Freestyle at 57kg.

Chris Hardt will represent the CNMI in Freestyle at 79kg and Greco-Roman at 77kg, while Miles Borja will compete in Freestyle at 79kg and Greco-Roman at 82kg.

Read the full story on our website.

NMI U17 Men’s team to compete in U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers

The NMI Football Association held a send-off ceremony on Nov. 4, for the NMI U17 Men’s National Team that is heading off to compete in the Kyrgyzstan for the AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, with matches on Nov. 8 against Mongolia, Nov. 11 against Kyrgyz Republic, and Nov. 14 against Yemen. Also listen to team captain Yutaka Kadokura’s remarks. Watch the full event on our website, YouTube, or social media.