Umangs 1 defend Co-ed Basketball title

It’s back-to-back for the Umangs 1 of Koblerville Elementary School as they clinched the 2025-2026 PSS-NMIBF-IT&E Coed Elementary School Basketball League championships over the Kagman Elementary School Blue Marlins, 32-24 on Saturday, Jan. 10, at the Agape Christian School Gymnasium.

Both teams came in undefeated in the regular season and, as usual, met again in the finals, setting up what looked like an even matchup. That changed quickly, though, as the Umangs’ defense and finishing at the net took control and showed they were hungry for a back-to-back title.

Lellan Daniel got the Umangs going early, scoring eight points in the first quarter while their defense limited the Blue Marlins to just six. The second quarter was quiet on both ends, with Daniel adding only two more points to push the lead to 14-6 at the half.

Daniel knocked down a three to open the third, followed by quick buckets from Joshua Jose and Dolores Okaruru. The Umangs carried a 23-10 lead into the final quarter before Kagman tried to shift momentum with cherry picks and fast breaks. The late push wasn’t enough, though, as Okaruru scored four more and Daniel added five to close it out, 32-24.

Koblerville’s roster consisted of Patrick Mansfield, Arcel Basid, Joshua Jose, Lellan Daniel, Stony Moses, Sheldon Defang, Logan Camacho, Jasiel Mosik, and Dolores Okaruru. Kagman was made up of Tristen Carino, Basil Faisao, Benz Santos, Kingston Santos, Nathaniel Reyes, Peyton Crisostomo, Chloe Aquino, and Nemily Saimon.

Third place went to Tinian Elementary School. Koblerville once held the championships four years in a row before Kagman took the title from them in 2023. In an interview after the finals, coach Francis Mendiola said that their team now consists of a lot of players from their team 2 from last year, with some of them graduating or are in third or fourth grade.

When asked how it felt to win the championships, coach Angie Ruiz said, “It feels good to win. We had two games against them today,” she said. Mendiola added that Patrick Mansfield shot a game winning buzzer beater earlier in the day that brought them face-to-face against the Blue Marlins again in the finals.

As for the competition, Mendiola said it gets better every year. “That’s why we have to keep improving our program. It really makes a difference having a basketball court at our school,” Mendiola said. However, they do not only emphasize sports, but they also prioritize academies before students are allowed to attend practices and games.

With their team next year, Ruiz said there will be a lot of changes as some of their players will be graduating. “So we gotta make sure that we got our team 2—they’ve been training already so we gotta keep them going,” she said.

Mendiola then thanked the CNMI PSS Athletic Program and Agape Christian School for the gym. “Having this, a new venue for the kids to see, they were shocked at how beautiful this gym is, and thank you Agape again for giving us this chance to play in their gym,” he said. Ruiz added some thanks for their admin and fellow teachers that help the students get to their practices.