Sharks hold on to beat Vikings 49-48 by Brian Vitolio A barrage of threes from S. Sopoaga and a last second steal by Heavenly Anoa'i of Samoana helped them earn a one-point, 49-48, win over the Vikings this past Thursday at Samoana High School. It was a back and forth game with both teams pulling away from one another only to see the lead change and it went down to the wire with Faga'itua throwing in from their side of the court with the Sharks leading 49-48. But the pass was under-thrown as Samoana's Anoa'i, standing in front of a Faga'itua player, stole the pass and dribbled off the final five seconds to eke out a win. It was a tightly contested game from beginning to end with several heroic efforts by players from both teams. There was Sopoaga with a barrage of threes in the second half that brought her team back from a five-point deficit. Then there was her pal Tominiko T. playing sidekick with timely baskets. She would finish with 17 points. On Faga'itua's end, Delores Alaimaleata put the team on her shoulders and played hard in scoring 19 points for her team. Helping her out in the scoring department was T. Nua with 11 points. But it was a barrage of threes tossed up by Sopoaga - who finished with a game-high 24 points - that kept them in the game with Faga'itua taking a five-point lead with 3:37 remaining in the third. In the course of those last three minutes and 37 seconds of the third period, Sopoaga went three-for-three from behind the arc to give her team some life with a 32-30 lead, and the quarter would end with the game tied at 32-all. The game was so frenzied in the last three minutes that the fast pace produced numerous turnovers. Samoana was ahead 47-45 with 2:48 left in the fourth quarter when they started to play stay-away ball and managed to use up 26 seconds before Faga'itua fouled Sopoaga. Both teams were in the double bonus for fouls and Sopoaga made one of two free throw attempts to push their lead up by three, 48-47. Tominiko T. made one of two free throw attempts with 1:46 to play to give them a four-point lead, 49-45. Then with 50 seconds left to play, Alaimaleata rebounded her own miss and scored on a put back for a 49-47 that had Samoana's coach calling for a timeout. When play resumed Samoana used up only three seconds as they threw the ball out of bounds for a turnover. Ten seconds later Talisha scored the last point of the game by sinking one of two free throws for a 49-48 score. The Sharks ate up 14 seconds off the clock before Sopoaga dribbled the ball off of her foot for a backcourt violation, and so went the game with both teams turning the ball over numerous times right up to the last five seconds when Anoa'i made the last steal to seal the win. Anoa'i finished with nine points for the Sharks. S. Fanene helped out with seven points for Faga'itua while Oli Mao had six. The game started off the way it ended with the score close from the get-go. By the end of the first it was a 6-4 Samoana lead. In the second they traded baskets throughout the entire quarter with Faga'itua getting in the last word on a put back by T. Nua with eight seconds remaining for a 22-20 lead. In the beginning of the third Talisha and T. Nua sunk one free throw each for a 24-20 lead before Sopoaga scored Samoana's first points of the second half with a short baseline jumper with 4:54 left on the clock. T. Nua got a hold of a loose ball in the paint and score to make it 26-22 a minute later but that became a three-point lead when Sopoaga was fouled on a three-point attempt. She made one of three free throws with3:37 to play in the quarter and 14 seconds later Alaimaleata made it a five-point game with a short jumper. After Sopoaga's barrage of threes gave them a 32-30 lead, Alaimaleata made sure that the Vikings would have the last word at the end of the period again with a basket on a drive to the hoop with six seconds to play to end the quarter in a 32-32 tie. Both teams went into the 1-and-1 just seconds into the start of the fourth period but the break between periods did nothing to cool the hot hand of Sopoaga as she broke the tie with another trey to put her team up by three again. In the junior varsity game, the Vikings trounced Samoana 38-13. Reach the reporter at sports@samoanews.com. © Osini Faleatasi Inc. dba Samoa News reserves all rights.