F4: GK Warriors pounds on Wala Sa Ayos, 71 - 39, enters finals

Report by June Rana

With an awesome display of offensive firepower, superb rebounding and stifling defense, the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Warriors dismantled Wala Sa Ayos (WSA), 71-39 to enter the finals of the 2009 PAAD Palaro Basketball Championship. The win also preserved the Warriors unbeaten record. The Warriors, gunning for the championship with a perfect season, will now face the Baltimore Dragons in the finals on Saturday, August 15.

It was an intense game throughout and it was WSA who cracked in the early going. With the pressure of a tournament favorite, and amidst the brouhaha of the light transparent gold shirts which they used atop their normal uniforms, the Warriors showed character and poise in winning over WSA. The PSC allowed the use of the gold shirt which is a symbol of the team with the best record in the semifinals.

Earlier, WSA hang tough with the Warriors, down by only four at 11-7, with 17 minutes remaining in the first half. However, MVP candidate Yogi Veranga with the supporting cast of Leo Yanogacio, Ryan De Gracia and Ryan De Guzman engineered a 15 -5 lightning attack to pad the lead to 26-12, time down to 6 minutes in the first half.

WSA tried in vain to get back to the game with the efforts of Michael Alegarbes, but time in time again they were frustrated by the tight defense of the Warriors who clogged the lanes to prevent easy shots at the basket. A rebound and a follow up shot by Veranga with a minute remaining put the dagger in the heart of WSA, as the Warriors built a commanding 33-17 lead and enroute to a 35-17 halftime lead. It was clear that captain Herb Monsalud and the Warriors were all up to business to put the game away early on.

Earlier in the first half, WSA protested that the Warriors should be penalized as one of its players does not have his usual regular uniform. The head referee ruled that this is not a problem because the transparent gold shirts of the Warriors atop their normal uniforms were the uniforms themselves. WSA protested this ruling but cooler heads prevailed and WSA finally decided to play on.

The Warriors continued their domination in the second half. A layup by Warrior veteran Yanogacio pushed the lead to 43-23 with 18 minutes remaining. Sensing for the Pacquiao knockout blow, Veranga and De Gracia dropped a 9-1 bomb as the Warriors extended the lead to 52-24 time down to 14 minutes.

Unlike in their previous games, there were no scoring runs in the second half this time for WSA to the dismay of its cheering fans. WSA’s top scorers Lester Dabu and JP Raymundo were held to only 6 points and 5 points, respectively. The Warriors were also dominant in the boards, outrebounding WSA, 15-5.

Veranga had a game high 21 points and 5 rebounds for the Warriors, followed by De Gracia and De Guzman with 13 and 12 points respectively. For WSA, Alegarbes and Armando Concepcion top scored with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

G8: TFC subdues Maricas in exhibition, 56 - 54

Report by Jun Rana

In a game reminiscent of a championship match, TFC Mainline edged Maricas Oriental Store, 56-54 in a down to the wire finish of the exhibition game. Thus TFC Mainline, one of the most exciting games in the league with their running game and Maricas, the Pilipino Division champion bowed out in style in the ongoing Palaro 2009 basketball tournament.

With only 30 seconds remaining, TFC trailed by one, 54-53 but had ball possession. Alex Santos then hit a jumper to giveTFC the lead 55-54, with 8 seconds remaining. In the next possession, Marlowe Ulit immediately drove to the basket faced by a TFC defender and missed the basket, time down to 3 seconds. Maricas then immediately fouled Santos and sent him to the free throw line. Santos connected on one of the free throws to seal the win for TFC.

In the early going, the inside and speedy plays of Kenny Santos, Paul Nicdao and Jeff Vierneza gave TFC an early 30-15 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half. However, Maricas without its key players, Alex Alday, Kenneth Savella and El Persons battled back behind its spirited plays and team defense. A 16-2 barrage by BJ Advento, Ulit, Ignacio Carreon and Dave Setters narrowed the gap at halftime to 32-31.

The teams then traded baskets until the final minutes with neither teams giving up any inches. Then came the heroics of Alex Santos which clinch the win for TFC. Kenny Santos top scored for TFC with 14 points, followed by Paul Nicdao with 9 and Alex Santos with 8. Advento topped the scoring honors for Maricas with 17 points, followed by Carreon and Setters with 10 and 9 points, respectively.

G8: Force powers past Red Bulls in exhibition, 89-65

Report by Jun Rana

Simon Wong and Ferdinand Mendoza combined for 22 points in the second half to lift Team Force to an 89-65 victory over Red Bulls in an exhibition game. Wong, not exactly known as a three point shooting artist, had 12 points all coming from 4 triples, in the second half. Team Force also held Red Bulls top scorer Jake Cortez scoreless in the second half after a tight first half.

Early in the first half, Red Bulls took the lead 9-6 on tree point shot by Cortez. However, Red Bulls was not able to pull away in the first half even with the torrid shooting of Cortez and able support from Joseph Pangilinan and Karl Malicdem. Force players Ferdinand Mendoza and Marcus Chiu combined for 29 points, including 5 triples to grab the lead at halftime, 45-42.

In the second half, Force behind Wong and Mendoza, slowly pulled away and Red Bulls started missing its shot attempts. Force took advantage of Red Bulls cold shooting spell and went on a shooting spree of their own, hitting eight triples, jump shots and lay ups in succession. Team Force also received help from Joe Nicdao, its guest player from TFC who contributed 10 points in the game.

In the second half Red Bulls’ Jet Deleste, Paulo Tanjuakio and Pangilinan tried to make a game of it but without much success. With 39 seconds remaining and with the smoke of the battle clear in the air, Team Force had built an insurmountable 87-65 lead.

Mendoza top scored for Force with 27 points, followed by Wong and Chiu with 19 and 15 points, respectively. For Red Bulls, Cortez, Pangilinan, and Paulo Tanjuakio were the high scorers with 18, 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Game 8: The Final Four

From the Magic 8, we're now down to the Final Four. While many observers have cast their predictions over their favorites, there is still a lingering thought that maybe a dark horse will emerge in the finals.

Here are the highlights of the Final-Four games:

GK vs. WSA

Wala Sa Ayos has been playing the role of "David" in the last 4 rounds of their pairings. Game after game, WSA was always voted to be booted out by our blog-surveys. Amazingly, they have stood tall after each crucial game beaming with victory smiles. Their last loss was in Game 3 against MARICAS Oriental Store, since then the breaks have been with WSA.

But their next hurdle will be the most daunting of all, against crowd-favorite, GK Warriors. Man-for-man, GK Warriors appear to be superior in every match-up, but in the area of "Spirited Hearts", Wala Sa Ayos has the edge. WSA has proven that whatever lack in manpower, they filled it in with a lot of heart.

Will the WSA team sling the biggest "GOLIATH" of all?

Dynamic Excel vs. Baltimore Dragons

After dropping their first 2 games, the Baltimore Dragons cleaned their acts together and won the next 6 rounds. In those 2 lost games, one of them came from the Dynamic Excel team, who won by a squeaker point in the dying minutes, 63 -62. Tounges kept wagging after that game as observers noted how the Dragons could have won it with a complete line-up.


On the other hand, Dynamic Excel is rarin' to go and hungry to face the GK Warriors in the finals. They won't give the Dragons an easy time, that's for sure. They know they're facing an explosive Dragons squad who can shoot it from the rainbow stripe as well as penetrate Dynamic's stonewall defense. If the first meeting between the Dragons and Dynamic Excel is a good indication of what to expect, then this game will be decided down to the dying seconds.


Will the Dynamic Excel team make it to Finals enroute to a possible 2-peat year (FACAA & Paad Palaro champions)?


Or, will the Dragons push to Excel team aside and say, "try again next year boys!!"?


Be there when it happens!!!

G7: Wala Sa Ayos nips Red Bulls in overtime, 41 - 39

Report by Jun Rana

Lester Dabu played the game of his life punctuated by a buzzer beating jumper as time expired to lift Wala Sa Ayos (WSA) to a thrilling overtime victory over Red Bulls, 41-39. It was a heart breaking loss for Red Bulls who had several chances to win the game. WSA nailed the last spot in the semifinal playoffs and eliminated Red Bulls. Dabu top-scored for WSA with 15 points and has 4 rebounds for the game. The game ended at 36-all in regulation.

The game has been low scoring and a nip and tuck affair with no teams leading by more than 5 points. With the score tied at 8-all, Jun Lelina scored on a lay up to put WSA on the lead for the first time at 10-8, with 8 minutes remaining in the game. Both teams then traded baskets, with WSA maintaining a one point lead at halftime 17-16. Chris Balan had 6 points for Red Bulls in the first half.

In the second half, WSA maintained the lead until 21-20, with 18 minutes remaining in the game. At this juncture, Jake Cortez of Red Bulls converted back to back triples to put Red Bulls on top 26-21, with 15 minutes to go. However, Red Bulls was not able to pull away from WSA. In the following crucial 12 minute stretch, Dabu, Marlon Oniate, and Zorab Fernandez ignited a 15-10 bomb to tie the score at 36 all, 1 minute and 21 seconds remaining. Both teams muffed shots in the ensuing possessions. With 4 seconds remaining, Red Bulls had ball possession after a miss by JP Raymundo of WSA. A desperation mid court shot by Chris Balan did not hit the rim as the two teams went into overtime.

In overtime, WSA grabbed the lead on two free throws by Michael Alegarbes and one free throw by Raymundo, with 4 minutes remaining 39-36. The two teams went on a scoreless spell until Jake Cortez hit another three point shot to tie the score at 39-all. With 23 seconds remaining Red Bulls yet again had a chance to win the game with the ball possession. However, Jake Cortez missed a jumper with 3 seconds remaining. A time out was called by WSA. In the ensuing possession, Dabu eluded his guard and made the game winning 9 foot jump shot as time expired.

WSA will face powerhouse GK warriors in the seminal round.

------------

Box Scores:

Wala Sa Ayos:

Dabu, Lester, 15; Lelina, Jun, 6; Oniate, Marlon, 6; Raymundo, JP, 4; Fernandez, Zorab, 4; Alegarbes, Michael, 4; Vergara, Felix, 2

Red Bulls:

Cortes, Jake, 15; Balan, Chris, 10; Pangilinan, Joseph, 8; Brunzuela, Adrian, 2; Tizon, Richie, 2; Deleste, Jet, 2

G7: Dynamic Excel thwarts Maricas surge, 66 - 40

Report by Jun Rana

Dynamic Excel pulled away from a tight first half behind the juggernaut quartet of Rich Bandoy, Joe Miranda, Will imperial and Mark Pr’Out to beat Maricas 66-40 and earned a seminal spot in the playoffs. The loss eliminated the Cinderella team of the tournament Maricas Oriental Store which was unbeaten at the elimination rounds.

Early in the first half Excel built a 20-9 lead with 11 minutes remaining behind the lay ups and jumpers of Will Imperial, Will Barnes and Mark Pr’Out. However, Maricas egged on by its loyal fans and led by El Persons, Dave Setters, Joseph Tanseco and Alex Alday, showed its fighting heart and answered back with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 22-20 at halftime.

In the second half however, a 21-6 scoring blitz led by Bandoy, Miranda and Imperial gave Excel a commanding 43-26 lead, time down to 8 minutes. At this point, it was clear that Excel’s running game and good defense had taken its toll on Maricas who could not muster enough offense to threaten Excel. Maricas tried all the tricks in its arsenal including lay ups, jump shots and three points shots, but it was not clearly their day. BJ Advento, its top scorer averaging 14 points a game was held to only 5 points in the entire game. The reliable Marlowe Ulit did not score in the entire game after several attempts in the basket most of them lay ups.

And for Excel’s coach Mike Sanchez who rotated his players well specially down the stretch, it’s all smiles for him and his players who now play the Baltimore Dragons in the semifinals.

------------

Box Scores:

Dynamic Excel-Phi:

Imperial, Will, 13; Miranda, Joe, 11; Pr'Out, Mark, 10; Bandoy, Rich, 10; Balagtas, Dennis, 7; Barnes, Will, 5; Valera, R.J, 4; Holcomb, Jeff, 3; Sanchez, Mike, 3

Maricas Oriental Store:

Persons, El, 11; Setters, Dave, 10; Alday, Alex, 6; Advento, BJ, 5; Tanseco, Joseph, 4; Lizardo, Jay, 2; Aquino, Norman, 2

G7: GK Warriors drubs Casarap, 73 - 50

Report by Jun Rana

GK Warriors went toe to toe with Casarap in the first half before unleashing its might in the second half to handle Casarap a 73-50 drubbing. The win gave the Warriors the first birth in the semi-final playoffs and eliminated Casarap in the process.

To the delight of the fans, Casarap gave the Warriors all they could handle in the first half. Early in the game, De Gracia, Yogi Veranga and Leo Yanogacio caught fire to give the Warriors a 20-9 lead with 13 minutes to go in the first half. Everyone thought that the Warriors would pull away in a hurry.

However, Casarap’s team captain Steve Antonio, Paul Valencia and Dexter Quezon had other agenda on their minds and answered back with an 18-11 spurt to reduce the margin to four points at 31-27, with 3 minutes remaining. The Warriors finished with an 8-2 flurry behind Ryan De Gracia, Veranga and Curtis Clemente to finish the first half at 37-29. Casarap’s Antonio has 13 points in the first half but did not score in the second half.

In the second half, an early 6-3 burst put Casarap on striking distance at 40-35. However, this proved to be Casarap’s last stand. A layup by Chris Clemente and a 3 point play by Yogi Veranga pushed the lead back to 8 at 45-37 with 11 minutes remaining.

As Casarap showed signs of fatigue, the Warriors stepped up its attack with a 21-9 blast, with lay ups and jump shots by Veranga and De Gracia. They padded the Warrior’s lead to 66-46 with only 1 minute and 58 seconds remaining.

With the score at 70-50 for the Warriors and the outcome beyond doubt in the dying seconds, Dads Cardenio hit a triple to make the final score 73-50 for the Warriors.

Ryan De Gracia top scored for the Warriors with 19 points, followed by 16 points by MVP candidate Yogi Veranga.

Dexter Quezon top scored for Casarap with 14 points.

The Warriors will next face WSA in the semifinals.

------------

Box Scores:

GK Warriors:

De Gracia, Ryan, 19; Veranga, Yogi, 16; Yanogacio, Leo, 10; Clemente, Curtis, 7; Cardenio, Dads, 5; Monsalud, Herb, 4; Clemente, Chris, 4; Clemente, Coco, 4; Llave, Jon, 2; De Guzman, Ryan, 2

Casarap:

Quezon, Dexter, 14; Antonio, Steve, 13; Del Rosario, Jason, 8; Valencia, Paul, 7; Agui, Ramon, 6; Cabalza, Sherwin, 2

G7: Baltimore Dragons stops Team Force, 79 - 57

Report by Jun Rana

Isaac Brooks proved to be a one man wrecking crew, delivering 32 points including 6 triples that powered Baltimore Dragons past Team Force 79-57 and a berth in the semifinal round of the playoffs. Dragons Coach Padilla’s charges also took advantage of the absence of Force top scorer Marcus Chiu in securing the win. The loss eliminated Team Force in the playoffs.

It was a tight game until the last five minutes of the first half. With Brooks leading the attack and with able support from Frank Concepcion, the Dragons had a 26-25 lead with 8 minutes remaining in the first half. Team Force managed to stay close to the Dragons behind the heads up plays of Michael Talag and Ferdinand Mendoza. However, Brooks and Concepcion initiated a 10-2 run that gave the Dragons some breathing room, and a 36-27 halftime lead. At halftime, Brooks had already 18 points or half of the Dragons output.

In the second half, Brooks and Samuel Borromeo triggered a 17-12 attack that padded the lead to 53-39, with 11 minutes remaining in the game. Team Force behind, Anthony Alvarez, Talag, and Ferdinand Mendoza tried to stay in the game but could not get enough offense going and was clearly missing its top scorer Chiu. With Brooks on the attack and having 4 triples in the second half, the Dragons further increased the lead to 70-51 with 5 minutes remaining. From this stanza, both teams traded baskets until the final score of 79-57.

Samuel Borromeo and Frank Concepcion contributed 12 points each for the Dragons. Alvarez top scored for Force with 16 points and Talag added 15.

The Dragons battles Dynamic Excel in the semifinals. It could proved to be an intriguing match-up as Excel defeated the Dragons earlier in the elimination round encounter.

---------------

Box Scores

Baltimore Dragons:
Brooks, Isaac,32; Borromeo, Samuel, 12; Conception, Frank, 12; Borsotos, Jackie, 8; Edades, Edgar, 6; Conception, Julio, 5; Rosario, Alvin, 2; Goasta, Mitek, 2

Team Force:

Alvarez, Anthony, 16; Talag, Michael, 15; Mendoza, Ferdinand, 10; Bune, Jason, 7; Bacal, Djern, 5; Bacal, Devin, 2; Dela Cruz, Jonathan, 2

C7: TFC outruns Titans in Consolation Round, 82 - 33

Report by Jun Rana

It was a battle of youth versus experience. With youth and speed as its side, TFC Mainline demolished one of the most experienced team in the league, the Delaware Titans, 82-33, in the consolation round.

The Titans proved competitive in the early going down by only five, 21-16 with 9 minutes left in the first half. But Arvie Dazon, Alex Santos and Paul Nicdao dropped a 17-2 bomb that pushed the lead to 20 at halftime, 38-18.

The Titans also missed its scoring leader Jessie Fabian specially in the second half where the Titans only scored 15 points. Meanwhile, TFC continued its torrid running game to the hilt and outrun the Titans. TFC scored 44 points in the second half, most of them inside the painted area, to make the final score 82-33.

Alex Santos top scored for TFC with 21 points, followed by Arvie Dazon with 17 points.

George Corotan and Eric Fermin were the top scorers for TFC with 7 and 6 points, respectively.

---------------

Box Scores

TFC Mainline:
Santos, Alex, 21; Dazon, Arvie, 17; Nicdao, Paul, 13; Fogata, Wilbert, 12; Vierneza, Jeff, 6; Liga, Dexter, 6; Sanchez, Butch, 5; Santos, Rudolf, 2

Delaware Titans:
Corotan, Jeorge, 7; Fermin, Eric, 6; Ugarte, Jomar, 5; Garcia, Joneil, 3; Tapel, Dennis, 2; Ronde, Andrew, 2; Alvarez, Luis, 2; Ortega, Ed, 2; Ebron, Karl, 2; Alafriz, Eggie, 2