M. LHUILLIER Kwarta-Padala of Cebu used a suffocating defense and a fiery offense anchored on main gunner Ian Saladaga to crush Montaña Pawnshop, 94-80, and capture the Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Araw ng Dabaw Invitational basketball tournament crown before a capacity crowd at the fully-airconditioned Davao City Recreation Center Sunday night.
M. Lhuillier jumped to a 7-0 lead using a man-to-man defense and utilized the early advantage as a springboard to the lopsided victory as the home team simply fell apart from a maze of errors and sloppy plays.
With the win, the Cebuano dribblers retained the crown they won last year and pocketed the P75,000 champion's purse in the five-team field organized by Liga Dabaw and staged as one of the sports highlights of the 74th Araw ng Dabaw celebration.
M. Lhuillier, mentored by Yayoy Alcoseba, bagged P95,000 all in all as Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte also gave P20,000 to each of the teams just for competing in the five-day event.
It was a double celebration for M. Lhuillier as Saladaga emerged the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP). He had a game-high 24 points in the final game aside from providing the spark for his team with timely baskets down the stretch.
Both M. Lhuillier and Montaña actually finished the single round-robin tournament tied at three wins and one loss each, but the former was declared the champion because of "the team that beat the other" rule.
Bruce Dacia and Nat Cruz provided scoring support for Saladaga with 16 and 15, respectively.
Monta¤a was led by Henry Fernandez with 17 points. Eugene Torres had 15 and Dado Asyon 13.
Montaña finished second to pocket P70,000 while CM Farm and Goldstar Hardware ended up third and fourth, respectively. CM Farm received P55,000 and Goldstar got P45,000. Sanman Corporation ended up fifth and received P30,000.
Liga Dabaw vice chair Atty. Mans Carpio, the husband of the mayor, awarded the cash prizes and trophies to the winners right after the final match.
Atty. Caprio was assisted by Liga Dabaw secretary general William "Butch" Ramirez, assistant city administrator Erwin Alparaque and Regino "Boy" Cua, Region 11 director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) which sanctioned the tournament. (Charles Raymond A. Maxey)
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on March 22, 2011.
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