SMB vs Air21 Images

PBA IMAGE 1 - Keena Young puts up a shot over Gabe Freeman.
PBA IMAGE 2 - Mick "The Slick" Pinnisi got slicked by the hard nosed defense of Air21's Beau Belga.
PBA IMAGE 3 - Egay Billiones goes hard to the hoop against Denok Miranda while Mick Pennisi comes in to block from his side.
PBA IMAGE 4 - Gabe Freeman comes up flying for the ball while Doug Kramer got nothing to do but to hold him and commited a foul.
PBA IMAGE 5 - Alex Cabagnot driving over Ramsy Williams and tries to dish the ball but Wesley Gonzales reads his movement.

PBA Fiesta Conference 2010 logo

TNT vs GINEBRA

PBA IMAGE 1 - Harvey Carey shoots in traffic against Jay-jay Helterbrand and Cyrus Baguio.
PBA IMAGE 2 - Cyrus Baguio tries to beat the shot clock while Aaron Aban contest him.
PBA IMAGE 3 - Awvee Storey drives hard over the defense of Harvey Carey.
PBA IMAGE 4 - Shawn Daniels was pushed by Eric Menk while making his move.
PBA IMAGE 5 - Ranidel De Ocampo gets control of the ball against Awvee Storey.
PBA IMAGE 6 - JAred Dillinger reverses his shot over JC Intal.
PBA IMAGE 7 - JC Intal loses the ball on his take off to the hoop while being guarded by Jason Castro and Jared Dillinger.

Barako makes triumphant debut

Games Wednesday (Araneta Coliseum)
5 p.m. – Coca-Cola vs
Barako
7:30 p.m. – San Miguel vs Air21

Barako Energy Coffee, featuring a retooled lineup playing under new coach Junel Baculi, made a triumphant debut in the 2010 PBA Fiesta
Conference, outfighting Sta. Lucia Realty, 97-93, at
the Araneta Coliseum.

Import Sammy Monroe dished out a solid
double-double job and new local recruits Al Vergara, Rob Wainwright and Jerwin Gaco put in significant help as the Energy Coffee Masters went to a
winning start after finishing dead last in the recent Philippine Cup.

“I really believe that with hard work, we can win games. The goal is to
come out of the rut. We don’t want a repeat of our performance in the
last conference,” said Baculi, the team’s new coach taking over from Leo Isaac.

“It’s good to win our first game and it doesn’t stop
there. It’s just the first game. There’s 17 more, so it’s still a long,
long way to go,” Baculi added.

Monroe, an all-playoff teamer and
co-playoff MVP with the Rochester Zeniths in the 2007-08 Premier Basketball League, had an impressive first game in the local pro league, churning out 39 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes of action.

Also a veteran of the Mexican league where he once was a second leading scorer, Monroe personally clinched
the Barako win with a rebound and three free throws in the last 11
seconds.

“I would like to think we’re going to finish on top. I
hate to lose so expect me to play with all my heart every night. I’ll be aggressive and you’ll see a lot of entertainment,” said Monroe.

Vergara, a PBA returnee
after a stint with the Singapore Slingers in the Asean Basketball
League (ABL), was a big help, knocking in back-to-back baskets
that gave the Energy Coffee Masters a six-point spread, 94-88, with 1:25 left to play.

“He’s been there before. He’s a veteran. It’s just a matter of giving him the confidence. He’s aching to prove that he
belongs,” said Baculi of Vergara, who had a brief stint with Purefoods in 2009.

Vergara finished with eight points, the same output delivered by Wainwright –
another PBA returnee from the ABL. Wainwright went 2-of-2 from beyond
the arc and added a two-pointer and three rebounds in 18 minutes of
play.

The entire team was 37-of-69 percent from the field – the
biggest for the franchise in the last six conferences.

The Energy Foods and Drinks ball club went on a decline in the last three years,
finishing 10th and last in the league’s last three tourneys.

Monroe poured in 17 points in the third quarter, fuelling a hot charge that
opened double-digit leads for Barako.

Anthony Johnson and Kelly Williams spearheaded a fourth-quarter Sta. Lucia chase but the Realtors failed to sustain the effort, losing steam at the finish.

The Realtors,
who trailed by 12 points four times, pulled even at 88-all entering the
last two minutes of the game.

Monroe himself put Barako back on
top on two free throws off Bitoy Omolon, then Vergara had his crucial
back-to-back hits, giving the Coffee Masters the 94-88 margin.

Going down the drain was Johnson’s own double-double game (41 points and 13
rebounds).

The scores:

Barako Coffee 97 - Monroe 39,
Najorda 12, Vergara 8, Reyes 8, Wainwright 8, Menor 5, Dimaunahan 5,
Duncil4, Aljamal 4, Gaco 2, Faundo 2, Alonzo 0.

Sta. Lucia 93 -
Johnson 41, Espinas 14, Reyes 13, Custodio 8, Williams 6, Mendoza 4,
Misolas 3, Omolon 2, Aquino 2, Waters 0, Urbiztondo 0, Belano 0.

Quarterscores: 25-23, 44-46, 78-68, 97-93

Barako vs Sta Lucia Images

PBA IMAGE 1 - Ryan Reyes driving over the defense of Ogie Menor.
PBA IMAGE 2 - Ogie Menor with a hard nose defense n Anthony Johnson
PBA IMAGE 3 - Sammy Monroe tries to protect the ball from Gabby Espinas and Joshua Urbiztondo.
PBA IMAGE 4 - Sammy Monroe gets control of the ball over Kelly Williams

M.Lhuillier nips Montana for title

The victorious Cebuanos with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (center) and Araw ng Dabaw sports committee chairman Christopher "Bong" Go (2nd from right, standing).(Photo courtesy of Renato B. Lumawag/Mindanao Times)


Mayor Rody Duterte watched intently from the sidelines. Around the gym, a sea of humanity filled every space of the gym, some craning their necks at every opening while the others bravely hung on posts.

Not an ordinary occurrence too was the electrifying performance of a young American missionary who was awesome in slamming his way to the dunk title.

Indeed, this was not an ordinary day.

Not an ordinary finish too, as hometeam Montana Pawnshop gallantly fought to the end but came out short against the visiting M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala 77-73 for the championship of the Mayor Rody-Inday Sara Invitational Basketball tournament, March 18.

But it was the not-so-ordinary performance of a slippery reserve that broke the hearts of the home fans.

Mark Ababon, who plays second fiddle to former pro Stephen Padilla in the M. Lhuillier rotation, stood ten feet tall in the finals as he almost singlehandedly quell a Montana uprising in the third, firing 12 of his 21 points in that stretch. And just when the Jewels closed the gap 73-74 in the dying seconds, the southpaw Ababon buried the dagger on the Davao franchise with a booming triple off a screen.

The Cebuano pointguard danced and body-slammed with teammates on center court as the shocked crowd gave him their loud approval. Ababon was later named tournament MVP.

The finals, which drew the biggest crowd at the Davao City Recreation Center (formerly Almendras gym) in years, was not without drama and intensity. Montana’s Ronald Lamocha and Lhuillier’s Nat Cruz were thrown out of the game for throwing punches, 5:06 in the fourth. It helped that the Mayor was in the sidelines and nobody from the bench stood up to join the fray.

Former PBA journeymen Bruce Dacia and Marlon Basco combined for 30 points while dominating the boards for M. Lhuillier. Padilla, who averaged close to 5 triples before the finals, was limited to just two and a total of 8 points as he was shadowed the entire match. The Jewels got 14 from Henry Fernandez, 13 from Michael Manigo and 12 from Solitaria.

Montana suffered a severe blow when Fernandez, the team’s leading scorer, was tagged with his fourth foul early in the third period and had to sit out in a long stretch just as the Jewels was catching up on the Cebuanos.

In the appetizer small dunk contest, Clarence Jeffery of the Sports Ambassadors regaled the crowd with his gravity-defying dunks. The slams were simply oh-so-extraordinary—he started off with a windmill jam, followed up with a Jordanesque 45-degree skim-the-rim to earn perfect scores in the first two rounds. In the finals, he bounced off facing-about from the sidelines then caught the ball in mid air before slamming it home. His final dunk could have brought the house down but he failed in two attempts to execute the between-the legs East Bay Funk dunk.

Jeffery, nicknamed “The Black Superman”, is a former standout of the Mississippi College aand a member of the Ventures for Victory squad that regularly plays exhibition matches in the country. He is set to join the Asian College of Technology Cyberknights in the Cebu collegiate hoops.

Montana rookie Miggy Solitaria, a standout of Ateneo de Davao University, finished second in the dunkfest, showing off with two vicious double-handed jammers.

But the dunkfest happened so fast everyone wished they could see it on a replay.

In the battle for third, Team Bida of Laguna won a physical match against a fighting Pacman Warriors squad of GenSan 86-74. Leomar Losentes erupted for 30 points for Team Bida while John Eric Coronado had 14 for Pacman who wound up 4th.(pr)

Montana faces M. Lhuillier in finals

Montana faces M. Lhuillier in finals


Montana Pawnshop of Davao bowed to Laguna’s Team Bida 84-82 but drew some luck in the quotients as it arranged a finals duel with Cebu’s M. Lhuillier for the Mayor Rody-Vice Mayor Inday Sara Invitational basketball crown.

It all came down to the stats with each basket counting as Montana, Bida and M. Lhuillier finished the eliminations with identical 2-1 win-loss slates. The Cebuanos topped the tie-breaker with a plus 12 quotient while Montana managed to finish no. 2 with a plus 6 quotient. Bida had a minus 4 and will be relegated to playing third against the Pacman Warriors of Gen. Santos City.
“I think these are the two teams most people wanted to meet. Montana may have the homecourt edge because it is the team from Davao but M. Lhuillier also has a lot of fans because of their exciting players,” said Bong Go, the Mayor’s executive assistant who was at courtside.

M. Lhuillier formalized its entry to the finals by drubbing Pacman Warriors 91-84 in Tuesday’s nightcap. Stephen Padilla once more displayed his vaunted firepower from beyond the arc as he came through with four triples for the night and a team-high 16 points. Frank Nailon had 14 while Marlon Basco and Ian Saladaga each had 12.

Team Bida made the standings a little complicated when it upset the Jewels earlier in the night. Ricky Ricafuente scattered four treys on the way to an 18-point output while Glenn Bolocon and Alfie Grijaldo played clean-up roles in the crucial fourth to preserve the reversal for the Drugbusters of Laguna. Francis Mercado had 13 for Laguna while Bolocon had 11.

The Jewels, who came back from a 50-38 deficit at the lemontime break to take the lead late in the third, were paced by Dondon Tadena with 18 while Ronald Lamocha had 17. For the second night, coach Nick Serafica used beanpole center Fred Canlas sparingly. It was Canlas who triggered a Montana uprising in the third period against M. Lhuillier in their first outing.

Against the same squad in the finals, everyone is speculating whether or not Canlas will be fielded by Serafica. The Cebuanos parade a strong frontline in the slam-dunking Basco and the rugged Nailon along with Ariel Mepana and Abe Santos. The Jewels will also have to find a way to neutralize the sweet-shooting Padilla who had three triples in their first encounter. Padilla averages close to five triples a game, mostly thrown from the pro distance.
For the third straight playdate, Davao’s basketball-thirsty fans filled the Almendras Gym to the rafters, queuing up at the gates early despite the strict security checks. (pr)