Curtains close in regular season of Genesis Cup

The playoff pairings for the inaugural Genesis Invitational Cup was completed Monday night with Daniel securing the third seed after beating Jeremiah in the first game and Gideon taking the fourth seed after routing Caleb at the Calvary International Mission Basketball Court.

Playing in the penultimate game of the regular season, Daniel (5-2) bucked a slow start and then outdueled Jeremiah (2-5) in the final minutes for a 78-72 victory in the first game of the evening’s doubleheader.

Jeremiah’s Julius Dela Luya and Daniel’s William Opone were locked up in a scoring duel in the opening 10 minutes as both scored 11 points apiece, but the former had more support from his teammates and Jeremiah nursed a 21-17 lead going into the second quarter.

Opone’s teammates finally got involved in the offense in the second canto, as Ryan Rapanut matched Opone’s six and sweet shooting Jeff Garcia added five to help Daniel overhaul its early deficit and led 40-37 at the break.

Jeremiah’s scoring woes carried over into the third quarter, while Daniel continued its scoring spree in the third.

With Opone regaining his shooting touch with eight and Garcia punching in six points, Daniel went ahead by 10 points, 58-48, going into the fourth and final quarter.

Former Rotary standout Manuel Ajoste tried to rally Jeremiah from its double-digit deficit in the final 10 minutes of the contest by firing 13 points, but Daniel overcame Opone’s scoreless fourth by drawing 11 from John Penalosa, which allowed the team to escape with the six-point win.

Opone and Garcia led Daniel with 24 and 22 points, respectively, while Ajoste fired a game-high 28 points in the loss.

By finishing third and sixth in the standings Daniel and Jeremiah will meet in a playoff game tomorrow night.

In the second game Monday night, Gideon erased a 13-point first quarter lead by outscoring Caleb 65-36 the rest of the way for a 74-58 win.

Gideon (4-3) couldn’t have started the game any worse after scoring only nine points in the first quarter, as against Caleb’s 22.

But power-playing Elbyn Cecilia finally flexed his muscles in the second with nine points, as Gideon cut down Caleb’s (1-6) lead to seven points, 33-26, at the half.

Jordan Bernabe picked up where Cecilia left off by firing 10 points in the third as Gideon finally took control of the match, leading 52-44 with a quarter to go in the contest.

Cecilia then teamed up with fellow inside operator Armand Anasan in the fourth as the duo scored 15 points between themselves to help Gideon to the 16-point win.

Cecilia and Bernabe came away with 19 and 17 points, respectively, to pace Gideon, while playing-coach Nelson Samson led Caleb with 15 points. Sharpshooters Danny Illani and Ronnie Guevarra added 14 apiece for the losing side.

There was no rest for the weary as Caleb took on regular season topnotcher Ezekiel in last night’s first game. The second game saw runner-up Nehemiah facing off against No. 7 Joshua. Tomorrow’s second game will then pit Gideon against Isaiah.

First Game

Daniel 78 – Opone 24, Garcia 22, Penalosa 11, Rapanut 8, Arceo 7, Tenorio 6.

Jeremiah 72 – Ajoste 28, Dela Luya 15, Sicat 8, Gamboa 8, Roman 4, Isip 4, Ibanez 2, Javier 2.

Scoring by quarters: 17-21, 40-37, 58-48, 78-72.

Second Game

Gideon 74 – Cecilia 19, Bernabe 17, Hernandez 13, Bordon 8, Anasan 7, Buniag 6, Puno 4.

Caleb 58 – Samson 15, Illahi 14, Guevarra 14, Teofisto 7, Miraflor 4, Domingo 4.

Scoring by quarters: 9-22, 26-33, 52-44, 74-58.