Rollers 3 climbs to solo lead

Rollers 3 snatched the solo No. 1 spot in the boys division of the 2013 Sun Palace Christmas Basketball Tournament after whipping Rollers 5, 64-32, last Monday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

The division leader has a 4-1 record, one victory ahead of Rollers 2 (3-1). The Rollers 3 was scheduled to play Dream Team (0-3) last night for its penultimate game in the round-robin elimination and another victory would give the former the first playoff berth.

Only the Top 4 teams will advance to the playoff round and Rollers 5 is in danger of missing the cut after falling to a 0-5 record. Other teams gunning for playoff sets are Rollers 1 (2-1), Rollers 4 (2-2), and FTMP (2-1). Rollers 1 and FTMP squared off in the other boys division match last night.

Rollers 3 zeroed in on a playoff berth after dominating Rollers 5 from start to finish. Rollers 3 built an early twin-digit lead, 28-16, and kept going in the second half to double up Rollers 5.
Kyle Rios, Christian Morales, and Wilfredo Francisco worked together in the opening half for Rollers 3 with the former hitting back-to-back triples in the closing minutes of the first frame and finishing the period with 8 points. Morales and Francisco chipped in 6 markers apiece in the first half, which saw Rollers 5 struggled to find a player that could have jumpstarted the team’s offense.

Five different players scored for Rollers 5 in the first half, but no one clearly stepped up, as Ylac Caracut, Emmanuel Cobacha, and Aaron Ogumoro hit only two field goal apiece. With no one to turn to, Rollers 5 fell behind further in the second half.
Rollers 3, on the other hand, had a new set of players keeping the team’s offense going in the second half with Jedd Cudia dropping all her 7 points in the final frame, Jun Alipio also drilling 7, and Angelo Factor contributing 5.

Meanwhile, elimination games in the Sun Palace tournament will continue this weekend. Tomorrow, Rollers 1 takes on Rollers 4 in the first game at 5:30pm; Tappers meets Wrecking Balls (girls division) at 6:30pm; and FTMP faces Rollers 2 at 7:30pm. Then on Saturday, Dream Team collides against Rollers 1 at 5:30pm, Futball duels Hula Girls at 6:30pm, and Rollers 4 battles Rollers 2 at 7:30pm.

Rollers 3 64 – Rios 13, Alipio 9, Factor 8, Francisco 8, Morales 8, Cudia 7, Among 5, Cruz 3, Kwon 2.
Rollers 5 32 – Caracut 10, Ogumoro 5, Mamaril 5, Alonzo 4, Cobacha 4, Yu 3.
Scoring by halves: 28-16, 64-32.