Rollers 1, 3, keep grips to Top 2 spots

Rollers 1 and 3 tightened their hold to the Top 2 spots in the 2013 Sun Palace Christmas Basketball Tournament after beating separate opponents last Friday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Rollers 1 played in the nightcap and edged FTMP, 68-62, while Rollers 1 saw action in the first game and routed Rollers 5, 68-46. With their wins, Rollers 1 and 3 moved up to 9-1 and 8 records, respectively, and remained ahead of Rollers 2 (7-3), FTMP (5-5), Rollers 4 (3-7), Dream Team (2-7), and Rollers 5 (0-10), pending results of last Saturday’s matches. The boys division contest of the Sun Palace caging is on its final phase of the elimination round and only the Top 4 teams will advance to the playoffs.

Rollers 2 denied FTMP’s outright entry to the playoff round after notching the 6-point win. Jaron Ano foiled FTMP’s early bid, drilling Rollers 1’ s last 7 points. He also top-scored for Rollers 1 with 22 points, while Prince Factor and Mike Arciaga chipped in 14 and 12, respectively.

Jason Lampkin had 18 for FTMP, which needed to win only one of its last two matches to complete the playoff cast and join Rollers 1, 2, and 3. FTMP was scheduled to face Rollers 2 last Saturday and will play Rollers 5 today. Back-to-back FTMP losses would keep Rollers 4’s hopes for the fourth and last playoff ticket.

Rollers 4 failed to get the needed fourth win last weekend, as it bowed to Dream Team in the second match of the night, 50-65.

The all-female crew of Dream Team booked its second straight win after dropping its first seven matches. Madeleine Alegre towed Dream Team to its second victory after firing 24 points. She knocked in 10 points in the first half and got 9 from Kyla Ito to give Dream Team a promising 33-18 halftime lead. Dream Team never looked back from thereon, as Alegre continued to find her target, while Irish Pagarao also found his form in the second half.

In the first game, Rollers 3 was on a zone right from
the get-go, doubling up Rollers 5, 34-17. Four Rollers 3 players scored at least 7 points each in the first half to gain early control of the match en route to the 18-point win.

Wilfredo Francisco, who had 11 points in the first frame, went on to finish with 16 markers to lead Rollers 3, while Adrian De Luna and Kyle Rios contributed 14 and 10, respectively. No Rollers 5 players broke into twin digits, as the best that Henry Yu could do was make 8 markers.

First Game
Rollers 3 68 – Francisco 16, De Luna 14, Rios 10, Alipio 6, Cruz 5, Morales 5, Cudia 3, Dancoe 2, Kwon 2.
Rollers 5 46 – Yu 8, Pangelinan 6, Caracut 6, Dela Cruz 5, Tengco 4, Mamaril 3, Ogumoro 2, Bordon 2.
Scoring by halves: 34-17, 68-46.
Second Game
Dream Team 65 – Alegre 24, Pagarao 14, Ito 11, Williams 9, Castillo 2.
Rollers 4 50 – Sagun 21, Iba 9, Wei 7, Ellama 7, Kwon 6.
Scoring by halves: 33-18, 65-50.

Third Game
Rollers 1 68 – Ano 22, Factor 14, Arciaga 12, Cayading 6, Pangelinan 4, Iglecias 3.
FTMP 62 – Lampkin 18, Montes 17, Omengkar 12, Roque 8, Aristores 6.
Scoring by halves: 34-36, 68-61.