Ogumoro stands out in U18; playoff round starts tonight

An Ol’Aces player unloads a shot against a 670 Sonics defender during their regular season game in the U18 division of the Diaz youth caging at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. Both teams made it to the playoff round that will start tonight. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Rollers Blue’s Aaron Ogumoro starred in the regular season of the boys U18 division of the Inaugural Frank M. Diaz Memorial Youth League after topping two departments and placing second in another category.

Ogumoro led the division in scoring and steals, averaging 19.12 points and 6.25 steals in eight games. He totaled 153 markers and 50 steals in the round-robin regular season and helped Rollers Blue finish third in the team standings with its 6-3 record.

Two other Rollers Blue players joined Ogumoro in the Top 3 in scoring with Jun Alipio coming in at second with his 17.14 average (120 points in seven games) and Christian Arceo ending up at third after posting an average of 15 (105 points in seven games).

Rounding out the Top 10 in scoring were Rollers White’s Jethro Cruz (13.71 points per game), 670 Sonics’ Djay Ong (12.85ppg), the Ol’Aces’ Greg Sablan (11.86ppg), Rollers Red’s Tony Deleon Guerrero (11.85ppg), the Ol’Aces’ Napu Atalig (10.28ppg), and Kagman Riserz’s Mel Sakisat (9.87ppg) and Mike Muna (9ppg).

In the steals department, Ogumoro led Rollers White’s Kenji Abono (5.78 average), the Ol’Aces’ Aiferson Atan (5.71), and his teammates Arceo (3.57) and Alipio (3.42). Rounding out the Top 10 were Kagman’s Andrew Palino (3) and Sakisat (2.85), Junior Sonics’ Renato Gaviola (2.62) and Lawrence Diyco (2.37), and 670 Sonics’ Kyle Rios (2.42).

In the assists category, Arceo stole the thunder from Ogumoro with the former posting an average of 4.14 after collecting 29 in seven games against the latter’s 3.87 (31 assists in eight matches). Kagman’s Andrew Palino (3.28), Abobo (2.57), Gaviola (2), Rollers White’s Sam Darag (1.85), Sakisat (1.57), Rollers White’s Melvin Deocares (1.57), Rollers Blue’s Jude Tengco (1), and 670 Sonics’ Mike Espinosa 91) made up the Top 10.

In the rebounds department, only two players averaged in double figures with the Ol’Aces Greg Sablan edging Kagman’s Blake Dean. Sablan hauled 75 boards in seven games for an average of 10.71, while Dean was at close second with his 10.25 average (82 boards in eight matches). Arceo (9.14), Napu (8.14), Ong (8), Espinosa (7.28), and Kagman’s Darion Jones (6.62), Dion Lizama (6), and Sakisat (5.62) rounded out the Top 10.

670 Sonics slotman Jester Kintaro missed the Top 10 in the rebounds department, but led the division in blocks with his average of two per game.

Meanwhile, the single-elimination round will begin today with the top-ranked 670 Sonics facing last qualifier Wong at 5pm at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. The Sonics finished the regular season with a 7-1 record, beating Kagman in the tiebreak, while Wong had a 1-7 mark and also prevailed in a tie against Junior Sonics.

In the second playoff game tomorrow, Kagman will take on Tanapag, which was ranked seventh with its 2-6 card. Other first round pairings are Rollers Blue (6-2) versus Rollers Red (2-6) for the May 23 match and Rollers White (5-3) against the Ol’Aces (5-3) for the May 24 tiff. Winners of tonight’s match and the Rollers White-Ol’Aces tiff will square off for the first finals berth on May 25, while the victors in the two others games will battle for the remaining finals ticket on May 26. The winner-take-all finale is set for May 27.