Cabalen to take it a game at a time, SIP sans Amado

After a brief break to give way to the holiday season, the 6th Annual UFO inter-Organizational Basketball League returns to the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium tomorrow as teams resume their push in hopes of making the playoffs.

Two teams that have experienced successful first rounds were Cabalen-RP Construction/Transamerica and Samahang Ilokano at Pangasinense/Flor A. Miranda of Pool B, and both have the honors of playing the first games of the crossover elimination round.

After completing a perfect first round in which the team won all six of its challenges, Cabalen looks to continue its sharp play, but is far from looking too much ahead.

“We’re just going to take it a game at a time,” said Cabalen head coach Rene Atienza. “We can’t afford to lose any game…it is very critical now because we’re in the elimination round. So we’ll just focus on one game at a time and focus on improving our defense.”

Cabalen leads SIP by a game in Pool B after beating the three-time champions, 75-67, in their first-round meeting last November.

“We’re confident with our team. We know we have a good chance, but we can never count out other teams, especially Visminda and SIP,” Atienza said. “Our team has a mixture of new and old players, so we’ll focus on sharpening our chemistry and we know there’ll be tough games ahead of us.”

Cabalen will try to extend its winning streak when it takes on Bibak-Island Card at 6pm today.

The following bout features SIP battling CNMI POWER-Mayor Juan B. Tudela, with the tip off scheduled for 7:30pm.

SIP (5-1) will be without the services of explosive guard Jason Amado, who has left the island. However, coach Rufino Aguon remains confident the team can pull things together.

“It’s going to be a big hole to fill, but I believe the other guys will step up and play their game, and that will help the team,” Aguon said. “He is our fastbreak sparker, and without that, we just have to play more of a deliberate game instead of using a running attack most of the time. We’ll just have to change our game plan a little bit depending on what team we’re playing.”

Amado has relocated to the U.S. mainland for personal reasons. SIP had already lost the services of veteran playmaker Rick Alegre, who returned to his native Philippines last year.

Alegre is expected to return to Saipan, though, which should serve as a boost for the team.

“That still remains to be seen,” Aguon said. “He’s supposed to come back. Maybe he’s still working on his papers, [but] he’ll play in the team.”

Aguon reiterated that the team’s mission at the moment is to secure a playoff berth. “Our goal is to make the playoffs first,” he said. “Once we make the playoffs, after that, it doesn’t matter because everything starts over again.”

Visminda-Tambayan/Nel Atalig returns to the hardcourt on Sunday at 6pm against Bayani-HBR International. Like Cabalen, the defending champion Visminda squad holds a perfect streak and will gun to keep it intact.

Capping the weekend is LIPS-Mobil (5-1) taking on MDX Amateur Radio Club-Armatech at 7:30pm.