670 Sonics survive Rollers in finale

The 670 Sonics’ Tony Kim, left, is fouled by the RT Law NMI Rollers’ Eli Castro during the first half of their title game in the boys U15 division of the 2018 Frank M. Diaz Memorial Youth League last Thursday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The 670 Sonics knocked in important free throws in the homestretch to squeeze out a 43-41 victory over the RT Law NMI Rollers in their boys U15 title game in the 2018 Frank M. Diaz Memorial Youth League last Thursday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Tony Kim and Raven Francisco split their free throws in the closing seconds of the match to lift the 670 Sonics to the finals win that not only handed their team the championship, but also gave the group a perfect record this season. The 670 Sonics were undefeated in eight games, prevailing in six matches in the elimination round and winning over Bruce Almighty in the semis before pulling off victory against the NMI Rollers in the title duel.

The finals went down to the-wire in the end, as the NMI Rollers worked their way back into the game after falling behind by 7 at the break, 20-27. The match was tied for the last time at the 41-41 tally after Devon Pangelinan made a point-blank shot and drew a foul against his defender with less than a minute left in the game. Pangelinan failed to complete the and-1 play although his bonus free throw bounced back into the basket, as he was caught stepping on the 15-foot line.

With the infraction, the 670 Sonics got the possession, but committed an errant pass, returning the ball to the NMI Rollers, which then took a hurried shot and missed. The 670 Sonics got the rebound and Tony Kim was fouled as he tried to cross the half court line. The NMI Rollers were not yet in the penalty, forcing the 670 Sonics to go for the inbound, which the latter did after calling a timeout with a little over 20 minutes remaining on the clock.

When the game resumed, Francisco took the inbound pass and drove to the middle, but was partially blocked by a NMI Rollers defender. Fortunately for the 670 Sonics, Kim got the rebound, went up for the shot in the paint, and was fouled. His first free throw, however, was way too strong, so he made the adjustment and the second one hit nothing but the net, giving the 670 Sonics a shaky 42-41 lead.

Now behind, the NMI Rollers used their last timeout and when the game resumed they tried to catch the 670 Sonics’ defense off guard with the inbound passer throwing a cross lob to Ervin Villarin, whose shot was nullified, as the referee has not called the resumption of the match yet. When it was time to restart the game, the NMI Rollers ran a similar play for Villarin, who made the attempt at the same spot, missed the shot, but was fouled.

Villarin went on to muff both charities, while the 670 Sonics cleared the board and Francisco was fouled as he tried to bring the ball down to their frontcourt. Francisco then split his charity, drilling his second free throw to hand the 670 Sonics the 2-point advantage, 43-41.

After Francisco’s second shot from the stripe and with the clock ticking, the NMI Rollers were pressed for a quick inbound and after only a couple of passes, the leather was handed over to Villarin, who pulled the trigger inside the foul line, but again faltered on his attempt. There was a battle for the rebound after the miss and the ball touched an NMI Rollers player first before going out, giving the possession to the 670 Sonics.

The eventual champions then dribbled out the last five seconds of the clock, avoiding contact with NMI Rollers to win the closely fought finale.

Kim top-scored for the 670 Sonics with his 17 points, while Francisco, who was named regular season and Finals MVP, added 9 points. The 670 Sonics guard dropped 7 markers in the second half with his field goals keeping his team in front, as he teamed up with Kim in delivering clutch baskets for their squad.

Kim posted the 670 Sonics’ first 6 points and drew some help from his teammates in the remaining minutes of the first half for their 7-point edge at the break. Then in the second half, it was the NMI Rollers’ turn to spread the wealth to get back into the game, but they could not complete the recovery as they muffed important shots in the end.

670 Sonics 43 — Kim 17, Francisco 9, Carlos 5, Junior 3, Caruana 3, Rizo 2, Bernardo 2, Aldan 2.

NMI Rollers 41 — Pangelinan 17, Villarin 8, G. Castro 4, Morilla 4, E. Castro 3, Factor 3, Kapwich 1, Cruz 1.

Scoring by halves: 27-20, 43-41.