Another season, another championship

Like a fine bottle of vintage wine, Verizon just seem to get better with age.

Save for last year’s debacle against Old Aces in the 35-and-over, no team has ever dominated the Masters Basketball League ranks like Verizon.

That fact was on full display for all to see last Tuesday evening when the Tony Sablan-coached quintet ran roughshod over rival Old Aces in Game 1 of the championship.

But that’s getting ahead of Verizon’s fairytale 2004 season.

The team started off with two wins before a hiccup against a very capable Dyno-Sores team derailed it perfect season.

Shaken up from its complacency, Verizon racked up seven straights victories to win the pennant and guaranteed itself a bye in the opening round of the playoffs.

Paired against CK Legends in the quarterfinals last June 1, Verizon flexed its muscles and ran away with a 100-83 win led by veteran gunner Dado Vistal’s 42 points.

Needing only a win to advance to the championship, Verizon let a 20-point lead slip away before nipping Dyno-Sores, 81-76, last June 3. In that game, Vistal paired with 6’3” slotman Ed Cosino to score the team’s final 3 points. The two scored 48 points between themselves the entire game.

And in the championship game, Verizon frustrated Old Aces gunner Tony Luzama and held in check playmaker Elias Rangamar to take home the title, 97-85.

Verizon played an almost perfect second half after failing to shrug off a stubborn Old Aces team in the first 20 minutes of the ballgame.

With Cosino and 6’4” Doc Brostrom coming late into the game, Verizon hang tough with great contributions from back-up big men Jack Palacios and Tim Paez.

But still Verizon had troubles containing Luzama and Rangamar in the open court and Old Aces appeared priming for an upset victory that would send the series to a winner-take-all Game 2.

Playing both ends of the floor then began to take its toll on Old Aces’ famed backcourt. Verizon point guard Frank Iglecias was especially effective against a huffing and puffing Rangamar in the third and fourth quarters, as the 5’7” whippet-quick sentinel came away with 20 of his 26 points after intermission.

Vistal also came alive in the second half after being limited by Luzama’s tight guarding in the first 20 minutes. The 6’1” former semi-pro player in the Philippines pumped in 12 of his 18 points in the second half.

Even Brostrom threw in two run-snapping baskets to turn the tide of battle. The last one with 3:11 to go quashed Old Aces’ last-ditch stand and Verizon was able to pull off the 12-point win.

“Everyone played well. Jack and Tim kept us in the fight in the first half. Dado, Ed and Doc were steady in the second. But Frank was awesome the whole game and just ran their [Old Aces] guards to the ground after the break,” said Sablan after the game.

Brostrom, meanwhile, said that like all of Verizon’s championships the past half decade, the game—and in fact the entire season—was a total team effort. Cosino, Vistal and Bicera seem to agree, while Iglecias was just humbled by the whole thing and pointed to the rest of his teammates as the reason for the team’s success.

The rest of the 2004 Masters Basketball League 40-and-over champion team is made up of Felix Palacios, John Dela Cruz, Danny Cabrera, and Ed Manalili.