Visminda gains twice-to-beat advantage in finals

Visminda-Country House went berserk from all angles and defensively pressured Cabalen-Transamerica from one end of the court to the other in posting a runaway 120-87 victory Sunday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium, giving the defending champions twice-to-beat advantage in the finals of the 2004 UFO-San Miguel Cup.

With their finals hopes all but squashed by SIP-Verizon’s manhandling of FASA-PABA-CNC Inc. Saturday, Cabalen was only out to play the spoiler’s role against the defending champions.

A win by Cabalen would’ve made the championship between Visminda and SIP a best-of-three affair but coach Boy Garcia and his troops were in no mood to halt their winning streak at eight games and thus lose the coveted advantage in the finals.

Visminda started the game a bit sluggishly, uncharacteristically allowing seven Cabalen players to score and as a consequence only led, 21-19, after the first quarter.

The team, however, brandished their vaunted run-and-gun game in the second quarter, leaving a huffing and puffing Cabalen squad biting its dust and when the smoke cleared, Visminda was on top 47-33 at intermission.

It would only go from bad to worse for Cabalen in the third quarter. Do-it-all swingman Banjo Basila began to assert himself and teamed up with ageless gunner Dado Vistal to push Cabalen down an even deeper hole, helping Visminda erect several 33-point leads.

After 30 minutes of play, SIP was preparing for the worst, as the rout was on with Visminda opening a mammoth 87-57 spread.

Cabalen tried to make the final score respectable in the payoff period and were partly successful as they were able to bring down the gap to as low as 18 points in two occasions.

Visminda, however, wanted to top SIP’s 28-point winning margin against Cabalen and stepped on the gas pedal to drive home the point.

Veteran power forwards Danny Bicera and Emil De Belen were all too willing to pad their stats, going to town in the fourth with 6 points each as the team ran the victory lap the last five minutes and won the game by a whopping 33 points.

Vistal was named best player of the game after torching the nets with 25 points (21 from beyond the arc) to go with his 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block. Basila led all scorers with 28 points. He also had 9 assists and 6 boards.

Defensive specialist Jawn Joyner also was a force in both ends of the floor pumping in 23 points, hauling down 9 rebounds, dishing off 6 times, and blocking 3 shots, mostly in spectacular fashion.

Ex-Visminda cager Paul Magcalas led Cabalen’s losing cause with 17 points and 6 dole outs. Randy Arnedo struggled against Visminda’s choking defense but still wound up with 15 points. Ryan Mendoza and Ronald Delos Reyes were held down to 13 and 11 markers, respectively.

Visminda 120 – Basila 28, Vistal 25, Joyner 23, Cosino 10, De Belen 10, Marasigan 8, Bicera 8, Artates 8.

Cabalen 87 – Magcalas 17, Arnedo 15, Mendoza 13, Delos Reyes 11, Ocampo 9, Alipio 7, Sinca 6, Canlas 5, Jo. Gatdula 4.

Scoring by quarters: 21-19, 47-33, 87-57, 120-87.

Referees: Ricky Itaas and Jess Fabula.