Jeremiah, Isaiah advance to semis

Jeremiah and Isaiah barged into the semifinals of the Filipino Community Church Inaugural Inter-Color Basketball League after outlasting separate opponents Thursday night at the Calvary International Mission Basketball Court.

Jeremiah was the first of the two teams to punch a Final Four ticket following its 82-70 upset of favored Daniel in the opener.

Playing coach Julius De Luya was instrumental in giving his team a good start by scoring six points, which allowed Jeremiah to go up, 14-12.

Former Rotary standout Manuel Ajoste started to strut his stuff come the second, peppering defenders with eight points, as Jeremiah continued to take command on top by five points, 33-28, during the halftime break.

UFO veteran Jeff Garcia began to assert himself at the start of the second half, as the sweet shooting swingman rang up the scoreboard with 11 points for Daniel. But Jeremiah maintained its advantage and was up 55-51 heading into the fourth and final quarter.

With the semifinal chips on the line, Jeremiah leaned on De Luya, Ajoste, and Joel Javier as the trio combined for all but five of the team’s 26-point fourth quarter output to tow Jeremiah to the 12-point win.

Ajoste led Jeremiah with 24 points with Javier and De Luya backing him up with 19 and 17, respectively. Garcia took game-high honors with 31 points in the loss.

Isaiah, meanwhile, capitalized on the absence of bull-strong Elybyn Cecilia to hack out a 94-91 victory against Gideon in the second game.

Cecilia left the game with an apparent bum stomach in the second quarter, but it still took some late-game breaks for Isaiah to pull off the victory.

Comfortably ahead by five points and seemingly assured of victory with under a minute to go, Isaiah allowed Jordan Bernabe a wide-open triple that made it 93-91.

Following a blown fastbreak layup and a similar gaffe in a hurried follow-up, Gideon had a chance to tie with less than 20 seconds left when guard Rico Puno was fouled.

The pastor of FCC, however, misfired on the first of two gift shots then intentionally missed the second only to have Isaiah rebound the ball.

But Isaiah still couldn’t slam the door shut on their opponents as another turnover gave back ball possession to Gideon.

With his team trailing by two, Gideon playing coach Greg De Leon tried to fish a foul against an Isaiah defender only to lose the ball out of bounds.

Little-used F-Jay Danipong then made one of two free throws to peg the final score, as the entire Isaiah bench jumped in celebration as the final horn sounded.

Noel David fired 31 points in the victory, while Manolo Manalo and Mheljhun Capalad added 21 and 20 points.

Jing Bordon paced Gideon in the loss with 22 followed by the 16 and 13 points of Bernabe and Puno, respectively.

The semifinals will be played on Monday, May 22, with Jeremiah taking on Nehemiah in the 6:15pm first game and Isaiah facing Ezekiel in the second. The championship will be played a week later on May 29, 6pm, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

First Game

Jeremiah 82 – Ajoste 24, Javier 19, De Luya 17, Gamboa 8, Roman 4, Sicat 3, Jap 2, Isip 2, L.A. 2.

Daniel 70 – Je. Garcia 32, Alvarez 10, Arceo 9, Cordero 6, Jo. Garcia 5, Penalosa 5, Tenorio 2, D. Camacho 1.

Scoring by quarters: 14-12, 33-28, 55-51, 82-70.

Referees: Eric Artillaga and Gilbert Espinosa.

Second Game

Isaiah 94 – David 31, Manolo 21, Capalad 20, Guinto 8, Padolina 4, Ong 4, Orpilla 3, Cea 2, Danipog 1.

Gideon 91 – Bordon 22, Bernabe 16, Puno 13, Domingo 7, Anasan 7, Hernandez 7, Cecila 6, De Leon 6, Herera 4, Villafuerte 3, Buniag 2.

Scoring by quarters: 19-14, 33-31, 53-56, 94-91.

Referees: Eric Artillaga and Gilbert Espinosa.