Sonics, Smart Cagers advance to semis

The Sonics prevailed over Blue Haus, 65-58, on Monday night at the Garapan Basketball Court to gain an automatic semis seat in the 2011 QQ Car Rental Basketball Cup.

The Sonics finished the round-robin elimination with a league’s best 7-1 record, one win ahead of Blue Haus, which shares the second place with Smart Cagers, as they ended up with identical 6-2 slates.

The battle for first place was knotted at 14-all after the first quarter before Blue Haus went ahead, 27-22, at mid-point as its defense held the Sonics to eight points in the second quarter.

The game remained tight in the third, but Blue Haus still managed a 42-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Then in the fourth quarter, Jason Bahillo hit a couple of early three balls, while Lerio Pagarao caught fire with nine points in the homestretch to lift the Sonics to a seven-point win. Pagarao topped the board with 19 points, while Blue Haus’ Kelvin Fitial turned in 13 in the loss.

In other results, Rollers Happiness broke into the win column after beating Prospects on Monday night, 95-82, while Ferrera Builders fended off a Rollers Madness’ late rally, 87-74, and Smart Cagers defeated Happiness, 73-70, in the Wednesday night matches.

In the Wednesday’s opener, Madness managed a slim 19-18 edge in the first period, thanks to the 13 points of Manny Matagolai, who nailed a trio of treys in the onslaught.

The Builders battled back and took a 41-35 lead at the half, as Rex Yabut and Gilbert Miranda tallied eight markers apiece in the second quarter.

Madness made some key adjustments during the break and pulled within a point, 61-62, with a quarter to go. Fred Litulumar and Eugene Manglona combined for 15 points in that canto.

The game went down to the wire, as Madness sank three long balls in the clutch, but Ferrera clung to its slim lead and made three key free throws at the end to escape with the win.

Yabut finished with 27 points for Ferrera, while Matagolai had 26 points for Madness.

In the second game, Pete Iguel and Bernard Montano canned six points apiece to help Smart Cagers build an early 23-13 lead.

Happiness moved within five at the half, 31-36, as Brandon Aulerio scored seven points in the third quarter. Happiness hung around after the break, but Smart still led after the third, 56-52, behind Errol Peredo’s eight points. Happiness threatened again in the fourth, but Iguel delivered 10 points in the clutch, including two free throws to seal the win.

The victory also assured Smart Cagers an automatic semis ticket, as they defeated Blue Haus in the tiebreak for second place.

In Monday’s curtain raiser, Happiness hit a pair of three pointers for a 19-18 lead advantage in the first quarter, and then shot ahead at halftime, 55-41, after a big second quarter push. Aulerio finished with 21 points in the first half.

Prospects made repeated comeback bids, but Happiness stood its ground to break into the win column.

Meanwhile, four more teams will fight for the two remaining semis berths, as the QQ Cup starts it playoff round next Wednesday. Blue Haus will take on Konflikt at 6pm, while last year’s finalists Mobil and Ferrera Builders will collide in the other playoff tiff at 8pm.

Before the playoff matches, the QQ Car Rental Cup will have an All-Star game this Sunday at 7:30pm at the Garapan Basketball Court.

First Game

Rollers Happiness 95[/B] – Aulerio 25, Namelo 16, Torres 12, Aughenbaugh 11, L. Reyes 9, Brennan 6, Bees 4, J. Lizama 4, DL Guerrero 2.
[B] Prospects 82[/B] – Bautista 17, Abedes 17, Mabini 12, Inos 11, Saplan 10, Ortes 8, J. Mina 4, Lansang 3.

Sonics 65[/B] – Pagarao 19, P. Lizama 14, Bahillo 10, Eclevia 8, T. Santos 5, Apelo 4, Jung 4, E. Camacho 1.
[B] Blue Haus 58[/B] – Fitial 13, E. Santos 9, Talania 7, Guiang 5, Sacramento 5, Vinas 4, Aquino 3, Z. Diaz 3, Mateo 3, Fernandez 2, C. Tenorio 2.

First Game

Ferrera Builders 87[/B] – Yabut 26, Miranda 22, Cruz 14, Abuel 12, Demapan 8, Abuy 5.
[B] Rollers Madness 84[/B] – M. Matagolai 25, Litulumar 21, Manglona 21, Z. Babauta 7, Hambros 6, Norita 4.

Smart Cagers 73[/B] – Iguel 25, Peredo 15, De Dios 9, Montano 6, Manolo 5, Ngeskebei 5, Caro 2, Dayrit 2, Usi 2, Park 1.
[B] Rollers Happiness 70[/B] – Aulerio 17, L. Reyes 11, DL Guerrero 9, Torres 9, Lizama 7, Cepeda 6, Cruz 5, Brennan 3, Namelo 3.
[B] Scoring by quarters:[/B] 23-13, 36-31, 56-52, 73-70.