Blue Haus bags Masters crown

Blue Haus capped its perfect run in the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League with a 94-78 win against KB Hite in last Saturday’s finale at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Blue Haus’ Edsel Mendoza goes up for a reverse layup against KB Hite’s Art Montes during the second quarter of their title game in the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League last Saturday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

A poor KB Hite start allowed Blue Haus to walk away with the 16-point victory and clinch the championship right away. Blue Haus finished the tournament with an immaculate 9-0 record, counting its 6-0 sweep in the regular season, while KB Hite fell short despite pulling off two upset wins in the playoffs.

After eliminating the second-ranked Armatech, 75-64, last Wednesday, the fourth-seeded KB Hite eked out come-from-behind win against Bammy’s Restaurant, 92-87, last Friday, to arrange a finals date with Blue Haus.

Blue Haus had the twice-to-beat advantage in the championship and denied KB Hite any chance of forcing a deciding Game 2 after dominating Game 1 right from the opening tip. The eventual champion team built an early double-digit spread, 24-6, after the first 10 minutes of play.

Tony Diaz led Blue Haus’ hot start, scoring 6 points, while six of his teammates contributed at least one basket apiece in the decisive first period.

KB Hite was held to a field goal in the entire opening quarter off Manny Duenas’ layup, while Randy Mungcal earned 3 points from the stripe and Art Montes had a split to complete the team’s early slide. Ed Pangelinan, one of the top scorers for KB Hite, did not start for the team and though he scored 10 points in the second quarter he and Randy Mungcal failed to get help from their teammates.

In contrast, Blue Haus got plenty of support from its second stringers, while the starters kept going in the second quarter to stretch the lead to 21, 52-31. Blue Haus even padded the lead to as high as 25 in the closing minutes of the first half and did a good job protecting its big lead en route to the title win.

Edsel Mendoza top-scored for Blue Haus with his 23 points, while Diaz added 18, and Junar Guiab and Ernie Moises chipped in 12 and 11, respectively.

Mungcal paced KB Hite with his 20 points, while Pangelinan tallied 17, still a far cry from his 30-point output against Bammy’s. Duenas was the third KB Hite player to hit double figures, but most of his baskets came when the game was already in the bag for Blue Haus.

Marlon Sison and Elmer Pineda, who helped KB Hite take the second finals berth against Bammy’s, were held to 8 and 2 points, respectively. Sison, who hit clutch free throws in the closing minute of their game against Bammy and scored 12 points, failed to can a single triple in the finals and was scoreless in the first half. Pineda, who logged 16 markers in their win over Bammy’s was held to a field goal versus Blue Haus, nailing his lone basket in the third period.

Meanwhile, Bammy’s settled for a third place finish after routing Armatech in the consolation match, 89-75.

Jun Tabora exploded for 39 points to lead Bammy’s, while Alex Ocampo and Joel Saplan registered 21 and 16, respectively. Bernard Montano had 16 for Armatech, which played without Bruce Berline, Yosh Gabaldon, and Ferdie Tobias.

First Game
Bammy’s 89 – J. Tabora 39, Ocampo 21, Saplan 16, Catalla 9, Zapata 2.

Armatech 76 – Montano 16, Abuy 15, Malasarte 14, Bartolo 10, Tolentino 6, Park 2.

Scoring by halves: 40-40, 89-76.

Second Game
Blue Haus 94 – Mendosa 23, Diaz 18, Guiab 12, Moises 11, Buenabajo 4, Factor 4, Santos 4, Palacios 4, Fernandez 3, Valencia 2, Macoto 2.

KB Hite 78– Mungcal 20, Pangelinan 17, Duenas 10, Sison 8, Montes 7, Verano 4, Morales 3, Koebel 2, Demapan 2, Pineda 2.

Scoring by quarters: 24-6, 52-31, 69-50, 94-78.