Blue Haus sweeps regular season

Blue Haus earned a perfect record in the regular season of the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League following a 98-73 demolition of the Boomers last Friday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Blue Haus’ Junar Guiab attempts a reverse layup against KB Hite’s Art Montes during last week’s game in the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Blue Haus finished the round-robin league with a 6-0 record to gain the top seeding and the automatic semis slot in the seven-team competition.

The 25-point winning margin against the Boomers was Blue Haus’ second biggest in the season behind their 47-point spread over Saipan Warriors, 117-70. In six games, the top finisher’s average winning margin was 24 as it won by double figures against five teams. Blue Haus defeated Bammy’s by 12, 82-70; 16 against Armatech, 88-72; and 20 over the Slashers, 81-61. Only KB Hite gave Blue Haus a tough fight in the regular season, losing by only 8 points, 90-98.

Against the winless Boomers (0-5), Blue Haus seemed headed for another blowout when it built an early double-digit advantage at the end of the first period, 25-13. Tony Diaz anchored Blue Haus’ strong start, drilling 10 points in the first quarter, just one field goal short of matching the baskets of the entire Boomers’ crew.

Despite the promising lead, Blue Haus kept piling up points in the second period, exploding for 34 markers—its biggest in the game—to open a commanding 59-30 advantage.

Ernie Moises picked up where Diaz left off in the second canto, scoring 13 points in the breakaway, while the rest of his teammates provided enough support to bury the Boomers.

The Boomers slightly made a headway in the third period, outgunning Blue Haus by 8, 26-18, but that was not enough to spark a major comeback, as Diaz finished the job, scoring 9 more markers in the final canto.

Diaz and Moises combined for more than half of Blue Haus’ total output with the latter firing 30 points and the former adding 25. Sam Fernandez and Junar Guiab also finished in double figures with 14 and 12, respectively.

Dindo Pablo had 17 points to lead Boomers, which has to pull off an upset against the No. 2 rank squad (either Armatech or KB Hite) to make it to the semifinals. Dennis Cortez added 15, Mico Usi contributed 11, and Arman Anasan tallied 10.

Blue Haus 98 – Moises 30, Diaz 25, Fernandez 14, Guiab 12, Valencia 6, Buenabajo 2, Factor 1.

Boomers 73 – Pablo 17, Cortez 15, Usi 11, Anasan 10, Echavez 4, Salazar 4, Dela Cruz 2, Buniag 2.

Scoring by quarters: 25-13, 59-30, 77-56, 98-73.