Blue Haus victorious in debut

Blue Haus played steadier in the homestretch to beat Cholos 8th Division, 71-64, in its debut game in the open division of the 2015 San Antonio Community Action Network Basketball League last Tuesday at the San Antonio court.

Cholos 8th Division’s Derrick Rangamar attacks the defense of Blue Haus’ Brendon Talania, left, and Marlon De Dios during the third quarter of their open division game in the San Antonio caging last Tuesday at the San Antonio court. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Blue Haus closed out the last five minutes and change of the game with a 13-4 run to make it to the win column of the West Group and hand Cholos 8th Division (formerly Pacman) its second loss in three games.

Five different players hit the board for Blue Haus’ strong finish, while Cholos was limited to two field goals in the last 5:10 of the match. Cholos’ Pete Lizama drilled a triple going into the final five minutes of the game to knot the count, 59-all, before his team had a scoring drought. Cholos was without a field goal for over three minutes before Mark Zalgatar nailed a reverse layup to break their silence.

On the other hand, Blue Haus got one field goal each from Angelo Fernando, Elmer Esdrelon, Bart Demapan, and Manolo Manalo and a split from Marlon De Dios and two more free throws from Esdrelon to post their biggest lead in the game, 70-61, down to the last 50 seconds of the match.

A quick triple from Derrick Rangamar kept Cholos’ hopes alive, 64-70, and Jun Tabora gambled on a foul against De Dios, hoping to stop the ticking clock quickly and praying for the latter’s misses at the stripe. However, De Dios canned the important charities for Blue Haus’ safe distance, while Cholos faltered in its triple attempts in the ensuing plays, allowing the debuting squad to take the win.

Esdrelon top-scored for Blue Haus with his 22 points, while Brendon Talania and Demapan backed him up, adding 17 and 10, respectively. Lizama paced Cholos with his 14 markers, while Tabora contributed 13.

Meanwhile, in the masters division Erika’s Catering/Ferrera Builders notched its second straight win after dominating Maplas, 81-66.

Erika’s (2-1) led from start to finish to move up to solo first place in the team standings, while Maplas dropped its opener.

Four Erika’s players broke into double figures to lift their team to the easy victory with Dante Tabora leading the way with his 20 points. Rodney Catalla chipped in 16, while George Villasan and Danny Illahi tallied 14 and 12, respectively.

Erika’s pulled away in the second half, turning a 10-point halftime lead, 41-31, to a 61-44 advantage after the third behind the 9 markers of Illahi. Illahi closed out strong for Erika’s in the third period, making four of the team’s last five field goals in that quarter. Dante Tabora picked up where Illahi left off in the fourth canto, as he registered 8 points and three of Erika’s final four baskets for their 15-point winning margin.

Open
Blue Haus 72 – Esdrelon 22, Talania 17, Demapan 10, Fernando 8, Manalo 7, De Dios 6, Berline 2.

Cholos 64 – Lizama 14, Tabora 12, Zalgatar 8, Rangamar 7, Ritual 4, Hernandez 4, Laguimdan 4, Lerio 3, Norita 3, Tobias 2, Tagle 2, Capalad 1.

Scoring by quarters: 13-18, 34-30, 50-47, 72-64.

Masters
Erika’s/Ferrera 81 – Tabora 20, Catalla 16, Villasan 14, Illahi 12, Jo. Gatdula 7, Ja. Gatdula 3, Lansang 3, Borja 2, De Belen 2, Manabat 2, Quemado 1.

Maplas 65 – Yalung 20, Manuel 13, Corong 12, Samson 10, Jumaquiao 4, Surima 4, Salazar 3.

Scoring by quarters: 20-16, 41-31, 61-44, 81-66.