Previous Story
IT&E, Ol’Aces rout opponents
Lady Knights, left, and Ol’Aces players battle for the rebound during the second half of their girls U18 division game in the Diaz youth caging last Thursday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Favored teams IT&E and the Ol’Aces continued to live up to expectations as they crushed their respective foes in the girls U18 division of the 2017 Francisco M. Diaz Memorial Youth League.
The Ol’Aces whipped the Lady Knights, 44-13, in last Thursday’s game at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium, while IT&E notched a pair of wins over the weekend after dominating the Junior O’Aces, 42-23, and the Lady Knights, 56-20.
With their victories, IT&E and the Ol’Aces secured the Top 2 spots going into this week’s playoff round. IT&E is done in the two-round robin play with its 5-1 mark, while the Ol’Aces hold a 4-1 record with one game left before entering the semifinals. In the Final Four, the pairings are No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 against No. 3 with the winners of the two matches squaring off for the division championship this Friday at 6:30pm.
IT&E first downed the Junior Ol’Aces last Friday behind the combined 33 points of Quina Flores and Karleen Reyes. Flores and Reyes alternately hit baskets in streaks for IT&E with the former finishing the one-sided match with a game-high 17 points and the latter chipping in 16. Allilah Fernandez paced the Junior Ol’Aces with her 13 markers.
Reyes and Flores then picked up where they left off as they also scored in twin digits in their 36-point victory against the Lady Knights last Saturday. Reyes tallied 13 points, while Flores contributed 12. Guine Borja was the third IT&E player to break into double figures and led their squad with her 15 markers.
In the Ol’Aces-Lady Knights tiff, Jasmine Phan fired 18 points to lift the former to the 31-point winning margin. She got enough support from her teammates, as Chevy Kate Alipio added 11 and Ma. Theresa Dalusong contributed 8.
Meanwhile, Mt. Carmel School and the Ol’Aces won the pair of boys U18 matches played last Thursday.
In the curtain-raiser, the Knights escaped with a 60-59 victory against the Ol’Aces Extreme, while the Ol’Aces eased past Kagman Sparks, 86-26.
Matthew Richardson made 5 of Mt. Carmel’s last 8 points, including the go-ahead basket in the closing seconds of the match. Tony Deleon Guerrero posted the 3 other points for the Knights, who improved to a 3-3 record in the team standings of the 12-squad field.
Deleon Guerrero and Richardson were two of the three MCS players who recorded twin digits in their close win against the Ol’Aces Extreme. Deleon Guerrero had 13 points, Richardson added 12, and Myles Santos earned 11.
The Ol’Aces Extreme, which was led by the 22 points of Jedial Manalo, fell to a 1-6 card and is still at the bottom half of the rankings.
The Ol’Aces, on the other hand, are unbeaten in five games and share the top spot with idle NMI Rollers following their lopsided win against Kagman Sparks (1-5).
