Joel vs Jonah in Gen Cup finale

Fresh from his outstanding showing in the 2016 U17 Micronesian Basketball Tournament, Jethro Cruz exploded for 47 points to power Jonah to an 89-57 rout of Ezra in their semis game in the youth division of the Genesis Cup Christian Churches Inter-Color Basketball League last Tuesday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Cruz, who suited up for the silver medalist CNMI Junior Nationals in the MBT in Palau last week and was named to the elite All-Star Team of the regional tournament, led Jonah’s breakaway in the second half en route to a 32-point winning margin against Ezra. He started the final half with a triple and went on to knock in four more shots from the parking lot to bring Jonah to the title match opposite Joel, which earlier in the first semis match downed Nahum, 88-78.

In the second Final Four tiff, Ezra was down by a manageable deficit at the break, 26-38, after Gerald Santiago capped the first half with his 6 straight points. He finished the opening 20 minutes of play with 12 markers, 6 short of Cruz’s output.

Cruz drilled 4 of Jonah’s last 6 points in the first half to give his team a double-digit advantage, which ballooned to as high as 36 points as the lefty gunner remained on fire in the second half.

Three Jonah players backed up Cruz and helped Jonah cruise past Ezra. Sam Darag was one of them after scoring 14 points, while Joshua Cabrera and Chino Ponce were the two others, contributing 10 each.

Santiago led Ezra with his 18 markers, while Christian Buno and Art Borromeo chipped in 15 and 10, respectively.

With the loss, Ezra will just play in the battle for third place match against Nahum on Aug. 11. Jonah and Joel, on the other hand, will collide in the winner-take-all finale on Aug. 13 at 6pm.

Joel leaned on quarterback Andrew Palino and wingman Jordan Ocaya to thwart Nahum, which once led the former, 42-39, late in the first half before losing the driver’s seat at the break. Palino recorded a game-high 28 points, while Ocaya tallied 25 markers. The duo teamed up for 8 points in Joel’s 12-3 windup in the last three minutes of the first half to give the eventual finalist a 51-45 halftime edge.

Palino picked up where he left off, dropping 10 straight markers midway in the second half, while Ocaya finished what the former started, registering 6 of Joel’s last 7 markers to eliminate Nahum.

Hao Yu Chen had 27 markers for the ousted Nahum, which drew 20 and 19 points from Chris Sacdalan and Emmanuel Cobacha, respectively. David Cai chipped in 12, with his 3-point shooting in the first half keeping Nahum in the game before he was held to one field goal in the second.

Meanwhile, the playoff round in the adults division of the Gen Cup will begin today with the top-ranked Samuel taking on the last-seeded Isaiah in the first game at 6:30pm and the No. 4 Ezekiel meeting No. 5 Caleb in the second match at 8pm.

First Game
Joel 88 — Palino 28, Ocaya 25, Cruz 10, Elchico 9, Ibanez 6, De Leon 5, Ocanada 5.
Nahum 78 — Chen 27, Sacdalan 20, Cobacha 19, Cai 12.
Scoring by halves: 51-45, 88-78.

Second Game
Jonah 89 — Cruz 47, Darag 14, Ponce 10, Cabrera 10, Marcellana 4.
Ezara 57 — Santiago 18, Buno 15, Borromeo 10, Sumpay 7, De Jose 4, Guevarra 3.
Scoring by halves: 38-26, 89-57.