Ol’Aces 2, Sun Palace triumph

Ol’Aces 2 (in green tops) and Gen Cup players go for the rebound during an earlier game in the boys U16 division of the TanHoldings holiday caging at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Ol’Aces 2 withstood MHS’ second-half rally to take a 51-48 victory in the lone U16 division game in the 2016 TanHoldings Christmas Basketball Tournament last Wednesday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

The Ol’Aces 2, which led by a baker’s dozen at halftime, squandered the double-digit advantage in the second half before getting timely baskets from Jay Junior Johnny, Coby Santos, and Traven Quitugua to foil MHS’ comeback bid. Johnny hit a triple in the closing minutes of the match, Santos had two of the Ol’Aces’ last three field goals, and Quitugua made the other basket.

Both Santos and Johnny finished in double figures for the Ol’Aces, which now has a 2-2 record for second place in the team standings behind the unbeaten Rollers 1 (4-0) and 670 Sonics (4-0). Johnny had 11 points, while Santos tallied 10.

Troy Ngirarois also had 11 markers for the Ol’Aces 2, making all of them in the final half of the first frame to hand his team a 35-22 lead at the break. Earlier in the first half, Johnny knocked in back-to-back triples and three more Ol’Aces 2 players made it to the board for the squad’s good start.

However, the Ol’Aces failed to sustain its shooting in the second half, while MHS behind E.J. Abejo and Jediael Manalo rallied back before falling short in the end.

MHS dropped to a 1-2 record, tying the 670 Thunder and Gen Cup for the fourth to sixth places in the team standings, ahead of Ol’Aces 1 (0-2) and Rollers 2 (0-3).

Meanwhile, in the women’s division game, Sun Palace also earned its second victory after topping Shirley’s Coffee Shop, 27-19.

Dianne Pablo made up for her 5-point output in their 11-32 loss to IT&E last Monday after firing 17 against Shirley’s. Mikky Vargas and Hannah Santos were the other scorers for Sun Palace, recording 8 and 2, respectively.

Kelsey Lizama had 8 for Shirley’s, which remains winless in four games.

U16 Division
Ol’Aces 2 51— Ngirarois 11, Johnny 11, C. Santos 10, Quitugua 6, Ichihara 4, Ferrari 2, Richson 2, Pangelinan 2, P. Santos 1.

MHS 48 — Abejo 15, Manalo 10, Zhang 6, Tenorio 4, Prado 3, Angelo 3, Sagum 3, Reyes 2, Agustin 2.

Scoring by halves: 35-22, 51-48.

Women’s Division
Sun Palace 27 — Pablo 7, Vargas 8, Santos 2.

Shirley’s 19 — Lizama 8, R. Jones 4, E. Jones 4, J. Jones 3.

Scoring by halves: 12-9, 27-19.