Sonics extend streak, near sweep

The 670 Sonics’ Rafael Ordona looks to kick the ball out as he runs out of space after driving to the baseline against an Ol’Aces 2 defender during an earlier game in the U16 division of the TanHoldings holiday caging at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The 670 Sonics are a win away from sweeping the elimination round of the 2016 TanHoldings Christmas Basketball Tournament after notching two more victories at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

The Sonics first crushed Gen Cup in their boys U16 division game last Saturday, 79-47, before thumping sister squad 670 Thunder last Monday, 59-28, to improve their record to 6-0. The Zachariah Johnson-coached 670 Sonics, who are already assured of one of the four playoff berths in the division, will go for the sweep when they challenge the second-running Rollers 1 (4-1) this Saturday.

Five Sonics players scored in double figures in their 32-point win against Gen Cup (1-3) last weekend. Rafael Ordona led the way for the division leaders after recording 18 points, while Khristian Itaas contributed 13, and Paulo Cadag, Bryan De Guzman, and Champ Sabangan chipped in 10 each.

Ordona, Cadag, De Guzman, and Itaas found their targets early, lifting the Sonics to a 40-22 halftime advantage. The quartet drilled at least three field goals apiece in the first 20 minutes of play to hand the Sonics the 18-point lead. Ordona then kept going in the second half, wrapping up the final frame by scoring the Sonics’ last 5 markers to complete their domination of Gen Cup.

John Paul Cruz, as usual, paced Gen Cup with his 17 points.

Meanwhile, the Ol’Aces 2 and IT&E also cruised past their respective foes.

In the U25 division game, the Ol’Aces 2 showed no love lost to sister squad Ol’Aces 1 after coasting to a 69-52 win.

The Ol’Aces 2 now has a 2-1 record for second place in the division behind Rollers 1 (2-0), while the Ol’Aces 1 fell to a 1-2 card.

Dave Camacho had 16 markers from the Ol’Aces 2, which got at least 7 points apiece from five other players to easily beat the Ol’Aces 1. R.J. Paragados and N-Nes Siech tallied 10 markers each for the Ol’Aces 1.

In the women’s division game, IT&E bagged its second straight win after losing its debut following a 51-23 triumph over Jingle Ballers (2-2).

Jan Travilla and Karleen Reyes teamed up for nearly half of IT&E’s output with the former making 13 and the latter chipping in 9 to power their squad to the 28-point victory.

The two Mt. Carmel School standouts also drew enough help from their teammates with Jennifer Villagomez registering 7 points and Janika Taimanao and Kye Tam scoring 6 apiece.

U16 DIVISION
Sonics 79 – Ordona 18, Itaas 13, Cadag 10, Sabangan 10, De Guzman 10, Apasan 8, Ejercito 4, Dionisio 2, Bayot 2.

Gen Cup 47 – Cruz 17, Elchico 15, Zhao 9, Ocaya 4, Cai 2.

Scoring by halves: 40-22, 79-47.

U25 DIVISION
Ol’Aces 2 69 – Camacho 16, Sakisat 9, Quan 8, Palino 8, Andrew 7, Tenorio 7, Olopai 4, Nakashima 2, Moses 2, Atan 2, Tadeo 2.

Ol’Aces 1 51 – Paragados 10, Siech 10, Ngirarois 9, Castillo 7, Blake 6, Onopwy 5, Castro 4.

Scoring by halves: 30-21, 69-51.

WOMEN’S DIVISION
IT&E 51 – Travilla 13, Reyes 9, J. Villagomez 7, Taimanao 6, Tam 6, G. Villagomez 4, Borja 2.

Jingle Ballers 23 – Duenas 9, Hayag 6, D. Camacho 3, Surima 2, Kenty 2, Francisco 1.

Scoring by halves: 26-15, 51-23.