Sonics settle for third place

Regular season champion Sonics managed to save third place in the U20 division of the 2015 United Filipino Organization Basketball League following a 79-72 victory over Blue Haus in the consolation game last Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Sonics’ Mii Tekopua pulls up for a quick shot to avoid being blocked by Blue Haus’ Shane Deleon Guerrero during their elimination round game in the U20 division of the UFO caging last month at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. The Sonics beat Blue Haus in the battle for third place, 79-72, last Wednesday night. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Sonics ended their campaign in the league on a winning note after outgunning Blue Haus from the 3-point area. The Sonics, who swept the elimination before dropping their semis match to the Ol’Aces last week, 48-69, canned nine triples against the six of Blue Haus.

Jack Aranda drilled five of those nine treys to finish with a game-high 35 points. Jaymark De Guzman, who fouled out in their semis loss to the Ol’Aces, leaving the Sonics with only four players midway in the third period, knocked in the four other triples against Blue Haus to wrap up the season with 23 points. Aranda and De Guzman’s hot shooting from downtown made up for the absence of Sonics point guard Sean Rabasto and big man Erick Dela Rosa.

De Guzman opened the Sonics’ scoring with back-to-back triples, however Blue Haus still led after the first period, 19-17, thanks to the 9 markers of Borja and John Ray Gilles’ triple and a two-point field goal. Dicky Feria also had a basket from downtown for Blue Haus, while Dixon Kwon made one field goal to give their team a 2-point cushion, entering the second canto.

In the second period, the Sonics managed to grab the upper hand, 35-33, behind the 9 markers of De Guzman, who also tallied the team’s last 5 points.

The Sonics never relinquished the lead from thereon, as De Guzman and Aranda continued to hit their targets. Aranda nailed the Sonics’ first 8 markers in the third period, including two more triples, while De Guzman also added two more shots from beyond the arc aside from his one 2-point field goal. The duo combined for 18 of the Sonics’ 20 points in the third with Mike Ogasawa scoring the 2 other markers to increase the team’s advantage to 8, 55-47, going into the final canto.

In the fourth period, Aranda finished off Blue Haus, as he buried two more triples and fired 14 points in the finale to lift the Sonics to a third place finish.

Meanwhile, Armatech won the battle for third place in the Masters division after a no-show from LBT Appraisal.

In related news, the title matches in the Masters and U20 divisions will be played this Saturday. Unbeaten Blue Haus will take on Auto Motion in the Masters championship game at 6:30pm, while the Ol’Aces will challenge Armatech for the U20 crown at 8pm.

Sonics 79 – Aranda 35, De Guzman 23, Flores 9, Ogasawara 4, Ito 4, Tekopua 4.

Blue Haus 72 – Gilles 24, Borja 19, Factor 11, Kwon 10, Malonzo 5, Feria 3.

Scoring by quarters: 17-19, 35-33, 55-47, 79-72.