White, Yellow dispute MCWD inter-color hoop title

TEAM White edged tough-fighting Technical Team-Blue, 72-71 last Saturday to advance to the final round of the MCWD-2011 Sportsfest Inter-color basketball tournament at the Vicente Sotto Memorial gym.

The win pushed White to a winner-take-all final this weekend against Yellow, which claimed the other championship slot after routing Red, 85-66.

Technical-Blue looked headed to a comfortable win after grabbing a, 29-8 lead in the first canto behind the hot tandem of Brian Ebrado and Dong Cansancio.

But White waxed hot in the 2nd period and responded with a blistering, 22-2 for a 30-31 lead at half time then unloaded a 25-19 bomb in the third for a, 55-50 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Both teams fought evenly in the fourth period until Blue’s Noel Ferolino nailed a booming triple with 47 seconds remaining for a, 71-70 lead. But in the ensuing play, Blue committed a foul that sent Albert Handanan to the stripe. Handanan then calmly sank his two charities for the cardiac win.

Jun Arnuco and Albert Handanan powered White with 17 and 15 points, respectively, while Jun Rago paced Blue with 16 markers.

In the other semifinal, Yellow dominated the entire duration of the game to beat Red by 19 points.

Jojet Ebesa fired 18 points for Yellow while Raul Roda and Jun Asid chipped in 14 points apiece. Melvin Paz and Jess Caga-anan paced Red with 17 and 13 markers.

BOX SCORES
WHITE (72)- Arnuco 17, Handanan 15, Miñoza 10, Ferolino 7, Mission 5, Santiago 4, Abordo 4, Elim 4, Borres 2, Villoro 2, Cabrera 1, Lape 1.
BLUE (71)- Rago 16, Ebrado 13, Cansancio 8, Chan 8, Cabahug 6, Radaza 5, Tabar 4, Cabello 4, Arcayan 3, Cabaluna 2, Subing-subing 2.
Second game
YELLOW (85)- Ebesa 18, Roda 14, Asid 14, Gako 13, Calimpong 7, Gualiza 6, Butao 5, Nacional 4, Arroz 4.
RED (66)- Paz 17, Caga-anan 13, Chang 9, Ralota 9, Tancinco 8, Alaba 4, Maranga 3, Yacuña 3. /Correspondent Dale Rosal