Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Lapis Trucking wins NHA X'mas hoopfest
By Lynde Salgados
DANNY Ompoc, arguably one of the Street Player's likable centers, finally got his first ring that eluded him and his previous teams in the NHA ball club's storied championship games.
Apart from teaming up with legendary point guard Pinggoy Castro, the 6-foot-tall Ompoc had the red-hot forward Nonacs Sarmento to thank for in his first ever-titular celebration.
Sun.Star Network Online's coverage of the Sinulog 2008 Festival
Sarmento knocked in 12 of his 23 points in the decisive fourth quarter as the Lapis Trucking-backed Black team edged Engineer Simene's White, 98-95 to win the Street Player's inter-color christmas tourney.
"More than anything else, lipay kaayo ko nga nagka-ring ra gyod si Danny and I'm just lucky nga naapil ko ani nga kadaugan. Buwenas sab ni si Bobby (Ybañez) kay bag-o lang gadula-dula kaduha na nag-champion," said Castro who failed to see action when the twice-to-beat Black yielded to Blue Dragon of Lodi de Asis in the opener of the crossover round.
The ageless Castro, who is also a regular mainstay of MIB's Bombo Achievers, sees Black in trouble when he was fouled out at the outset of the payoff period. But Sarmento came to the rescue in the company of Claro and Menteza.
Castro and Ompoc turned in 15 and 14 points each, while the huge pair of Claro and Gementisa added 10 markers apiece for Lapis Trucking's victory.
Scoring in double-digit numbers for White were Eddie Simene (19), Topix Briones (18), Big Boy Quirante (15) Ga (15) and Caguisa (12).
In the battle for third place, James "Alapag" Morado's Red capitalized the absence of Blue's top gunner Alvin Talip to fashion out a 69-59 win.
The threesome of Padayhag, Costelo and Castil paced Red with 19, 18 and 13 points each. Blue got a combined 39 from Banuag, Cadaro and Gadiane, respectively.
How they scored:
Black 98 -- Sarmento 23, Castro 15, Ompoc 14, Gementiza 10, Claro 10, Banuag 8, Lofranco 4, Yba¤ez 4, Gabao 4, Batalla 2, Amper 2, Mutya 2, Torion 1, Pajares 0.
White 95 -- Semine 19, Briones 18, Quirante 15, Ga 15, Jose 6, Abrogueña 6, Pahayag 4, Wabe 0, Acero 0, Dal 0, Caliao 0, Villamon 0, Dayap 0, Ybañez 0.
(For third)
Red 69 -- Padayhag 19, Costelo 18, Castil 13, Pajares 6, Namalata 4, Caingin 0, Elleso 0, Padilla 0, Morado 0, Abecia 0, Polo 0, Porticos 0.
Blue 59 -- Banuag 15, Gadiante 12, Cadaro 12, Sarmito 8, Puma James 4, Villapaz 4, de Asis 4, Pagador 2, Talip 0, Rubio 0, Brian 0.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (January 9, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
