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Friday, January 28, 2005
Cebu’s Dy, Coching help tow Welcoat into PBL finals
GAMES TUESDAY
(Makati Coliseum)
2 p.m. – Granny Goose vs. Magnolia Ice Cream
4 p.m. – Welcoat Paints vs. Montaña Pawnshop
ANTHONY Washington faded in the stretch but Cebuano Ryan Dy and JA Coching stepped up yesterday as Welcoat Paints scored a 67-61 win over Magnolia Ice Cream to arrange a title showdown with Montaña Pawnshop in the PBL Open Championship.
Washington finished with 16 points for the Paint Masters but it was Dy, Coching and their rock-solid defense that spelled the big difference in their duke-out match.
So aggressive were the Paint Masters, especially Anthony Washington, Eugene Tan, Marvin Ortiguerra and Coching, that they held the Wizards to 1-of-16 shooting in the third quarter for Welcoat’s come-from-behind win.
“It’s all about heart,” said Welcoat coach Caloy Garcia. “The boys proved that it’s not impossible to beat Magnolia two straight games.”
Best-of-five
With the win, the Paint Masters, who finished their best-of-three semis series, 2-1, set up an interesting best-of-five title showdown with Montaña Pawnshop starting Tuesday.
This will be the 10th finals trip for the Paint Masters since joining the league in 1996. They have won five titles so far.
“I hope we can sustain our momentum going into the finals and I have to give credit to my boys playing their hearts out,” said Garcia, who was especially elated with the performances of Coching and Dy.
The Wizards, who topped the two-round elimination round after posting an 11-3 record which they highlighted by winning 10 straight games, were relegated to a knockout battle for third place with newcomer Granny Goose Tortillos.
Washington topscored for Welcoat with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting but it was Dy and Coching who delivered the killing blows. The 6-foot-7 Fil-Am also snared 11 rebounds.
Welcoat (67) – Washington 16, Dy 13, Coching 9, Ortiguerra 8, Tolomia 6, Reyes, 6, Tan 5, Sta. Maria 4, Najorda 0, Gamboa 0. Magnolia (61) – Santos 18, Catli 12, Raneses 8, Ybanez 6, Jones 4, Miranda4, Misolas 3, Rizada 2, Chan 2, Isip 2. Quarterscores: 10-18; 29-32; 48-38; 67-61
With Washington at the helm, the Paint Masters rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half to close in at 33-34 that had the crowd standing and chanting “Welcoat! Welcoat!”
Then came a booming trey from Coching – his first of two for the day – that turned out to be the push the Paint Masters needed to fire them up.
True enough, the Paint Masters scored 14 more points, while limiting the Wizards to just five points the rest of the third to take a 48-38 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
The Paint Masters went into early foul trouble in the fourth but the Wizards failed to exploit the situation as they made only 3-of-8 free throws to the chagrin of coach Koy Banal.
Magnolia went scoreless in a span of seven minutes – no thanks to Welcoat’s pesky defense.
Also shining for the Paint Masters, was Dy who scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth, including a triple that unnerved the Wizards, 58-48, with still two minutes and 40 seconds left.
Unable to break Magnolia’s sticky defense in the first quarter, the Paint Masters were forced to shoot from the outside but had little luck as they fell behind 18-6 through the torrid shooting of Cesar Catli and Arwind Santos.
(January 28, 2005 issue)
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