ONE MORE W FOR TRINIDAD FOR SECOND YAP CUP
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet
La Trinidad fought from eight points down to draw first blood with a 100-82 win over Itogon in the Cong Eric Go Yap Congressional Cup
Benguet Basketball League at the Benguet Sports Complex here Wednesday night. Outmatched almost all the way thanks to a the tight Itogon defense and firepower, the defending champion rallied late in the fourth canto to come within a win of securing the best of three finale against a team it has beaten since the start of the league last year. Leading by as much as 13, Trinidad went cold as it allowed Itogon to move to within one, 34-33, at end of the first canto.
From there, Itogon dictated the tempo and was leading by eight at the early part of the fourth canto before Bryan Gravilez, Armando Pollante, Jamil Sultan, Jason Alvaran and Shawn Aquisay combined to whittle down the lead and eventually wrested the advantage for the win. Gravilez led Trinidad with 24 points and 12 rebounds in the win that placed the top seed as favorite to win in the second game Monday. “I didn’t know what happened when we lost that lead. But we regrouped and got lucky later,” said Gravilez. Alvaran scored the same all from deep. Sultan had 16 points, seven from fast break, while Aquisay had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the win.
Ganilo led all scorers with 25, while Caballero added 23 as the two gave Itogon the breather in the middle part of the game and where they
matched Alvaran in a seeming three point contest. Three other Itogon players finished in double figures with Kim Padawag making 14, and big men Chad Villanueva and Michael Dannang added 12 and 10, respectively while hauling 17 and 14 boards, respectively. Meanwhile, Kabayan used an 8-0 run late in the fourth quarter to beat Bokod, 63-60, to salvage third place.
Arvin Gamboa led Kabayan with 16 points, while Yzer Neil Palispis had 13 markers and 15 boards for another best player of the game
despite coming in at the start of the second quarter due to his class. Kyle Naisod, who had a scare in the third canto when he sprained his left leg, had a similar double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. John Ric Buenaventura led all scorers with 22 points, Darwin Fernandez added 10 markers while hauling 14 boards. June Rey Buenaventura had a game high 18 boards while adding seven markers. Kabayan had the best performance for any team as it ended at third after a disappointing ninth place finish last year. “We hope to improve further next year with more players,” said Palispis.
Pigeon Lobien/ABN
