Kings whip Barakos anew to take lead - April 8, 2007

By JAY R. GOTERA

MANILA
UNDERMANNED but still wielding lethal firepower, Barangay Ginebra thrashed Red Bull, 100-86, Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum to take joint first place with the Barakos in the PBA Fiesta Conference.

It was the Kings’ second defeat of the Barakos this conference, and Ginebra won it despite losing yet another key player to injury.

Star center Erik Menk sat out the game for the Kings as he re-injured his calf muscle during practice. Menk joined Rafi Reavis (shoulder fracture) and Johnny Abarrientos (groin injury) in sick bay, while Rudy Hatfield remained on AWOL status after leaving for the United States to sort out a personal problem with his fiancée.

Moreover, the backcourt duo of Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand are still with the Philippine national team.

But despite playing with a severely depleted lineup, Ginebra dished out an A-1 game as the Kings led from start to finish.

Scoring dynamo Rod Neally, high-flying Ronald Tubid and sharp-shooting Sunday Salvacion led the Kings to their sixth win in eight games.

Ginebra raced to a 24-point lead in the second quarter. But in the third canto, the Barakos made a strong comeback to close to within two, 75-73, at the end of the period.

But Red Bull lost steam in the fourth quarter as the Kings regained composure to finish off the Barakos.

In the second game, Purefoods prevailed over Welcoat, 94-82, as the Dragons lost their import Charles Clark to injury just three minutes into the game.

The Marquin Chandler-led Giants proved too much for the all-Filipino Welcoat squad as the Dragons fell to their fifth loss in seven games.

But it was reigning Most Valuable Player James Yap who actually spearheaded the Giants’ assault on the Dragons as he collected 30 points.

It was just the third victory in eight games for Purefoods but coach Ryan Gregorio said the impressive win appeared to signal the team’s resurgence.

“It was unfortunate that Welcoat had to battle us without their import. But we’ll take this (win),” said Gregorio.

“Hopefully, this will be our first step climbing up the ladder. We are working hard to play consistently and hopefully we’ll be able to get out of the rut,” he said.

Disaster struck Welcoat just three minutes into the game when Clark, who averaged 30 points and 11 rebounds per game, sprained a toe on his right foot on a bad fall. He left the game and never returned.

Even without their import, the Dragons tried to mount a rally but poor shooting led to their downfall.

Alex Compton scored a PBA career-best 24 points, including 4-of-9 from three-point range, and rookie Jireh Ibanes had 16 to show the way for the Dragons, who picked up their fifth defeat in eight games and dropped ninth place.

The scores:

Purefoods 94 – Yap J. 30, Chandler 20, Yap R. 14, Yee 9, Artadi 8, Limpot 8, Castillo 3, Salvador 2, Evangelista 0.
Welcoat 82 – Compton 24, Ibanes 16, Reyes 10, Sta. Maria 7, Lopez 6, Wainwright 6, Cabatu 5, Gelig 4, Lao 4, Clark 0, Baguion 0.
Quarterscores: 25-9, 57-32, 71-52, 94-82.

Meanwhile, the Philippine national basketball team crushed Cal State-Dominguez Hills, an NCAA Division-II school in the United States, 90-71, at the Home Depot Training Center in Carson City, California.

With Jayjay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa, Tony de la Cruz, Ranidel de Ocampo and Asi Taulava as its starting five, Philippines-San Miguel opened a 7-0 lead that appeared to surprise the Dominguez Hills Toros.

Caguioa finished with 22 points while Danny Seigle came off the bench with 14.
Behind their leader Jamel Barnes, the Toros closed the gap halfway through the period. But the Nationals’ second unit – Jimmy Alapag, Dondon Hontiveros, Kerby Raymundo, Mick Pennisi and Seigle – restored the advantage and set Team Philippines on the road to a 31-16 first quarter breakaway.

The Toros tried to rattle the Filipinos with a 1-3-1 defense, but Renren Ritualo, Hontiveros and Pennisi brought Cal-State right out of the zone with long-range bombs from beyond the arc.

The lead was 48-28 at the half, a bulge RP-San Miguel maintained at the end of three quarters, 70-50.

The scores:

RP-SAN MIGUEL 90 – Caguioa 22, Seigle 16, De la Cruz 14, Pennisi 9, Raymundo 8, Taulava 6, Hontiveros 4, Ritualo 3, Alapag 3, De Ocampo 3, Helterbrand 2.
CAL STATE-DOMINGUEZ – Ward 16, Walton 14, Steed 10, Nibo 9, Barnes 6, Love 4, Isaac 4, Fowler 2, Ramey 2, Duhon 2, Johnson 0.
Quarters: 31-16; 48-28; 70-50; 90-71.

In other developments, Sta. Lucia and Coca-Cola have agreed to a multi-player swap with the Realtors dealing Kenneth Duremdes -- the 1998 PBA Most Valuable Player – along with sophomore guard Alex Cabagnot and reserve forward Ricky Calimag to Coca-Cola.

Duremdes will now be playing alongside former teammates John Arigo and Ali Peek when the Coca-Cola Tigers collide with the Realtors on Wednesday.

In return, the Tigers, who were removed from the San Miguel Corporation umbrella following the sale of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. to The Coca-Cola Company, gave up former Far Eastern U point guard Dennis Miranda, substitute center Manny Ramos and Coke’s second round pick in the 2008 Rookie Draft.

Duremdes, now 33 and one of the league’s 25 greatest players, said he feels sad about the development but at the same time excited to face a new challenge in his career.