Team Panlilio with Tito Panlilio
Being a part of a champion team is nothing new to Cristino “Tito” Panlilio since he was a member of the 1969 Ateneo Blue Eagles that won for the blue and white its 12th NCAA title. And as if lady luck has a way to put things into order, the ABL team named after Ateneo Hall of Fame awardee Tito Panlilio has 9 out of 14 players born in 1969. Giving inspiration to Team Panlilio in the finals of the Andres Francisco Division in the Ateneo Basketball League, Tito was not disappointed as Team Panlilio translated its excellent defense into precious points to carve out a masterful 62-47 win against Team Jalandoni to win its first ever ABL Title. And just like in storybook fashion, this championship was not without the drama that goes with every win that comes from shattered dreams that is translated to fulfilled goals.
Dato Arroyo started the game with eight consecutive points for Team Panlilio as he sank two three pointers and a field goal to give the favored team the early 8-6 lead. The plan was for Dato to score the first 62 points, unfortunately he got tired. Team Jalandoni, bannered by three former Ateneo Junior standouts namely Brando Cristi who manned the paint, Prim Nolido who directed the offense and Mark Molina who scored the points. The three were instrumental in giving Team Jalandoni a finals berth as they matched every offensive outburst of Team Panlilio as the quarter ended with Team Panlilio on top 14-12.
The second quarter was a test of character and defense as both teams engaged each other in boxing match that saw the rest of their bench pour everything out to limit each team’s scorer. Both teams ran for fastbreaks but had a hard time converting. At the same time, turnovers and botched plays were more common than conversions. By the end of the quarter Team Panlilio was now on top by just a solitary basket 26-25.
By the third quarter, the entire complexion of the game would change hands and just like a pendulum each shift made the team with the momentum try to break the game open. Team Jalandoni drew first blood as Mark Molina continued his impeccable shooting as he socred from everywhere in the court. Molina scored 12 of the 14 3rd quarter points of Team Jalandoni as they threatened to pull away on the account of their 36-30 lead. That was enough to wake up Team Panlilio as the secret weapon was about to unleash hell. After a few years in hiatus, defense specialist Johan Ramos came in just the nick of time to swat the ball away from anyone who dared to enter the shaded lane. The intimidating presence of Ramos gave point guard Dino Ponce Enrile the go signal to run the ball and find the open man. At the same time, Ponce Enrile also nailed down three triples to offset the off night by resident three point specialist Bong Berbano. The result of that momentum shift was a 13- 2 run that broke the hearts of Team Jalandoni as Tito Panlilio’s boys took the third quarter 45 – 38.
After scoring 12 first half points and 13 third quarter points, Team Jalandoni’s scoring machine was shut down in the fourth quarter as bull strong power forward Jun Castro put the cuffs on Mark Molina as he went scoreless the rest of the way. On the other hand, Jun Castro provided the fourth quarter spark that Team Panlilio needed as the team that was always proud individually, finally played as a team and the result was a rout on the championship game. Not to be forgotten are the contributions done by the rest of the team namely Dennis Manalo, Jerome Buhay, Buboy Go, Deo Deomano, Tabs Tabora and Tibs Tiburcio. Their all out hustle, sacrifices and determination helped each other play with a lot of heart.
Yo Ramos ready to turn around and shoot
As pioneers of the Ateneo Basketball League, it took us ten years to realize our dream of winning an ABL division title. There was no doubt from the start that this season was ours and even though we were sidetracked since our best player Peter Gonzalez got injured, that did not deter us to reach our goal but more importantly it inspired us to go the extra mile since we all know that we can do anything as long as we put our minds together. We hope that the success that we gained this year will continue and we pray that as proud as we use the name Team Panlilio, we can emulate the success of Tito and carry it on to greater battles ahead of us.
The Boxscores:
PANLILIO (62)
Castro 18, Arroyo 16, Ponce-Enrile 9, Manalo 6, Berbano 5, Buhay 4, Go 2, Ramos 2, Tabora 0, Tiburcio 0,
JALANDONI (47)
Molina 25, Quimson 6, Nolido 5, Cristi 4,
Quarter scores: 14 – 12, 26 - 25, 45 – 38, 62 - 47
No comments:
Post a Comment