SIP, Poohdeni cagers lead awardees

Players from Samahang Ilokano at Pangasinense and Poohdeni took the lion’s share of the individual trophies in last Sunday’s 2005 MDX Amateur Radio Club Inter-color Basketball League awards ceremony.

SIP’s Elmer Esdrelon won the most valuable player award after leading the defending champions to a 102-87 romp of JCN Enterprises in the title match, which immediately preceded the handing out of awards.

The Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach employee’s teammate Jason Amado, meanwhile, garnered Mythical Five honors after leading SIP in scoring with a 13.5 points per game average. Playing coach Rick Alegre also won the Best in Assists awards after norming 6.2 dole outs per game.

For pennant champions Poohdeni, big men Jawn Joyner and Ed Cosino made it to the Mythical Five after compiling averages of 12.4 and 10 points per game, respectively. The duo also combined to norm close to 14 rebounds and three blocks per game for Poohdeni.

Joyner and Cosino’s teammates in the backcourt—Fernando “Pando” Muleta and Lester Babauta—also came away with their own individual awards. Muleta was named Best in Steals after picking the pockets of opposing playmakers an average of 3.778 per game.

Babauta, for his part, went home not with one but two plums as the Rotary cage league veteran won the Rookie of the Year and the Top 3-Point Shooter awards. Babauta averaged 13.7 points per ballgame, which included two and half hits from rainbow country, in his first season in the MDX.

Joining Amado, Joyner, and Cosino in the Mythical Five were 287 Club-Verizon’s playmaker Jun Sinca and Micronesian Brokers, Inc. power forward Elybn Cecilia.

Sinca took care of point guard duties for 287 Club and helped the team finish second runner-up. Cecilia, for his part, gave MBI a late-season boost by averaging a double-double in points and rebounds in the three games he played for the squad.

Other individual awardees were JCN Enterprises’ Andres “Jhun” Estolas, Samahang Manggagawang Filipino-Shell-Seabridge’s Gary Cayetano, MBI’s Larry Palero, and Subway-Coca-Cola’s Gil Gapor.

Estolas ran away with the Top Scorer plum after scorching the hoops with an 18.33 points per game average. Cayetano was the Top Free Throw Shooter after making good 47 out of 55 attempts for an accuracy of 85.45 percent. Palero was Best in Rebounds after hauling down an average of 12.5 board per contest, while Gapor was Top in Block Shots after swatting away 1.3 shots per ballgame.