Country House rebounds against Keeraku

Country House found itself on the favorable end of a rout in the 2004 Inter-Restaurant Basketball League, as it blew out a reeling Keeraku five 121-68 yesterday morning at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Still licking wounds from their 97-79 setback at the hands of powerhouse Capricciosa last time out, Country House made sure this time to nail down win No. 3.

Center Ron Lopez was more than just taking space in the first quarter, as he plucked rebounds and scored inside to help Country House take the initiative 36-13.

The carnage carried over in the second canto with Edward Vega ably quarterbacking the team. Vega occasionally also made incursions to the shaded lane and together with do-it-all swingman Banjo Basila padded Country House’s advantage to 61-33 at the turn.

Even the 15-minute break at halftime failed to neither stop Country House’s offensive juggernaut nor alleviate Keeraku’s game-long ineptness.

Seven different players from Country House found their way to the scoreboard pumping in 30 of the team’s points in the quarter, while Keeraku could only muster 17 as the lead ballooned to 91-50 a quarter to go in the ballgame.

The fat lady already did her encore as the payoff period got going. But just for good measure Vega, Joy Dayrit, and Dexter Cruzat still burned the net to complete the runaway victory.

Vega led all scorers with 29 points, while Basila had another all-around game with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. Lopez made a good account of himself totaling 13 points, hauling down 9 rebounds, and issuing 4 assists.

The 17 points and 7 boards of center Pasky “Piolo” Peleno paced Keeraku. Arnel Cruz and Allen Del Corro also fired 13 and 12 points in the loss.

In the 3-point shootout during halftime, Keeraku got a consolation of sorts when Jao Bernardo-Aldan defeated Basila. 4-0.

On Sunday, Capricciosa notched their third win in four starts following an 87-25 massacre of Keeraku, who showed up with just five players.

It was such a dominating performance that Keeraku called it quits with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter after one of its players went down with an apparent injury.

Despite the game ending the way it did, spitfire Ed Arriola still spearheaded Capricciosa’s cause with 14, while Nissan Armas added 12. John Mendoza’s 10 points led Keeraku. Capricciosa’s Randy Arconado won the 3-point contest at the break firing 4 points to Mendoza’s 2.

On Saturday, league leader Angel Wings didn’t even break into a sweat in running up their record to 4-0 after LSG Sky Chefs forfeited their match-up because the team didn’t had the requisite five players.

Thursday Game

Country House 121 – E. Vega 29, Basila 24, San Gabriel 14, Dayrit 14, D. Cruzat 13, Lopez 13, Mutoc 6, Villanueva 4, Tabei 3, M. Cruzat 3, Maglente 2.

Keeraku 68 – Peleno 17, Cruz 13, Del Corro 12, Aldan 9, Mendoza 6, Codog 4, Than 3, Aguilar 2.

Scoring by quarters: 36-13, 61-33, 91-50, 121-68.

Referees: Arnold Mesa Arnold Mesa and Jojo Molar.

Sunday Game

Capricciosa 87 – Arriola 14, Armas 12, Mangahis 8, Roman 8, Navarro 8, Arconado 6, Agbanlog 6, Zabala 5, Viola 4, Oliva 4, Ruluked 4, Suda 4.

Keeraku 25 – Mendoza 10, Del Corro 5, Gonzales 5, Aguilar 3, Peleno 2.

Scoring by quarters: 23-10, 57-20, 87-25 (Keeraku forfeits).

Referees: Arnold Mesa and Jake Villanueva.