El Segundo demolishes Keeraku

El Segundo continued their climb from the cellar of the 2004 Inter-Restaurant Basketball League flattening a depleted Keeraku crew 75-59 past midnight yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

It was the second straight win for the Pacific Gardenia watering hole after opening the season with four losses. Keeraku, meanwhile, dropped to 1-4, just one rung up winless LSG Sky Chefs.

El Segundo actually started on the wrong foot with Keeraku taking advantage of their star guard Ariel Abadilla coming late for the game.

Keeraku went on a 6-0 run to begin the game and were still ahead 14-8 before El Segundo closed the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 19-14 advantage to the second quarter.

Sparkplug Robin Mesina then provided additional firepower and hustle plays for El Segundo in the next 10 minutes to allow the team to extend its lead to 7 points, 34-27, at the break.

Keeraku tried to rekindle their early game form and trimmed their opponents’ lead to as low as 3 points in the third quarter. But El Segundo retaliated and rebuilt the spread to 12 points before settling to a 49-43 cushion going into the fourth and final quarter of the ballgame.

In the payoff period, Keeraku made several runs that closed the game to 4 points several times but their rally hit a snag when forwards Jao Bernado-Aldan and Arnel Cruz fouled out in quick succession with a little over four minutes to go in the contest.

With their leading scorers gone, Keeraku went on a downward spiral that broke open the floodgates and El Segundo won the match with plenty to spare.

Abadilla scored 23 points and hauled down 12 boards to lead El Segundo. Forward Ramsa Tenepere also was a stud inside the court finishing with 14 markers and 9 boards. Guard Ariel Drilon also had a nice all-around game with 10 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.

Cruz and Mendoza paced Keeraku’s losing cause with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Center Pasky “Piolo” Peleno also had a career game hauling down a season-high 19 boards on top of 5 points and 3 blocks.

Keeraku got a consolation of sorts when Bernardo defeated Abadilla in the 3-point shootout during halftime, 4-1.

The 2004 IRBL will resume tonight beginning at 11pm with Country House attempting to break Angel Wings’ perfect run in the season. The midnight league is hosted by Country House and is sponsored by Triple J Wholesale.

El Segundo 75 – Abadilla 23, Tenepere 14, Drilon 10, De Vera 9, Mesina 8, Cruz 6, Patricio 5.

Keeraku 59 – Cruz 14, Mendoza 13, Del Corro 13, Bernardo-Aldan 10, Peleno 5, Gonzales 2, Codog 2.

Scoring by quarters: 19-14, 34-27, 49-43, 75-59.

Referees: Arnold Mesa and Jake Villanueva.