Aqua Resort, Fiesta win debuts

Powerhouse Aqua Resort Club emphatically proved that it is indeed the team to beat in the 2006 HANMI Cup Inter-Hotel Basketball League, while Fiesta Resort and Spa used a fourth-quarter 3-point barrage to win its debut Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

After Hyatt Regency Saipan recorded the season’s first win with a rout of a disorganized Hotel Nikko Saipan team in the opening Sunday, Fiesta Resort had to work hard to join them in first place, scrambling to an 81-70 win over Pacific Islands Club.

Former Tinian terror Elmer Esdrelon got Fiesta up and going, as he bombed and slashed his way to nine first-quarter to points to lead his team to a 22-17 lead going into the second quarter.

Esdrelon continued to ran amok in the second, pumping in six more as Fiesta withstood James Abuy’s eight points to extend its lead to nine, 41-32, at the halftime break.

PIC took advantage of Fiesta resting its key players in the third quarter and rallied behind 6’3” center Chad Capps’ two bombs from downtown to cut Fiesta’s lead to six points, 58-52, heading into the fourth and final quarter.

Fiesta was in a thick of a dogfight against PIC in the fourth and it seemed the match would go down the wire, as the San Antonio resort even managed to take the lead.

But timely 3-point hits from Esdrelon and Tobias (two) gave Fiesta the needed breathing room, as it turned back PIC’s several rally attempts to win by nine points.

Esdrelon and Tobias led the way for Fiesta with 25 and 17 markers with Esdrelon getting the best player of the game nod as he also compiled eight steals and four assists. Abuy’s 17 points and Alfred Fernandez’s 13 paced PIC.

In the second game, title favorite Aqua Resort got its 2006 HANMI Cup campaign off to a rip-roaring start as it routed Marianas Resort and Spa, 101-64.

Aqua Resort, which scored the first eight points of the ballgame and led from wire to wire, got 21 points and eight rebounds from Darwin Barbo and 16 and four from newcomer Cesar Ambrosio.

UFO veteran Jayson Gatdula fired 22 points in the loss, while Dennis Sebastian added 12 points and eight boards.
[B] First Game[/B]

Fiesta Resort and Spa 81 – Esdrelon 25, Tobias 17, Galag 11, Macoto 9, Carino 5, Jinang 4, Ong 3, David 3, Quinitip 2.

Pacific Islands Club 70 – Abuy 17, Fernandez 13, Capps 12, Pambid 10, Tolentino 9, Bridgens 4, Zapata 3, Apasan 2.

Scoring by quarters: 22-17, 41-32, 58-52, 81-70.

Referees: Abner Venus, Arnold Mesa, and Eric Artillaga.

Aqua Resort Club 101 – Barbo 21, Ambrosio 16, Dalangin 13, Velez 10, Bojocan 9, Domingo 6, Alcantara 6, Cortez 4, Johannes 4, Dela Yola 2, Aquino 2, Arellano 2.

Marianas Resort and Spa 64 – Gatdula 22, Sebastian 12, Paez 6, Geva 5, Alvarez 4, Capuli 4, Usi 3, Espejo 3, Pajarillaga 3, Meimban 2.

Scoring by quarters: 25-13, 51-25, 71-43, 101-64.

Referees: Jess Pacheco, Jess Pabula, and Noel Delos Santos.