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Dahlia Mavericks snapped WPS Sentinels 5-game league winning streak, wins 77-65

Q Arena, Philippines -- After starting the season 0-4, the Dahlia Mavericks is starting to 'heat-up' as they're 4-1 in their last 5 games only losing in a TV game away from home against Memongs.

"Our confidence in our team has never waned despite the early setbacks," GM Nicolo Maro said. "we have a great coach and our team is built to endure."

It was an 'ugly' game between the Mavs and Sentinels as they ended the first half with the Mavs leading 33-27. However, the Mavs 'ran-away' in the third scoring 25-13 and never looked back as they notched their fourth win in five games defeating the Sentinels 77-65.

Teodosio Amante led the Mavs with 22 points and 8 rebounds while Bernie Dimagan and Fillmore Sabangan chipped in with 16 and 15 points.

Scott Famaran had an iffy debut along with the starters going 1-7 from the field scoring 4 points but grabbing 18 boards. Apolonio Sepulveda had 8 points and 12 boards.

WPS Sentinels had a 5-game league winning streak entering this game but it wasn't enough as only their big men provided the 'goods' as Alvin Votorillo had 15 points and 11 rebounds while Argen Mand had 11 points and 16 boards.

The race in both the Big 8 and Great 8 Conference is a tight one as only 3 games separate the current 1st and 8th seed team in the former while 4 games in the latter.

Defense! Defense! Defense!

Tugar n Tweety's hotshot shooter Teodosio Bonifacio scored 16 first half points in a game wherein most analysts expected Zebu Mayas to lose big. Tugar n Tweety lead by 2 points by the end of the first half but Zebu Mayas fans were treated to a spectacular defensive effort at the start of the 3rd quarter with Zebu Mayas scoring a 13-0 run. Frustration could be seen setting in by Tugar n Tweety's players as they committed two fragrant fouls from being unable to score. Crowd favorite 5'11'' guard Jed Robison unfazed by Teodosio Bonifacio's stardom scored three rim rattling in your face dunks that further demoralized the opposing teams players. Tugar n Tweety's players could only score 8 3rd quarter points against 25 for Zebu Mayas giving the latter a 15 point lead at the end of the 3rd.

Teodosio Bonifacio, slighted by those three embarrassing in your face dunks and the getting shutdown in the 3rd took matters into his own hand and went into an "in the zone" scoring spree scoring 23 4th quarter points reducing the lead as close as 3 points but Zebu Mayas was able to hold off the scoring onslaught to carve out a 82 to 70 win.

"My hats off to Teodosio Bonifacio. No wonder he is the top scorer of League 2.4." said Lolo Smithz after the game. "You just can't stop a scorer if he is in the zone. That was a very amazing 4th quarter scoring performance by him even if he was shackled in the 3rd he still found a way to score in the 4th."

"Our original plan though also was to let Bonifacio do all the scoring as we thought we would defend the other four positions with better defenders and just let him score at will and tire him out fast. Jed Robison surpassed expectation with that fine defensive performance against Bonifacio in the third that helped us win the game with a considerable lead at the end of the 3rd. Also out free throw shooting was a blessing in disguise as our players made 26 out of 32 free throws which is pretty high for our teams standards."

In other league 2.4 news Team Damy is still undefeated after 9 games but suffered a major setback as top center Salvador Dulay suffered an injury and is expected to miss at least 4 games. This will surely test Team Damy's ability to stay unbeaten as the cup games gets harder in the succeeding rounds. Mommy Dionisias Secret Recipe still is on hot team as they scored its 6th straight win and is now in second place behind Arcanix Men who continues to hold on to the top spot in league 2.4 big 8 conference with a 8-1 record.


Last edited by Lolo Smithz at 12/30/2012 12:25:16 PM

Play Your Hearts Out and it will Set You Free

"Heart... Our team played their hearts out...." said Lolo Smithz as he tried to contain his emotions after winning a game Zebu Mayas was suppose to lose against the Relentless Vikings in their home court . Paul Pasana, Zebu Mayas starting PF crashed out of the game in the first minute of play due to an injury and it was sophomores Manny Paranpan, a 19 yo 6'7' 5k salaried SF and Luke Martinez, a 20 yo 5k salaried 6'10' SF who were given the task to handle Gilberto Favaro, a 29 yo 53k salaried 7'0" veteran.

Employing a Low Post play. Relentless Vikings pounded the inside with Gilberto Favaro scoring 16 points and pulling down 18 rebounds but Manny Paranpan didn't do too shabby against a very superior player scoring 14 points including a 6 point outburst in the 3rd quarter that helped the Zebu Mayas team a lot. Tied 75 all in the 4th with less than 2 minutes to go, Zebu Mayas veterans Ariel Domingo and Wilson Toong broke the game open in favor of their team with 2 straight 3 pointers. Relentless Vikings tied the game again at 81 all but that was it as they couldn't score again with a final score of 88 to 81 in favor of Zebu Mayas.

"Veteran experience counts." Lolo Smithz said. "Those two 3 point shots demoralized the opposing team. You could hear a pin drop from the stunned silence of the Relentless Vikings home crowd after the 2nd 3 pointer. PG Ariel Domingo was also very instrumental in the win as he refused to sit down and played all 48 minutes despite having 4 fouls in the 1st quarter alone almost having a triple double performance with 19 points, 9 assists 7 rebounds 4 steals and one block. SG Prince John Nalzaro also has an almost triple double like performance with 21 points 8 assists 6 rebounds two steals and 2 blocks and also did a superb job of shutting down Relentless Vikings SF Ximen Shuopeng (2-15 shooting night)."

Team Damy continues his PPL quest as he still remained undefeated in league 2.4 with 10 wins and zero losses. When interviewed PH Damy had this to say " Is there any team out there in this league who can defeat my team? It's becoming boring game after game really." Arcanix Men is 9-1 in the other conference.

Last edited by Lolo Smithz at 1/2/2013 2:48:39 AM

New Year Special: Mavs slashed by Jungle Bolo .45 upset with cup game

Q Arena, Philippines -- The Jungle Bolo .45 fielded seven players, but it doesn't matter. The Dahlia Mavericks had a New Year's Eve hangover as they played no defense losing 120-131 to the home team.

Rizalino Ortigas went down in the first quarter but then, the rest of the starting five went to work as Perry Jabonete, Norman Migallos, Pablo Valsera, Andrew Parilla, and Ruben Talamo scored 32, 27, 23, 22 and 22 respectively.

"It seems like we were fired up when Rizalino went down," Bolo .45 coach said. "all six of them were brilliant as they played their hearts out not wanting to lose against the upcoming Mavs."

As much as Apolonio Sepulveda was brilliant with 33 points and 13 rebounds in 16-19 FG in 39 minutes, it would have helped if he didn't miss all but one of his 10 free throws.

"I remember a game before where I had to shoot those free throws and possibly win it but I couldnt," Sepulveda said. "same night, big loss."

Mavs coach Doc said that he is 'upset' but he knows that the team will 'bounce back' in their next league game. "Seriously, you played your team out there against six guys and we couldn't worn them out?" he said bitterly.

Mavs GM was equally disappointed as he doesn't want 'to lose against team fielding five, six, seven players'. "The thought of it makes me puke, you fielded complete players and would lose against an incomplete one?" GM Nicolo Maro said.

Scott Famaran had a 'great' game scoring 19 points while grabbing 13 rebounds and 3 blocks in 6-6 FG shooting and hitting all but one of his eight free throw attempts. Bernie Dimagan had a double-double with 18 points and 13 assists but their effort were put in vain as they lose the game.

"You got to give them credit, we did not play defense and they did not want to lose it either" owner Yo Chi said who rarely allows interview but could not help but comment on their lackadaisical effort.

In other news, the Mavs organization was upset as national tournament opponent After Shocks raised the white flag by playing only three players but still counted on the Mavs regular minutes allocated for each of their players. "This is why we are against this rule, if you cannot put 7-8 minimum players, it should be automatic default and to be safe, 36 and 12 minutes allocation on the team who fielded his entire roster!" GM Nicolo Maro vehemently said. GM Nicolo Maro was fined $50,000 as he criticized the league rule with his comment.


Last edited by LA-Nicolo Maro at 1/4/2013 9:26:58 AM

Dahlia Mavericks snapped Another Round 5-game league winning streak, 'bounced back' 118-94

Q Arena, Philippines -- After the 'embarrassing' loss against Jungle Bolo .45, the Dahlia Mavericks didn't want to 'disappoint' in a national televised game against Another Round.

Perhaps Round is 'looking-forward' to their back-to-back league match and cup game against Memongs but that didn't erase the fact that it was a 24-point drubbing and losing just their second in eleven games in the ultra-competitive PPL league.

It was a competitive first quarter as the Mavs were holding to a one point lead (24-23) as Teodosio Amante scored 12 points. In the second quarter, Round couldn't stop the Mavs onslaught getting outscored 34-16 trailing by 19 points at the half 58-39.

Amante was brilliant in the first half as he led the Mavs with 25 of their 58 points going in the third.

In the third quarter Round was able to cut the deficit to 10 points but they couldn't catch-up as it was Bernie Dimagan's turn to halt their run as he went on fire. Firing on off-balance jumpers, he was ably supported by Ananias Capuyan in the second half.

Round was trailing 69-83 entering the fourth and the Mavs started with a 12-5 run that prompted coach Doc to sub the starters with 8 minutes left in the game. Round was resilient and made a 9-0 run in under two minutes that the Mavs starters went for the kill and finish with a 23-11 run to end the game.

"They were frustrated with their performance in our last game," coach Doc said. "they want to leave a mark with this convincing victory against PPL-leading Another Round."

Teodosio Amante paced the Mavs with 38 points in 14-27 FG shooting, 6-11 from downtown. Bernie Dimagan supported them with 35 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists in 14-21 FG shooting, 5-9 from beyond the arc. Ananias Capuyan was steady with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 10-17 FG shooting, 2-2 from the three-point line.

"Our guard play was tremendous but it should also be noted that both our bigs grabbed 16 boards and provided that much needed muscle down-low." GM Nicolo Maro said.

The Mavs play was fundamentally sound as they shot 48% from the field (46-96), 54% from downtown (14-26) and they virtually led all categories against Another Round.

Linus Kernen led Another Round with 26 points and 6 assists but on 9-30 FG shooting. Adam Bralic had a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds but it wasn't enough as they fell for only the second time in eleven games.

"It is very difficult to win against an opponent especially away from home, in front of national audience, as the home team would really want to take it for their fans." Round coach said.

As much as GM Nicolo Maro was 'pleased' with their performance, he noted that it didn't have much implications as 7 out of 8 Big 8 teams took this day, that they didn't move up in the standings, and 'only' two games separate the #1 seed from the 8th.

"Such is the reality in PPL play, no guarantees. It's like a pendulum swing." GM Nicolo Maro said.

Zebu Mayas Rising

Happy days are here again in Zebu Mayas land as fans celebrate their teams 4th straight league victory against Bennyville Subdivision winning 106 to 93. Fans were worried when Zebu Mayas trailed early by 10 points but slowly and surely one shot at a time they rallied back to lead by the 4 56 to 52 at the end of the half. Francis Calo had a monster game as he was hard to stop inside scoring 34 points and hauling down 19 rebounding and adding two assists and two blocks to his stat line. Wilson Toong also had a very good shooting night 11-13 shooting scoring 25 points and hauling down 13 rebounds.

Manny Paranpan, the 19 yo sophomore SF of Zebu Mayas turned in another consecutive brilliant performance in his young career as he was given the starting PG job scoring a league career high 19 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist wowing the crowd with his fearless drives and dunks to the hoop.

"Manny is starting to show his potential. Given his chance to prove himself lately, he has risen to the occasion and proved his signing wasn't a big mistake as many critics have said. Hopefully in another two seasons time he will have a chance to prove his worth as a member of the U21 team." Lolo Smithz said gushing with glee.

"And I am also happy our team has finally found its identity as a team and playing very good basketball together. And we would also like to announce the signing of another veteran bigman Rosauro Manago to shore up our depleted frontline. When Paul Pasana our starting PF comes backfrom his injury, look for us to make some very big noise in league 2.4" said Lolo Smithz with a very evil grin.

"Next up for us next week will be two very difficult games against our bitter opponent Team Damy. We will be crossing paths in the league and cup game. Expect fireworks as me and Team Damy owner PH-Damy have a love hate relationship for several seasons already and every season our match up usually is intense and no holds barred."

Talking about Team Damy, they finally lost their first game this season to a shocking 109 to 78 against a fully healed San Antipolo Spurs team. Ph Damy wasn't in a very good mood as he stormed out of the arena at the 3rd quarter when his team was trailing by 30 points, something he isn't accustomed of seeing this season. His players after the game said they were given instructions to take it easy to conserve their early for the two important games against bitter rival Zebu Mayas.

Arcanix Men continues to lead the Big 8 conference of league 2.4 with a 10-1 record after shutting down high scoring TugarnTweety 83 to 53.

Last edited by Lolo Smithz at 1/6/2013 5:20:24 AM

A Game to Remember.... or Forget?

This was a game to remember and forget depending on which side of the fence you are. The usually heated seasonal cross conference rivalry between Zebu Mayas and Team Damy reached fever pitch after a week of trash talking between fans and the owners of each team.

Newly acquired Center Rousaro Manago and Guard Prince John Nalzaro of Zebu Mayas scored 30 and 31 respectively to lead their team but that just wasn't enough as a Team Damy player scored 62 points... Yes 62 freaking points to awe everyone who was watching the exciting game in Death Valley Arena last night.

Almost in the twilight years of his career Team Damy veteran guard 32 yo Rutherford Cornejo produced the scoring performance of his life notching a career high 62 points on 26 of 47 shooting almost breaking a 66 point league 2.4 record held by Cristirose Villagracia. Corneja also added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block to his stat line. Corneja scored 38 points in the first half alone but was somewhat winded in the 3rd round scoring only 2 points enabling the Zebu Mayas team to catch up but in the fourth Corneja got back into the groove and scored another 22 points to cap an unforgettable scoring night for him. Team Damy won 109 to 95.

"I was pumped up for the game. It always is a great pleasure to play the Zebu Mayas squad as our team and theirs has this love hate relationship."said Rutherford Corneja after the game. "Everything went right for me tonight. In the zone you might call it."

When interviewed about the 62 point explosion by Corneja, Zebu Mayas Owner Lolo Smithz sheepishly replied. "There is a Tagalog phrase that aptly describes our game tonight. Mamatay ka sa maling akala (You will die with the wrong assumption). Like with our game against Tugar&Tweety we choose to leave one player to shoot at will and defend the other positions better it was a success then but in this game that tactic was a disaster. Like a tsunami wave hitting a wooden hut along the shoreline. Complete devastation."

"I am happy for Rutherford Corneja, a veteran player who has around two to three seasons more in his playing career before he gets too old to perform at a top level, to be able to produce such a scoring performance is something that will forever be etched in the annals of Team Damy history and for their fans alike. No matter how weak your defender is to be able to score 62 points is a feat one should cherish forever."

"Anyways there is still a cup match between Team Damy and us tomorrow and we will see if Corneja can score again 62 points. If he can then hands down he is one of the best players that has ever played in Pilipinas League 2.4."

Last edited by Lolo Smithz at 1/8/2013 10:25:40 PM

Dahlia Mavericks dumbfounded, loses against Dagonoy Valets 79-101

The Carwash Arena, Philippines -- The Dahlia Mavericks competed in the first quarter, second and third but the fourth quarter tells a different story: they were outscored 32-18.

"The turning point was when Famaran and Sepulveda missed both their free throws." Mavs coach Doc recalling the game said. "they were able to score eight straight points then."

The Dahlia Mavericks are dumbfounded as shorter rotation keeps on beating them. "Isn't depth more important than talent?" GM Nicolo Maro wondered. He could not believe how the trio of Ian Bache, Nutautas Aperaitis and Shi Kwan Shing scored 29, 25 and 22 points respectively.

"This is a forgettable day," he added. "we were beaten plain and simple."

Dagonoy Valets 'dominated' them as they hit and attempted more shots 42-95 (Mavs 30-77), were 12-30 from 3PG, have more assists and less turnover.

Calvin Robles 'led' the Mavs with 21 points and 8 rebounds while Scott Famaran (14 points and 14 rebounds) and Apolonio Sepulveda (12 points and 13 rebounds) had a double-double as the Mavs alternated W/L in their last four games.

"There is nothing to report really" owner Yo Chi flatly said clearly frustrated with such a lopsided loss.

Grudge Match Deux

Fans were treated to a second serving of intense rivalry as the supposed to be once in a season cross conference match up between bitter rivals Zebu Mayas and Team Damy become two this season as both them had the unfortunate luck of getting paired in a cup match.

Zebu Mayas fans watched in horror as their home team trailed 4 to 13 early against Team Damy resulting to an early full timeout by the home team. But slowly and surely on basket at a time the Zebu Mayas squad came back to trail by one the the end of the first half and led by 1 the the end of the 2nd quarter.

The 3rd quarter saw Zebu Mayas lead balloon to 6 point and in the fourth quarter Zebu Mayas put up another superb defensive show allowing Team Damy only 3 field goals attempts made aside from free throw attempts to shut down their offense and win 94 to 81.

Francis Calo had a monster game to lead Zebu Mayas with 26 points, 19 rebounds (6 OR) 1 assists 3 steals and 1 block and was ably supported by Rosauro Manago with 22 points, 12 rebounds (4 OR) 1 steal and 2 blocks. Orlanda Tigas playing backup scored 20 points and Stacy Dobbins as starting PF added 19 points for Team Damy.

Zebu Mayas Owner Lolo Smithz wanted to shake the hands of Team Damy Owner PH-Damy after the game but he was nowhere to be seen after the game as he left early. When asked what was the winning formula this game by reporters this was his reply.

"Defense, defense, defense. You win with defense. I've never seen my team shutdown the opposition like what happened in the fourth quarter. 3 field goals made only."

"In our league game we let Corneja have his way because we wanted to rest our best defenders for the matches to come but it was really embarrassing to get hit by a 62 point tsunami by a single player. We got heavily criticized by our fans and critics alike for losing a game we could have won. Prince John Nalzaro had one mission this game. Guard Corneja like a pest and he did so brilliantly limiting Corneja to 3 out of 10 shooting."

"And we also did a number on their best player star PF Roy Derieda by limiting his touches and making him turnover the ball 8 times and also won in the rebounding department this time around 47 to 39."

"Next up for us is the very talented and dangerous team Pro Tambays owned by Master PH-Cezzz. With our 6-6 league record we can't afford to lose this one but with cup games next week we will have to choose which games to lose and which games to win again. I'm sure our fans will not like it again and bombard us with criticisms but sometimes that is the reality when you have both cup and league duties."

And Down Goes Another

Rousaro Manago, Zebu Mayas newest bigman recruit went down to an injury at the 3rd quarter of their match between Pro Tambays and down went their chances of winning the match losing 86-100. Prince John Nalzaro, 30 points scored, tried hard to make an improbable comeback trailing by 4 points at the end of the third but just couldn't do so as the Zebu Mayas squad got outrebounded 51 to 40 and had less assists 11 to 18 against Pro Tambays.

"We simply got outplayed by Master Ph-Cezzz (Owner of Pro Tambays) this game. His masterful tactic of playing Push the Ball caught us off guard as we thought he was going Motion as our back court was very out of shape due to too much playing time the last three games. And we also had one of our worst free throw shooting nights 10 of 21 made only."

"In a very close conference we have now dropped back again to last place. We seriously are in danger of getting relegated so drastic measures has to be taken. Giving up on the cup is a very real option now. Hopefully we can get Paul Pasana back before our cup game on Tuesday and Rosauro Manago will be able to play by Saturday's league game. Hopefully we can turn things around before its too late."

Last edited by Lolo Smithz at 1/13/2013 8:39:24 AM