Sentidokomon

By Ester Beatty with reports from Cathrine Beatty)

The Championship games of the Philippine Basketball League (Cyprus) 2009 were held on the 9^{th of August 2009 at the Keravnos indoor gym in Strovolos, Nicosia. Interorient vs. eCorLive faced each other for the championship title while Sushi-la and Philtrust were supposed to vie for the third and fourth spots.The championship games were scheduled to start at 9am with the third and fourth spots game to be played first. However, one of the teams (Philtrust) were rather bitter about losing in the semi-final games last 2nd of August 2009 and therefore decided to forfeit the game and not any member of the said team had showed up at all. This caused considerable problems for the Committee members, not only financially but also the wasted time for the preparation of the games, as the team did not even have the decency to inform any of the Committee members that they would be doing such forfeiture.} 

^{Sushi-la team got third place due to default, and judging by their performance throughout the league, they deserved it. Philtrust’s unprofessional and unsportsmanlike behaviour was very disappointing, because even though they would not come first or second, they still had the chance to try to get third place. However, they were bitter about losing to eCorLive in the semis and so decided as a team that a forfeit would be the better option. Up to the last minute of the scheduled game, numerous phone calls and text messages to the team manager/coach as well as to the team captain were done but not been returned nor answered. Eventually, the team manager/coach returned a call at approx.10 AM, (an hour after the game schedule) after the Committee’s chairperson, Ester Beatty, sent them a message saying that they were all very unprofessional and were showing unsportsmanlike behaviour. The manager/coach then asked if they could still play if his team would show up, but it was too late! Due to the first game not being played, players from eCorLive and Interorient were told to be at the court right away. However, Interorient team who came from Limassol (minus one of their best players named Alex Colongan who was not able to come with his team due to his work commitment) had not been expecting the first game to be cancelled and so the championship game could not commence until10:30am.The game was fast paced from the beginning, with both teams defending their baskets as well as possible. The score was tight, and there was never more than a five-point gap between the two teams. At the end of the 1st quarter, eCorLive was ahead by 15-11 points and during the 2nd quarter, they were leading by 29-24. But when the stop-time rules came into effect in the 3rd & 4th quarters, Interorient managed to close the gap by scoring 17 points in the 3rd quarter against 13 for eCorlive, decreasing their deficit by just one-point. In the 4th quarter however, eCorLive put a tight defence against InterorientThe game was fast paced from the beginning, with both teams defending their baskets as well as possible. The score was tight, and there was never more than a five-point gap between the two teams. At the end of the 1st quarter, eCorLive was ahead by 15-11 points and during the 2nd quarter, they were leading by 29-24. But when the stop-time rules came into effect in the 3rd & 4th quarters, Interorient managed to close the gap by scoring 17 points in the 3rd quarter against 13 for eCorlive, decreasing their deficit by just one-point. In the 4th quarter however, eCorLive put a tight defence against Interorient’s number one point-guard Caloy Walid, who scored a total of 23 points with four 3-pointers in the game. During the last 3 minutes of the game, it looked like the game would proceed to overtime as both teams were tied at 56-56. Eventually eCorLive won the championship with a final score of 65-60. Scorers for eCorLive: Jeffrey Sarmiento (15), Angelo delos Santos (15), James Fuerte (13), Donald Catimbang (8), Ruel Dadua (8), James Calicdan (2), Rhai (2). : Jeffrey Sarmiento (15), Angelo delos Santos (15), James Fuerte (13), Donald Catimbang (8), Ruel Dadua (8), James Calicdan (2), Rhai (2).Scorers for Interorient: Caloy Walid (23), Donald Luzon (14), Marvin Santos (11), Nicko Julongbayan (10), Jhun (2). Caloy Walid (23), Donald Luzon (14), Marvin Santos (11), Nicko Julongbayan (10), Jhun (2).Spectators were given a very thrilling and exciting finale to the Championship games as both teams had tried their best not to concede any mistakes to their opponent. Nevertheless, eCorLive had the more disciplined players and a good team effort helped them prevailed this time. They lost to Interorient in the finals for the PBL 2007.}

Caloy Walid (23), Donald Luzon (14), Marvin Santos (11), Nicko Julongbayan (10), Jhun (2).Spectators were given a very thrilling and exciting finale to the Championship games as both teams had tried their best not to concede any mistakes to their opponent. Nevertheless, eCorLive had the more disciplined players and a good team effort helped them prevailed this time. They lost to Interorient in the finals for the PBL 2007.Soon as the game concluded, the awarding followed through. Miss MUSE PBL (Cyprus) 2009 was awarded to Miss Dina Ambrosio of Interorient.

The top five scorers in the whole league were James Fuerte of eCorLive with 104 points, followed by Caloy Walid (Interorient) – 102 points, Donald Luzon (Interorient) – 92 points, Alex Gamier (Aces) – 77 points and Angelo delos Santos (eCorLive) – 77 points.

The 3-pointers award was given to Caloy Walid (Interorient) for amassing fourteen 3-pointers during the whole league. Best in Team Uniform went to Sushi-la and Aces (Carwash) deservedly won the Sportsmanship award for being the only team who never made any complaints during any of their games despite having just 8-players (at most) playing during the duration of the league.

The Most Valuable Player was chosen as the best player during the whole league games and not only during the Final, and that the winner can be awarded to any players from any teams so long as he deserved it. The Referee and Committee members have unanimously decided that Caloy Walid of Interoriet deservedly won the award as the best player of the whole league games, he consistently lead his team all throughout their games.

The Committee members would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to Keravnos for the use of the premises (outdoor and indoor courts). We would also like to thank the following for their generosity: The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) Cyprus for sponsoring the trophies, Mrs Cora Hammoud, Mr. & Mrs. Panicos Georgiou (Philippines Quiapo Kiosk Limassol), Mrs. Merly Millard & Mrs. Wilma Dayrit for sponsoring the medals and thanks to everyone who brought food, though there were people who did not appreciate the gesture of the committee inviting all to join the celebration when quoted as saying “Pati ba naman sa pagkain eh obligado pa kami?” or words to that effect. A BIG THANK YOU also to Mr. Nemanja Bjedov, the official Referee of the league games. He had shown his complete professionalism and utmost patience most especially in dealing with difficult situations during the games. It was not an easy task to have a league games without the commitments of the Committee members so well done to Scarlet, Kim, Cris, Venny, Cathrine, Cora and myself for sacrificing our valuable time on Sundays even when we are being baked alive under the searing heat of the sun.