Minda teams sweep Adidas Streetball titles

Cheered by a partisan crowd, Mindanao teams outlasted Baguio squads to sweep the prestigious seniors and girls divisions in a thrilling finale of the Adidas Streetball Challenge 2001 last weekend at the SM Megamall.

Ateneo de Davao’s Team Chromium, powered by series MVP Harry Hipolito and Allan Medina, kept their team in the thick of the fight in regulation against the taller Team Artillery to force a 13-all deadlock.

Then in the second round of the shootout tiebreaker, the Davaoenos outlasted their foes, 5-4, in the seniors division.

Xavier University’s Team St. Kilda, starring the pretty Catrina Pong, battled Team Gazelle to a 10-all standoff in regulation, then prevailed 1-0 in the tiebreaker.

Just like in the Mindanao eliminations, Pong drew the biggest applause from the predominantly Visayan crowd of 3,000. If the organizers stuck with the original national finals schedule Aug. 18-19, Pong would have skipped the first day to be the bridesmaid in her elder sister’s wedding.

The two Jesuit-run school squads advance to the Asian Adidas Streetball finals on Aug. 26-27 in Hong Kong where St. Kilda will defend the girls championship.

St. Kilda upset Team Galaxy of NCR, which won the Asian title last year, in the eliminations.

Team Galaxy, led by UST spitfire Irene Cahilig, last year’s Asian MVP, lost their first game and forged a three-way tie for first place. A low quotient relegated them to third place, paving the way for a St. Kilda-Team Gazelle title series.

Team Terbium of Davao nearly became the third Mindanao squad to win an Adidas Streetball title when they led by five points with five minutes left.

But Joseph Evans Casio took matters into his own hands, shooting a total of 10 points to turn back Team Terbium, 14-13.

Team Buzzer Beater, powered by Giovanni Pardillo’s 10 markers, edged Team Galeno, 16-14 to bag the midget title.

Team Flash of NCR downed Team Rapid Fire of Baguio, 8-3, behind Rene Macabugal to capture the Streetball on Wheels title. Officials of Adidas Philippines, which is sponsoring the event for the sixth year, were very happy with the high quality of games and the crowd response.

"Except for one division, every championship game was decided only in the dying minutes. Crowd response was so terrific," said Adidas Philippines managing director John Alonte.

Adidas Philippines sales and marketing director Sonny Nebres described the finals as "the most exciting and festive".

"You had to be there to feel the excitement and enthusiasm of the fans," said Nebres.

Team Chromium and St. Kilda received P10,000 in cash and P20,000 worth of sports gear from Adidas Philippines, trophies and individual medals.

The runners-up took home P5,000 and P10,000 worth of Adidas sports gear, trophies and individual medals.