The rookies swept the skills competitions serving as aperitif to the annual All-Star Game with Brandon Cablay dethroning Joey Mente in the slam dunk contest, Jimmy Alapag besting former titlist Olsen Racela in the Three-Point Shootout, Rob Johnson ruling the inaugural staging of the Obstacle Course and Aries Dimaunahan and Sunday Salvacion topping the Two-Ball.
Cablay executed a two-handed reverse windmill shot as against Mente’s 360-degree in the finale of the slam dunk to gain the nod of the judges composed of PBA Press Corps president Tito Talao of Tempo and former PBA stars Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Chito Loyzaga and Samboy Lim.
The Alaska Fil-Am guard earned a perfect score of 50 points as against the 48 of the deposed champion. In the elims, the two players totalled 97 points each in two dunks.
Out after the elims in the slam dunk were Rafi Reavis (95), Billy Mamaril (95), Lordy Tugade (89), Omanzie Rodriguez (77), Ronald Tubid (71), Sunday Salvacion (69) and Kahi Villa (50).
Olsen Racela and Renren Ritualo threw bricks in the Three-Point Shootout, allowing Alapag to win the event by a mile.
The last man to shoot the basket, Alapag topped the scores of Racela (six) and Ritualo (eight) right in the third rack and continued to bury treys in the last two racks to make a total of 18.
The same thing happened in the Obstacle Course with the first contestant Willie Miller taking a long time traversing the course with numerous errors. With little pressure, Johnson hardly made an error on his turn, winning the event with plenty to spare. — Nelson Beltran