SAGCO1 takes on Al Yamamah in A Div. final

By K.M.A. Perera JEDDAH – SAGCO1 will play Al Yamamah for the A Division crown, while Neproplast will play Salem Husni for the B Division title in SAGCO Cup following the semifinals at SAGCO basketball court in the Industrial Area here. The Incident-packed semifinal between Neproplast and PCMC went to the wire with several players sustaining injuries. In the end, however, Neproplast salvaged its pride winning by a narrow margin 89-86. A. Marabit proved to be a scoring machine for Neproplast as he collected 35 points. He received back-to-back Best Player awards. Still unbeaten in the tournament, Neproplast will face the other unbeaten team, Salem Husni, which beat Jeddah Cable 88-74 to reach the final. E. Almarante, the versatile player, deservedly won the Best Player award with 27 points. For PCMC, A. Tayras scored 30 points with spectacular baskets amid loud cheers from the spectators. In A Division, SAGCO1 was threatened in the second half by NAPICO’s forwards, J. Caoile and J. Caniezo, as the later took a one-point lead after a deficit of 13. Their efforts, however, were not enough to halt the reigning champion SAGCO1. Rudy Opena, Oliver Morado and Arjay Mendoza led SAGCO1 from the front in the third and fourth quarters to ensure that the champion came out on top in its semifinal 78-64. Rudy Opena was adjudged the Best Player with 24 points. Sunbulah was widely expected to reach the final since it was undefeated in its last five games. But all the credit goes to Al-Yamamah for scoring a surprising 100-85 win. Playing very aggressively till the end, changing their young players at regular intervals, Al Yamamah didn’t make it look like a fluke. Sunbulah’s best player Fuentes made the weekend’s highest score of 35, but the tactics adopted by the Al Yamamah coach took Sunbulah, which had no answer to the rapid movements of W. Javier and R. Barrantes, by a surprise. Although W. Javier was adjudged the Best Player with 28 points, it was R. Barrantes, the play-making forward, who did most of the running and had the most number of steals and assists. Scores SAGCO1 78 - Rudy Opena 24, A. Mendoza 14; NAPICO 64 - J. Caoile 14, J. Caniezo 13. Al Yamamah 100 - W. Javier 28, R. Barrantes 19; Sunbullah 85, E. Fuentes 35, D. Munez 14. Neproplast 89 - A. Mabarit 35, B. Reyes 12; PCMC 86 - A. Tayras 30. Salem Husni 88 - E. Almirante 27, J. Manabat 20; Jeddah Cable 74 - M. Mesa 30, A. Cordoviz 29.