After four years, team members of the Terra Dolce/Jollibee 1990/91/92 finally got their hands on the championship trophy with a convincing 71-60 win against Shakeys/New Energy 2008/10/11 during the final game of the 5th St. John’s Institute Alumni Basketball Friendship Cup at the Msgr. John Liu Activities Center, Thursday night.

Most Valuable Player Peewee Demonteverde set the tone for Terra Dolce’s victory as he exploded with 20 points in the opening minutes for a commanding 32-5 first quarter lead.

Dominic Ciocon, Richard Co and Glin Ortaliz completed Terra Dolce’s dominating run with a near perfect defense as they prevented Shakey’s from scoring in the shaded area.

Shakey’s tried to bounce back in the second quarter with Luigi Coo and Allen Dionela stringing up five straight points each to narrow the gap to 43-22 at halftime.

But Terra Dolce/Jollibee will not be denied of the championship as the squad posted its biggest lead at 51-24 in the third quarter. Mark Coo tried to fight back for Shakey’s/New Energy with five points, but his efforts were not enough to reverse the outcome of the game.

Although temporarily distracted by the full court pressure employed by Shakey’s in the fourth quarter, Terra Dolce went on to ice the game as Demonteverde and the other veteran players of coach Jimmy Yap prevailed after the final buzzer.

“We won the championship because of our camaraderie, team chemistry and the knowledge that we really had to win this year after three straight runner up finishes. We were very tired but the will to win was there despite the very big age handicap,” team manager Miles Abello said.

“After all is said and done, we are all a United Hua Ming family and the purpose of getting the alumni members together was accomplished,” he added.

Demonteverde finished with a game-high 28 points, Manaloto added 18, Ortaliz scored 7, Toffel Tan, Ciocon and Co made 6 points each for Terra Dolce/Jollibee.

Cuaycong and Mark Coo paced New Energy with 11 points each, backstopped by Dionela with 10, Luigi Coo 9, Daniel Ong 6, and Charles Del Castillo 5 points.

Meanwhile, Ceres Pasalubong 2006/07 salvaged third place with a 102-80 win against Phoenix 99/2k.

Ceres’ offense was spearheaded by Brian Coo and Christopher Mahinay, who tallied 15 points apiece, and Bryan Victor Javelosa with 13 points, while Phoenix was led by Eduardo Ng with 20 points, Mark Jimenez 16, and Paolo Li with 15 points.

The tournament was officiated by NORECOM headed by Tony Salvacion.*with a report from Stephen Tan

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