Manila Motors/CMR - PBA/LS Banal Champs...Dominate Awards

Coach John Senfelices was seen smiling ear to ear outside the gym. This was just a few minutes after he won his first PBA Championship after several attempts and was awarded this year's Coach of the Year honours. This has indeed been a successful year for him and his team. And what a team he has.  The 2011 PBA-LS Banal Cup Champion is CMR/Manila Motors.

Not only did three of the Steel and Tube Roofing Mythical Five awardees come from his team but also another three of the Defensive Five; MVP regular season and Finals MVP. This same team also won the East Basketball League and the West League. This has indeed been a good year for them.

It was a close game initially but the young guns of Manila Motors were just too fast; athletic and accurate. Again the Eldialde brothers led from the front, supported by the Evangelista siblings and of course MVP Kris Patriarca proved why he deserved to win both regular season and finals MVP titles. Technical Commissioner Tracy Zafra shared his opinion with us, "This marks the changing of the guards in our league. Back to back champion Dimond was outplayed by the younger players of Manila Motors. We will not be surprised if they win a few more."  

The West based team dominated in all departments even as Dimond's Perry Salas almost single handedly kept his team alive in the second quarter. But Patriarca's hot shooting pushed CMR ahead in double digits during the third quarter scoring 18 of his 32 points in the second half. By the 4th quarter the game was finish with the lead up by over 20 points. The Final score was 100 - 77.

In the battle for third, LM Money Transfer gave JR Panel a good fight. LM had their full strength line up and could have scored an upset. But JR Panel kept their composure down the stretch to win the game 106-100. Ronald Hidalgo and Leo Mandajos scored 28 and 16 respectively for the losing team. Mythical Five awardee best forward Ferdinand Manuel top scored for the Panel Beaters with a season high 37 points while Lester Latosa chipped in 19.

Three Point Shoot Out
The annual 3 point shoot out as usual was held before the championship game. Each of the teams had a representative Derek Vivares for New World; defending champ Lester Latosa for JR Panel; Julius Sanchez for Dimond; Eric Hanzen for Manila Motors and Derek Buaya for LM Money Transfer.

Vivares and Latosa were eliminated in the first round. Tournament format called for scores in the first and second round to be combined to determine the winner.  Total scores after 2 rounds were Sanchez 18;  Hanzen 25 and eventual winner Buaya with 26.

Awardees:
Hilton Parker Fastener Rookie of the Year         
                   GLENN CAYAO

 JM Foods Most Improved Player
               MIKE BECKER

STEEL & TUBE ROOFING MYTHICAL FIVE
Point Guard – Kenneth Eldialde
Off Guard –  Kris Patriarca
Shooting Forward – Ferdie Manuel
Power Forward – Bong Eldialde
Center – Mike Becker

LS Banal Cup STEEL & TUBE ROOFING DEFENSIVE FIVE
Point Guard – Kenneth Eldialde
Off Guard -  Jed Evangelista
Shooting Forward – Carlo Bueno
Power Forward – Ross Ganzan
Center – Glen Farolan

 Kiwi Roofing Best Coach
     JOHN SENFELICES

KIWI ROOFING MVP AWARD - Most Valuable Player – Regular Season
                                     KRIS PATRIARCA

KIWI ROOFING MVP AWARD - Most Valuable Player – FINALS
                                    KRIS PATRIARCA

PBA would  like to thank all their supporters and friends. Especially sponsors who make tournaments possible Steel and Tube; Hilton Parker Fastener; Kiwi Roofing; JM Foods; Tres Marias; JR Panels & Paint; Doc Antonio and Cora Noblejas and of course Lito and Sharon Banal.

PBA's year end tournament is scheduled to start next Saturday, the 35 and above competition. All interested parties can contact any of the PBA officials.