By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The City Proper Stalwarts showed off their championship DNA during an action-packed quarterfinal duel against the Molo Immortals in the ongoing JB Amateur Basketball League (JB ABL) Battle of the 7 Districts Conference on November 14, 2024, at the Alta Tierra basketball gym in Iloilo City.
Eager to keep their back-to-back JB ABL title hopes alive, City Proper stepped up in the clutch to repel the tough challenge from Molo, 76-71, to earn the first seat in the tournament semifinals.
Like everybody expected, it was a back-and-forth affair between the two stacked squads as City Proper struck first, establishing an early eight-point lead courtesy of baskets in the shaded lane.
Elmer Malan was a beast for City Proper after setting the tone in the first half with his offensive rebounds and turned garbage into gold with consecutive put-back points.
Just when the Stalwarts thought they could control the tempo throughout the game, the Immortals ramped up their intensity in the second frame as the duo of Red Denihay and AJ Denila provided the much-needed scoring spark that turned the ball game into a mano-a-mano battle.
Both squads answered each other’s scoring runs, with City Proper drawing first blood at the start of the third with an early 6-0 run countered by Molo’s 8-0 snowball.
It was down to the wire in the crucial fourth quarter, with Molo looking comfortable after finally regaining their shooting stroke led by Denila who waxed hot from downtown.
Denila also sliced through the tough interior defense of City Proper with his crafty driving moves, negating the length of Malan and Mark Jimenez with a series of up-and-under layups that put the crowd on their feet.
However, Joeben Arcenio, one of the veteran point guards of City Proper, took matters into his own hands after a personal 6-0 scoring run that erased Molo’s four-point lead in the blink of an eye.
In the last two minutes of the nip-and-tuck affair, Molo regained a breather after a fast break play conversion that put them ahead by a deuce.
It didn’t take long for the Stalwarts to level the intense ball game. Malan was able to collect another offensive rebound, which resulted to a put-back layup.
Dehinay had the chance to equalize the game after waving off his team for an isolation post offense, but his step-through move after negating the initial defense bounced off the rim.
To make sure a well-drawn play will be mapped out, City Proper called a timeout in the remaining 48 seconds of the game with the game tied at 71-all.
Karl Alolor, a holdover from last season’s championship roster, paid off the trust of the coaching staff after sinking the biggest three-pointer of the game as he capitalized on Molo’s defensive switch miscue at the top of the key.
With enough time left on the clock for the Immortals, they rushed to find an open lane for a deuce but City Proper was able to complete the defensive stop.
The Stalwarts then put the icing on the cake with a buzzer-beating alley-oop play to balloon their lead to five points and walk away with another thrilling win.
Malan spearheaded the City Proper charge with a team-high 18 points, leading the Stalwarts to another semifinal appearance for the second straight time in the JB ABL Battle of the 7 Districts Conference.
