RIYADH, 8 November — The Growling Tigers of the International Philippine School of Riyadh (IPSR) edged out the Flying Dragons of the Second Philippine International School (SPIS), 75-66 in the continuing games of the 2nd Annual Riyadh Inter-High School Basketball Tournament.
Growling Tigers took the chance that the Rodil Brothers Dax and Don were out of form. It took 1.27 minutes before the first basket was recorded courtesy of Crister Umali, 3 points followed by another two with Honey Boy Bayabao, the playmaker controlling the ball with elegance and the succeeding minutes were stern exchange of basket dominated by the Growling Tigers. Silent operator Crister Umali established a record of five 3-point play in a single game, which earned him a gift voucher from Pizza Hut. Coach Ryan Francial was forced to field Don Rodil during the 3rd quarter as the Tigers continued to blast the board with the Trinidad Brothers Kester and Al with Mark Agahan, Mohammed Jambonggana, Jalal Pundoma and sweet smiling Honey Boy Bayabao and the course of the game changed a little bit with the whooping 15 points advantage of the Tigers was slashed to five points. The commencement of the final quarter saw the Tigers continuously flexing their shots, which were barely retaliated by the Dragon Boys, and the final score was registered at 75-66 with the Tigers in a 9-point lead.
Earlier, the Elite Warriors of the Elite International School posted its first win against the Orange Man team of the Millennium International School, 81-56. From the 1st to the 2nd quarters, the scene was so tense as both teams put their best efforts to outplay each other where Mark dela Cruz and Melgar Dinio showed their best performance which is not enough to stop the Elite Warriors of Reggie Salliedo, who topscored his team with 31 points, Jessie Reyes and Adrian Sese adding 19 points apiece from concluding this match with 25 points margin in their favor.
Other matches of the week saw the Flying Dragons defeated the Elite Warriors, 98-71 and the Growling Tigers clipped the wings of the Red Eagles team (63-33) of Elsie T. Torreno — RIS Principal, Lyn Flores Songcuya — Asst. Administrator, Jun Ordillano — Team Manager, and Coaches Peter Dellosa and Vic Alvez.
The staging of this tournament will not be possible without the generous support of the Sheraton Hotel & Towers management with full support from the Philippine Embassy through Vice Consul Germinia Usudan. Philippine Airlines with the Jeraisy Group of Companies, among others sponsor this league. The organizers also would like to acknowledge the kind courtesy of Richard May, Project Manager of Seder Group of Companies, Edwin Araola and Jojo Luyun for allowing them to use the Seder Village basketball court. (Jun Adriano Mallare)
