AKLAN Basketball Team claimed the championship in the 2019 Guimaras Basketball Pocket Tournament after a 75-66 win over Antique in the finals on Sunday at the Guimaras State College Covered Gym.
Johndel Alfaro showed nerves of steel in the gold medal game as the paced the Aklanons with 17 points. John Nico Galas, meanwhile, was the lone bright spot for Antique with 13 markers.
Aklan, however, did not have a flawless performance in the tournament after suffering an 82-85 loss to Antique in the final elimination round match after winning its first two against Iloilo and Guimaras.
Even if Aklan, Antique and Guimaras have the same 2-1 card after the eliminations, it was Aklan and Antique which qualified to the championship match due to higher quotient.
Iloilo City, which dropped all of its three elimination round matches, salvaged a third place finish after defeating Guimaras, 83-45. Jeeryl John Quanzon had 21 markers for the Ilonggos.
The two-day invitational basketball pocket tournament aims to showcase the developing sports program of Guimaras, said tournament organizer Richard Gabayoyo.
āWeāre thankful for this opportunity and we want the public knows that Guimaras sports will be active this year onwards. We are hopeful that this event will become institutionalize,ā he said./PN
