Rebels halts Dream Team, tallies first win in Women’s Series

Team Rebels notched their first win in the APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2nd Conference Women’s Division series, as they defeated the Dream Team, 37-36, on Saturday, October 25 at the APC Gymnasium.

Jenny Francisco, who is the leading candidate in the MVP race, had a double-double game, with 15 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 assists. Ella Taroma had her usual numbers, contributing 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals.

While Chloe Cambay had an off-night in her shooting, tallying only 6 points, she managed to grab 7 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals.

On the other side, Casey Carrillo led in all of the Dream Team’s scoring chores, with 15 points. Shana Santos trailed behind Carrillo in scoring, with 11 points; she also grabbed 8 boards. Raisa Nasara managed to contribute 14 rebounds for her team, despite only having 4 points.

While the Dream Team outrebounded the Rebels for the entire game, the Rebels logged more assists and was able to make most of their shots, hitting 17 out of their 57 attempts (29%) compared to 16 out of 65 markers (24%) of the Dream Team.

Both teams were battling it out for the lead, reaching only as high as 5 points on several occasions.

In the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 31 with 6:02 remaining, until a string of six points coming from Ella Taroma, DJ Ramirez and Danica Malanay secured a four-point lead until the last two minutes of the game.

Crucial turnovers and fouls gave the Dream Team several opportunities to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, they were not able to capitalize it by missing most of their free throws.

After Krizia Valdez decreased the Rebels’ lead to one point with 34 seconds remaining, the Rebels was not able to get a decent attempt as their shot clock expired.

On the ensuing play, Carrillo was fouled by Cambay while driving to the basket with only 0.9 seconds remaining in the game. She missed both of her charities, clinching the first win for the Rebels.

Game 5 of the Women’s Division series will be played on November 7.

Boxscores (click here for full stats):
Rebels (37): Francisco 15, Taroma 10, Cambay 6, Malanay 4, Ramirez 2, Mercado 0, Fernando 0
Dream Team (36): Carrillo, 15, Santos 11, Nasara 4, Flores 2, Dulay 2, Valdez 2, Cortez 0
Quarterscores: 7-6, 14-15, 27-25, 37-36