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By Robert Balajadia

1996/97 – 61, 1995 – 49

’96/97’s Eddie Pelkey getting one of his three-pointers to fall over the outstretched arms of ’95’s Jay Leon Guerrero. (photo by Asha Robles)

Longtime FD Friar basketball head coach Eddie Pelkey dropped 19 points for Class of ’96/97 to move his team past their rivals of 1995 on Day 6 of the FD Alumni Basketball Tournament.

Chris Ogo had a big game for ’96/97 as well finishing with 15 points.

With less than five minutes left in the first half ’96/97 was holding on to a 26-21 lead when Pelkey scored five straight points to push the lead to 31-22.  A couple of strong baskets by ’95’s Nate Denight kept his team in the game as they managed to trim the deficit to six, trailing 33-27 at the half.

Luis Blanco arrived a little late for ’96/97 but was instant impact as soon as he came in.  Blanco scored off back-to-back fast break baskets on steals he created to stretch the lead back to double digits at 44-32 in the second half.

’96/97 also got late buckets from Jason Camacho and Eric Cruz to close out ’95.

Denight finished with 13 points to lead ’95 while teammate Jay Leon Guerrero chipped in with 12 points in the loss.  ’96/97 improves to 3-0 in the tournament while ’95 drops to 1-2.

When asked how it feels to be on the court for the annual tournament as opposed to coaching Pelkey jokingly responded with, “I feel old man, but it’s always fun to always come back and play with a lot of guys you went to school with and rekindle a lot of memories. It’s also always good to beat you rivals, ’95 sucks.”

McDonald’s Player of the Game Eddie Pelkey with 19 points.

Leon Guerrero of ’95 assured that his class gifted the game to Pelkey for his birthday.

Pelkey was greeted by his two-time defending champion AOLG Cougars after the game with a belated birthday cake and silly string; His birthday was yesterday.

2006 – 52, 2003 – 40

The return of Marty Mendoza proved to be a big difference for 2003 in the beginning, but an overall team effort by 2006 came through as they improve to 3-0 with the win.

Midway through the second half, ’06 was only holding on to a 38-34 lead before Rob Leon Guerrero scored on back-to-back layups to push the lead to 42-34. Vinson Calvo gave ’06 the double digit lead on a reverse layup as they began to pull away.

Mendoza started the game 3-for-3 from behind the arc while giving 2003 the early 13-12 lead. A cold spell by ’03 allowed ’06 to get the first half lead back, closing out the half on a 12-2 run. ’06 lead 27-23 at the half.

Aj Reyes lead ’06 in scoring with nine points while Mendoza led all scorers with 16 points.

2009 – 49 , 2012 – 48

Class of ’09 behind Dominic Sablan, Stephen Gatewood, and Steven Finona improve to 2-0 with a close win over Christian Payumo and the Class of 2012.

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

’96/97’s Luis Blanco finishes off one of his self-created fast breaks. (photo by Asha Robles)

’96/97’s Chris Ogo finishes the left-hand layup. (photo by Asha Robles)

Class of ’09’s Steven Finona and Zach Damian playing pressure defense. (photo by Asha Robles)

’09’s Dominic Sablan spotting up for a three pointer. (photo by Asha Robles)

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