By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

FIESTA Resort & Spa denied Marianas Resort & Spa a graceful exit in the 2006-2007 Inter-Hotel Basketball League/HANMI Cup after the former posted an 118-60 victory last Tuesday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym.
The humiliating 58-point loss was Marianas sixth defeat in eight games in the regular season. It finished seventh in the nine-team tournament.
Fiesta placed second with a 6-2 record.
Actually, three teams tied with identical 6-2 slates. To break the three-way deadlock, a quotient system was implemented with Fiesta earning the most points. Hyatt dropped to No. 3, while Pacific Islands Club grabbed the last semis ticket.
The semifinals will be played on Feb. 27 with pennant champion and No. 1 team Aqua Resort Club facing PIC and Hyatt and Fiesta squaring off for the second finals berth.
The winner-take-all championship showdown will take place on March 4.
Six Fiesta players scored in double figures in its lopsided win over Marianas Resort, as the former capitalized on the latter’s lack of manpower.
Marianas Resort played with only seven players, while Fiesta had the luxury of fielding its second unit and even its third stringers.
Fiesta starters Elmer Esdrelon and Ariel Jinang combined for 23 of their team’s 38 points in the first quarter.
Offense was a problem for Marianas Resort in the opening quarter, as it only drilled nine points with no one on the team scoring more than two fieldgoals.
The Marpi-based team picked up the scoring a bit in the second quarter, but Fiesta was way ahead at the end of the first half, 71-24.
Ferdie Tobias came off the bench scoring 10 points in the second period, while second stringers Manfredo Alipala chipped in eight and Rommel Usi and Edil Carino added six markers apiece.
Fiesta slowed down a bit at the start of the second half nailing only 15 points in the third period. But with an incomplete lineup, Marianas failed to take advantage of Fiesta’s complacency and was still down by a big margin, 44-86, entering the final canto.
Noel David, who had only a point in the first quarter, had a feast in the fourth period firing 16 markers. He topscored for Fiesta with 17 points.
Esdrelon finished with 16 points, while Jinang had 13. Usi contributed 12 points, while Tobias and Adonis Macoto fired 10 apiece.
Jaysan Gatdula led Marianas Resort with 19 points.
Scores:
Fiesta 118—David 17, Esdrelon 16, Jinang 13, Usi 12, Tobias 10, Macoto 10, Galag 9, Arreza 9, Alipala 8, Ong 8, Carino 6.
Marianas Resort 60—Gatdula 19, Usi 10, Geva 8, Sebastian 8, Ocanada 7, Meimban 4, Abagat 4.
Quarterscores: 38-9, 71-24, 86-44, 118-60