Even the debut of American import Keith Wright did not help the Mahindra Floodbuster, as the Star Hotshots continued their winning ways, 97-83, en route to their fourth win in a row, Wednesday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“We played very good defense,” said Star head coach Chito Victolero on the win, which improves their card to 4-0. “We learned a lot from our mistakes last game and now we played 48 minutes of Star Hotshots basketball.
“It’s a total team effort,” added Victolero.
Import Tony Mitchell displayed his brilliance on both ends once more, anchoring the Hotshots with 19 points despite going 7-of-16 from the floor. He also hauled down 14 rebounds and added six blocks.
“He’s our last line of defense and he is our anchor. I’m happy na nagagawa niya yun. Last game, yung NLEX namin, he wanted to take charge. Sometimes, he wants to defer to his teammates tapos ngayon he took charge,” lauded Victolero of Mitchell.
“Lalong lalo na wala si Ping, nagbibigay ni Tony yung nabibigay niya. Yun yung magandang nabibigay niya sa amin.”
An 8-4 run by Star in the third canto, capped by an Allein Maliksi triple, gave the Hotshots the game’s widest gap at 21, 61-40, with exactly 6:00 on the clock. From there, Mahindra never had any chance at a comeback.
Forward Aldrech Ramos supplied 12 markers spiked by two triples.
Aside from Mitchell and Ramos, Star also received plenty of help from their feisty guards. Rookie Jio Jalalon had 14 points and three dimes, while PJ Simon, Paul Lee, and Mark Barroca each chipped in 11 markers.
Alex Mallari led the Floodbuster with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting along with six rebounds, while Wright had a double-double of 17 markers and 14 boards in 42:45 minutes for a fair debut.
The Hotshots’ defense proved to be stifling, as they forced the Floodbuster to commit 18 turnovers, which they converted to 23 points. Star’s bench also stepped up, contributing 49 points to their total output.
Both teams will have their respective matches on Sunday, April 9, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The Floodbuster will play first at 4:30 PM versus TNT, while the Hotshots will go next against Ginebra at 6:45 PM.
The Scores:
Star (97) – Mitchell 19, Jalalon 14, Ramos 12, Simon 11, Barroca 11, Lee 11, Maliksi 9, Reavis 4, Sangalang 4, Brondial 2, Dela Rosa 0, Mendoza 0.
Mahindra (83) – Mallari 24, Wright 17, Celda 9, Paniamogan 9, Ballesteros 7, David 5, Revilla 4, Elorde 3, Galanza 3, Guevarra 2, Caperal 0, Deutchman 0, Yee 0, Salva 0.
Quarterscores: 22-18, 43-30, 70-53, 97-83.
