Whitehorse Daily Star

Image title

Photo by Morris Prokop

DRIBBLING AROUND– The Wolf Pack's John Madrigal (23) dribbles around Domino's Johnathan Labuguen during the 35 Above championship at the Porter Creek Secondary School gym in Whitehorse Saturday. Domino's dominated the game late to capture the championship 91-78.

Image title

Photo by Morris Prokop

ON GAURD – The Wolf Pack's Dustin Heffner (34) shields the ball from Domino's James Labuguen.

Image title

Photo by Morris Prokop

DOWN THE COURT – Wolf Pack's Sean McCarron (24) fends off Domino's James Labuguen, right, while dribbling down the court. McCarron led the Wolf Pack with 34 points.

Image title

Photo by Morris Prokop

DOWN BUT NOT OUT – Wolf Pack's Sean McCarron takes an unscheduled break on the floor while Domino's Wren Agapito grabs the ball.

Image title

Photo by Morris Prokop

TOP SCORER – Domino's Nico Sarmiento (24) goes up for a shot with the Wolf Pack's Anthony De Leon defending him. Sarmiento had a game-high 35 points.

Image title

Photo by Morris Prokop

BALL BATTLE – The Wolf Pack's Anthony De Leon, left, battles for the ball with Wren Agapito of Domino's.

Domino's crowned 35 Above Filipino league basketball champs

Domino's Pizza has carved a slice out of FCBLY history, taking the 35 Above championship from the Wolf Pack 91-78.

By Morris Prokop on July 14, 2022

Domino's Pizza has carved a slice out of FCBLY history, taking the 35 Above championship from the Wolf Pack 91-78.

The FCBLY (Filipino Canadian Basketball League Yukon) battle took place Saturday evening at Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse.

Nico Sarmiento led the way for Domino's with 35 points, knocking down three-pointer after three-pointer.

The Star asked him how he felt afterwards.

"Great and – we were just having fun," the sharpshooter replied.

Sarmiento was happy to win the championship.

"Yeah. Very happy."

The key to his game was finding the range.

"Just having the distance of the ring. It's difficult to have," said Sarmiento.

Sarmiento's teammate Wren Agapito interjected "Just give it to Nico. He'll shoot it. I have full confidence in him."

Agapito was asked what he thought of the game.

"It was good. We're missing one more big man, but we made it. Rich (Thompson) was doing all the dirty work." Thompson was named MVP of the Finals, netting 24 points to earn that honour.

"It's just for the game," said Agapito. "It's just playing a game – that's it for me.

"I just want to be safe. I don't want to be injured or anything like that – just want to run and sweat a little bit. But it was good."

FCBLY President Joesel Rumbaoa, playing for Domino's, took a blow to the forehead that required stitches and had to leave the game with 4:40 left.

Sean McCarron led the Wolf Pack with 34 points in a losing cause.

"These playoff games are always pretty physical," he said afterward. "Unfortunately Joesel gets cut in the forehead. There's a lot of pushing, a lot of fouls, But it's why we come out, to compete, play hard. You don't want anyone to get hurt, even though it's totally inadvertent.

"They're a good shooting team," continued McCarron. "Domino's was the best team all year. They were number one.

They beat us two out of three games this year. Lots of guys on that team that can create. Nico is an awesome player.

Rich played huge down low. He's really, really strong down low ... Domino's has a lot of guys who know how to create and they play well as a team and they're pretty tough.

"We stayed with them most of the game but they just shot the ball really well. They made a lot of 3s and at the end of the day, we gave them a little bit of a run. But they were the team to beat all season so there's no shame in losing to them," he added.

McCarron said that the three-pointers Domino's made were only one of the keys to the game.

"The three-pointers were probably a difference-maker. It's also the timing. We were making a little run in the fourth quarter and Nico hit three in a row and before you know it, you're down twelve and maybe you're thinking you can cut it to three or four.

"At half, we were pretty much tied. We were either down one or up one but they just had better legs, maybe, in the second half, too – some layups – we were a little cold shooting as a team."

The score at the half was 40-39 for Domino's.

McCarron added "John Madrigal played really well and kept us in the game but all around, they just did a little bit of everything at the right time so they're gonna walk away with the title we won last year but ... they're a really great team to play against and deserving winners, for sure."

Madrigal pumped in 18 points for the Wolf Pack.

The battle for third place saw the Cebu Gems polish off Brgy. Miranda 92-89 in a tight game.

James Russell Tomarong led the Gems with 25 points, with Jo Aying chipping in 22 and Joel Odulio adding 18 points.

Brgy. top scorers were Bon Bon Pocesion with a dominant performance of 51 points in a losing cause and Adrian Glanza, who netted 24 points.

Pocesion was named Season MVP.

Ian Pagobo of the Gems was Teammate of the Year.

Blaine Mason of Whitehorse Toyota received the Sportsmanship award.

The First Mythical Team featured Pocesion, Sarmiento, Dave Stehlin of Domino's, Joel Odulio of the Gems, and McCarron.

The Second Mythical Team consisted of Cole Marshall of the Ranj Pillai team, Glanza, Madrigal, Joesel Rumbaoa, and Christian Ayos of Whitehorse Toyota.

Be the first to comment

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.