Ritualo, Miller, Williams shine in All-Stars

Ritualo, Miller, Williams shine in All-Stars

By: Zean Macamay

Kelly Williams Source: www.journal.com.ph BACOLOD CITY – He was always the contender, but never was the champion. Not this time. Ren-Ren Ritualo finally put a stop to his string of miseries in the All-Stars Three-Point Shootout, winning the event by a hairline even as Willie Miller became the first player to win the Obstacle Challenge three straight times last night at the West Negros University Gym here. The 2002 Rookie of the Year and perennial participant in this long-range shootout finally hit paydirt after tallying 19 points in the Finals, before holding his breath when Coca-Cola’s John Arigo, the top qualifier, bungled his last attempt. Arigo, who tallied 20 points in the eliminations, already had 18 points with still the money ball remaining in the final rack. But Arigo miscalculated his release and the ball rattled and rimmed out to finish with 18 points. Dondon Hontiveros, the dethroned champion and the last player to make the Finals, had 17 points. Later in the night, Kelly Williams won the Slam Dunk title, beating Arwind Santos and Ronald Tubid. Williams’ final throw-down was the between-the-legs slam with his left hand as his dunking part, finishing with 98 points in the Finals. Santos wound up with 86 points while Tubid had 83. Ritualo had never captured the Three-Point crown despite being regarded as the man to beat. His stretch of misfortunes reached its lowest last year when he finished eighth in a field of nine. He came closest to winning in 2005, losing to Jimmy Alapag in the Finals. “Nanalo din,” he said. “Medyo iniba ko lang ‘yung tira ko dito sa shootout. Medyo nag set-shot ako and hindi gaanong tumalon.” Ritualo finished the eliminations with 18 points, the same score Hontiveros made. But the night also belonged to Miller, who succeeded in clustering triumphs in the Obstacles Challenge. He won it in a record time of 25.5 seconds, beating the old mark set by Rob Johnson in 2004 (26.4 seconds). Hontiveros finished second in 35.6 seconds after encountering trouble in the overhead pass challenge where he had to throw the ball five times to get past, while rookie Ronjay Buenafe finished third in 41.7 seconds. Miller, the first guard to win the MVP twice (2002 and 2007), actually was the last player to make the final round. He nearly got eliminated had officials not allowed a repeat attempt requested by the courtside players themselves. Miller clocked 36.6 seconds in the eliminations but his round was distracted by former Talk ‘N Text teammate Asi Taulava during his turn at the chest-pass challenge. Taulava, trying to be funny, moved the obstacle to-and-fro and took out Miller’s rhythm. But Miller was granted another round, and clocked a flat 32 seconds to barely beat former Obstacle champion Topex Robinson, who was timed 32.2 in the eliminations. Shortly after, Miller and Taulava gave each other fives. The Slam Dunk contest was held without defending champion Nino ‘KG’ Canaleta. Canaleta begged off from competing in the event as early as this week, saying that he no longer has the drive to go for a fourth straight crown and compounded by knee problems. “Next year na lang, paghahandaan natin,” said Canaleta. Meantime, the PBA caps its community program here with an outreach activity aided by the Gawad Kalinga Foundation. Source: