NEWSFLASH

STUNG, CAPTAIN MARBEL SEES RED, TORCHES RED BULL

MANILA, December 17, 2002 (STAR) The game was as uneventful as it could be for a do-or-die match.

But then, out of nowhere, Junthy Valenzuela came driving down the lane in the dying minutes of the second quarter and planted an elbow on the cheek of–of all people–Kenneth Duremdes.

Up until that point, Duremdes had little to show in his stat line. Two points, one-of-six from the field.

He went into the locker room with his cheek hurting. He came out of halftime with shooting hands scorching.

The 6-3 swingman scored 28 points in the second half and shot 9-of-12 from the field in the last two periods as he waxed so hot, you’d think he was the reason the players on the court were sweating. Come to think of it, he may have been the reason why Red Bull players were drenched in sweat.

Mainit din kasi yung siko ko eh," said Duremdes jokingly.

Duremdes was like a machine gun in the fourth quarter, tattooing the Red Bull side with hits. All that was missing was the sharp ra-ta-tat sounds to complete the picture of a soldier in a shooting frenzy.

He had 17 points in the fourth quarter, 15 coming in consecutive fashion. He also had three straight triples in that stretch as Alaska, relying on its defense to stay afloat early, rode on Duremdes’s offense the rest of the way to hammer out an 80-71 victory in the semifinals of the Philippine Basketball Association Selecta All-Filipino Cup.

His heroics allowed Alaska to come from behind in the best-of-three series and reach the finals for the second time this season.

"Kenneth really gives us that steadying factor in endgame situations," Cone later said in the game. Cone was also fuming at the elbowing incident. But unlike Duremdes, his only form of outrage was nearly ripping off his shirt from the sidelines.

Duremdes, on the other hand, was in a zone from the perimeter.