HELTERBRAND SHINES AS NORTH EXACTS REVENGE_november 26, 2005

LAOAG City – Jayjay Helterbrand came up with a performance for the ages to lead the North squad to a thrilling 128-131 revenge win over the South crew Saturday in the 2005 Talk N Text PBA All-Star Game at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena here.

Helterbrand scored 38 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter which had the smaller Northerners making up for their relative lack of size with some nifty outside shooting and gritty heads-up plays in the stretch.
The Barangay Ginebra playmaker's output was the third most since 1989, just behind Samboy Lim's 42 made in 1990 and Allan Caidic's 40 in the 1993 edition.

Along with Ren-Ren Ritualo adding 18 points and three other players chipping in at least 12 points, the Northerners avenged their 128-130 loss to the same team last year in Cebu City.

The North now holds a 3-2 edge in its head-to-head with the South in the annual classic also supported by Chowking, Accel, Xtreme Magic Sing, First Quadrant Philippines, Eurolux, Britmix, Richwell Pharmaceuticals and Purefoods.

"I enjoyed the experience and playing in the North, which is practically our homecourt, makes it all more memorable," said winning coach Ryan Gregorio, who is a first timer in the event now on its 16 th year.

Danny Seigle and Asi Taulava paced the South with 21 points each.

The game started out with the usual fancy dribbling, no-look passes and rim-rattling dunks. But when it came to crunchtime, all the players got down to serious business.

"You can see it in the last five minutes," said South coach Joel Banal. "In the last five minutes, everybody had their game faces on. And it's good because the fans really got a treat."

Apart from Helterbrand's endgame show, the North also got a big boost from Mark Caguioa and Ritualo, along with some fine defensive work by Romel Adducul and Marc Pingris.

After Ritualo capped a 13-point fourth period with a trey that made it a 128-124 count, the South made one last surge that pushed it within 126-129.

Jimmy Alapag even made it a 128-131 count after being fouled by Helterbrand beyond the arc in the last three seconds. The TNT point guard made the first two charities and intentionally missed the third, but James Yap's follow-up trey from the left corner proved short as the final buzzer sounded.

Air21's Nino Canaleta lived up to his long hype as the country's best jammer by ruling the Slam Dunk contest following a dunk-off with Enrico Villanueva of Red Bull Barako.

The Legends 3-Point Shootout saw Alvin Patrimonio sinking the money ball on his last try to prop the Legends, also composed of Ronnie Magsanoc and Frankie Lim, to a 41-39 win over the young turks of Jimmy Alapag, Ren-Ren Ritualo and Dondon Hontiveros. (NCO)

The scores:

North 131 – Helterbrand 38, Ritualo 18, Raymundo 13, Caguioa 13, Adducul 12, Pingris 8, Villanueva 6, Cablay 6, Mamaril 6, Cariaso 5, Alvarez 4, Dela Cruz 2.

South 128 – Seigle 21, Taulava 21, J. Yap 19, Alapag 17, Menk 15, Hontiveros 11, Ferriols 8, R. Yap 6, Tubid 6, Hugnatan 2, Thoss 2.

Quarters: 22-28; 57-53; 93-89; 131-128.