KUWAIT CITY, Sept 28: Kuwait Chatters, a newly-born organization, inaugurated their 1st Basketball League recently at the Seaside Basketball Courts in Kuwait City. Kuwait Chatters is headed by Rowena Cantero — President, along with Lea Cabagua Treasurer from Organized Lifestyle Chatter (OLC). The organization was founded on November 27, 2009 with the objective of promoting friendly and harmonious relations among Filipinos in Kuwait through cell-phone chatting. So far it has a total of 1,300 members of which 80 per cent are Filipinos and 20% other nationalities.
Their first major event is the current basketball league with 9 chatrooms participating. These teams are Organized Lifestyle Chatter (OLC), Kosa Team, Visayas Organized Chatter, Re-united Organized Chatter in Kuwait, Wild Team, K9 Team, Adik Team, Berks Pang8 Team and the TLCSP Team, sponsored by Western Union Money Transfer.

The tournament started on September 17 with three matches being held every Friday at the seaside basketball courts adjacent to the KPC building in Shuwaikh. It is being supported by the Guardians Republican International Inc. Kuwait Chapter headed by Ruel Jonota and Ehd Costinar. The opening of the event was attended by Vice Consul Rea Oreta who voiced her support for the organization.
In the earlier matches, Wild Team were made to sweat before they could edge OLC by 35-34 points in overtime, while Berkz outlasted K9 41-39 and Rock beat Kosa by 53-51.
This week’s games saw VOC display a lot of class to edge TLCSP 38-36 while Adik outlasted OLC 36-34 and Wild were in form to prevail over K9 by 32-28 points.

VOC vs TLCSP
VOC had a lot of work to do in their 38-36 victory over TLCSP with the match going right down to the wire.
The initial quarter saw both teams start off at the same level with a lots of players new to the game and unable to find the basket with the score looking more like that of a tennis set as they were tied 5-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The second set was more lively as both the teams started finding their mark and TLCSP putting in their best effort to collect a number of baskets from #31 Alvin while from the other side of the bench #09 Jun Leuterio contributed most of the points but his team still fell short as TLCSP led 15-13 by the end of the 1st half.

In the 3rd quarter TLCSP kept the scoreboard ticking to their liking as they never took things easy and showed a lot of focus, completing good passes while #31 Alvin —one of their finest members — never failed his teammates, regularly found the basket that strengthened their lead to 6 points 24-18 at the end of the third quarter.
VOC soon recognized the efforts of their rivals and with time running out fast they pressed down hard on the accelerator, backing their offense with a solid line of defense that saw #09 Jun Leuterio and #00 Johnrey Desierto gain easy access to the hoops to deliver most of the points and put their team ahead.
Meanwhile, it appeared that luck had deserted TLCSP when shots from the free throw line by #09 Jun Leuterio and #13 Christian Carinal were not enough for them to push for an extension and they had to accept a two point 36-38 defeat.

ADIK vs OLC
Adik Team stunned the OLC squad, playing well from the start to the finish to manage a close 36-34 victory.
In the 1st quarter Adik were in their best form to acquire 8-6 points with all the scoring being done by #16 Larry Sung while from the other side of the courts #05 Eric Barbieto was the only one who found the basket for OLC.
However, Adik were all warmed up when the next quarter kicked off, with #16 Larry Sung opening the quarter with a 3-point shot backed by #18 Mark Flestado’s fine shooting from the 15-foot line that kept them in control to give them a 5- point 16-11 lead by the end of the 2nd quarter.
OLC came out with a game plan in the 3rd quarter to match their rivals and collected most of their points through #05 Eric Barbieto along with #11 Bil Feliciano but they came out short when their opponents maintained the same level of energy as they had shown earlier and gathered points from #16 Larry Sung and #18 Mark Flestado that closed the gap to 18-20.
The last quarter of the ballgame saw both the teams tussle for supremacy that resulted in a deadlock 34-34 with a few seconds left in the ballgame but just like any other game there can be only be one winner and with a buzzer- beater from #18 Mark Flestado Adik walked home with their initial victory by 36-34 points.

Wild vs K9
Wild Team acquired their first victory of the tournament when they beat K9 32-28 points after another close match.
The first quarter of the game witnessed both teams still warming up as they delivered the same level of performance with the score tied at 7-7 at the end of the quarter. However, it was not very long before K9 were all warmed up and displayed their shooting prowess through back to back baskets from #14 Loreto Agustin and #17 Donald Laita while for the other side of the bench it seemed that the “good fairy” had abandoned them as was K9 led by 8 points 17-9 at the end of the 1st half.
The Wild squad collected themselves and applied the advice of their coach Louie Culang to establish a solid line of defense through #07 Boy Comendador that made things for back to back shots from #03 Julius Rasawal, #09 Kurtlyhdon Vecilla and #10 Rodnel Aligno while their rivals were left stunned and could manage only one point as Wild closed the gap to 15-18 by the end of the 3rd quarter.
On the other hand, the battle for dominance soon started on the courts that resulted in a seesaw battle and a number of deadlocks, the first on 21-21 and then 23-23 but Wild’s enthusiasm saw them control the game while getting some fine shots from #03 Julius Rasawal and #10 Rodnel Aligno to win the match 32-28.

Wild vs OLC
The initial game that open the league the previous week generated a lot of excitement as the Wild team fought for every point to outlast OLC in match that went into overtime before they could triumph by 35-34 points.
The initial quarter witnessed both teams all warmed up as they stayed close to each other. Wild scored mostly through #6 Dennis Ocena and #8 Andy Cruz while from the other side of the courts #6 Tata Maquilan had answer to these baskets along with a long shot from #15 Jerry Bauya that saw them lead 10-9 at the end of the quarter
However, it was not very long before OLC put up a good defense and found the basket with the shots coming from #15 Jerry Bauya and #06 Tata Maquilan that swung the lead in their favor 15-13 at the of the 2nd quarter.

None of the teams took things easy in the 3rd quarter of the ballgame as they consistently put in their best efforts to keep the score close with OLC leading 20-18 at the end of the third quarter. But the last quarter saw a battle for supremacy as neither team proved less than the other that resulted in a deadlock on 23-23. OLC managed to get one of the free throws by #24 Rhowel Galip while he missed the other one but #6 Tata Maquilan missed none that put them ahead. Soon a three-point shot from #0 Ric Recta made Wild fans go “wild” that tied the score at 26-26 in the regular time and the game went into overtime.
A seesaw battle soon emerged in the arena as OLC carried on scoring through #6 Tata Maquilan but Wild maintained a steady hand and compiled points through #8 Andy Cruz that resulted in them closing the gap to 33-34 before a buzzer beater from #3 Julius Rasawal gave Wild a half shot victory as they went on to win 35-34.

Berkz vs K9
Berkz were also in fine form which took them to 41-39 victory against a very determined K9 squad.
In the first quarter Berkz were in their best shoes when they collected a number of back to back shots through #11 Jessie Go and #4 Falcon Basher while K9 bounced back through #24 with the score 13-9 at the end of the quarter.
K9 moved up a gear and acquired back to back baskets from #9 Carlos Serva, who also delivered a long shot, accompanied by some points from #14 Loreto Agustin but Berkz kept in control when they collected most of their points once again through #11 Jessie Go and #8 to make the score 17-20 at the end of the 2nd quarter.

Observers were on the edge of their seats when the 3rd quarter came around as neither team proved that they were an easy prey. K9 showed their speed with a good defense that stopped their rivals from going further and kept them on their trail as they led by 25-24 points.
The final quarter saw an exchange of 3-point shots with jersey #10 Dennis Pajarillo from K9 finding the mark but there was an immediate replied from #21 Joel Ricero of Berks. Soon one of K9’s 3-point shooters #18 Eden Pasculado managed to deliver back to back baskets that kept them close to their opponents before one of Berkz’ top players #24 Nino Lagarto made got some good baskets and #11 Jessie Go saved the day for Berkz with his last shot that saw his team win 41-39 points just as the buzzer sounded.

Rock vs Kosa
Rock Team gained their first victory of the tournament when they beat Kosa by 53-51 points.
The initial quarter witnessed Kosa all warmed up when they managed to collect 11 points through #10 Kim Poliquit and #2 Ramonette Amor while from the other side of the courts #75 Mariel Basalo did most of the shoot as KOSA led 11-6 at the end of the quarter.
Kosa stepped on the accelerator in the 2nd quarter as they built a solid line of defense and pulled together some good assists that enabled #4 Jassy and #11 Joey Lorilla to find the basket while Rock slowly started getting a grip on the match the grip but their rivals refused to buckle under the pressure to lead by 11 points 24-13 at the end of the 1st half.
Rock showed what they are made of in the 3rd quarter when they showed a lot of focus and erected a tight line of defense — that caught their rivals unawares — and at the same time they got back to back baskets from #15 and #9 Mark Anthony Dollentos that saw them behind only by a single point 26-27 at the end of the third quarter.

The last quarter of the ballgame saw Rock make their final push for victory when they stuck with their game plan from their coach Antonio Aquino Jr that resulted in unstoppable shots from #9 Mark Anthony Dollentos while Kosa tried as hard as they could to match their rivals skills and acquired more shots from #4 Jassy, #10 Kim Poliquit and #2 Ramonette Amor. Their efforts, however, fell short and although one of Rock’s best defense players was fouled out before the game finished they could not stop their rivals as Rock triumphed by 2 points 53-51.
This running time ballgame is being officiated by Jerry Bauya, Shykill Badyah, Bong, Dante and Philippine Amateur Basketball Association in Kuwait (PABAK) referees.

Initial standings
Rank Team W L
1 Wild 2 0
2 Berkz 1 0
3 Rock 1 0
4 VOC 1 0
5 Adik 1 0
6 Kosa 0 1
7 TLCSP 0 1
8 OLC 0 2
9 K9 0 2
Wataniya Chatters offer special thanks to Guardians Republican International Inc. Kuwait Chapter and Western Union Money Transfer for supporting their event.