Kelly Williams claims dunk title

BORACAY—Kelly Williams of Talk ‘N Text spun in mid-air before throwing it down to rule the 2011 Meralco Slamdunk Contest of the PBA All-Star Skills Challenge last night at the Boracay Convention Center here.

Photo by Nuki Sabio, PBA

The Texters forward faced rookie Rey Guevarra of Petron in the finals and won the title by scoring a combined 92 points punctuated by that spinning two-handed jam.

Guevarra, a former slam dunk champion in the collegiate ranks, started off the final round with a windmill but sputtered on his second attempt, forcing him to stuff it in with a simple one-hander before time expired.

It was an anticlimactic victory for the 2008 slam king, considering the lack of the high-profile challengers after Petron’s Jay Washington and 2009 champion Gabe Norwood of Rain Or Shine begged off at the last minute.

Four-time winner KG Canaleta of B-Meg Derby Ace wasn’t around, too, to defend the title he won last year.

“They weren’t here but nevertheless it’s still a win. This is another milestone for me,” said Williams, who converted a single-pump, two-hand reverse dunk on his first jam of the finale.

JC Intal of Barangay Ginebra registered a perfect score of 50 points with his two-hand reverse slam but it wasn’t enough to get him into the money round.

Alaska’s Elmer Espiritu, Ginebra’s Ronald Tubid and Rain Or Shine’s Josh Vanlandingham, Norwood’s replacement, weren’t as lucky in the elims after failing to get the nod

of the judges—Meralco team manager Virgil Villavicencio, Inquirer sports editor Teddyvic Melendres, PBA Press Corps president Tito Talao, Alta Vista general manager Bobby Laygo and Concord Zuniga, regional executive director of DENR IV-B.

Powerade’s Mark Macapagal shot the lights out in the final round with 17 points to retain the Maynilad 3-point Shootout

crown by the slimmest of margins over TNT’s Jimmy Alapag and Ronald Tubid of Barangay Ginebra.

Tubid was on his way to stage an upset, sinking the last three balls and finishing with 16 points. But Macapagal, a picture of calmness under pressure, buried all four two-point balls.

Alapag, who won the title in 2005, scored 15 points in his face-off with Tubid and Macapagal. Macapagal became the fourth player to repeat as three-point champ after Allan Caidic (1991-1992), Jasper Ocampo (98-99) and Boyet Fernandez (2000-2001).

Jonas Villanueva also kept the Coca-Cola Obstacle Challenge title after completing the course in 29.5 seconds, making the B-Meg Derby Ace guard the third player to win the event two seasons in a row.