Franky Johnson delivers winner as Basilan cops 3×3 Patriot’s Cup title, P1 million
MANILA, Philippines–Newcomer Phenom-Basilan completed its Cinderella run and captured the 2019 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 Patriot’s Cup after outlasting veteran side Wilkins-Balanga Pure, 21-20 in an overtime thriller Saturday.
The Steel punched a ticket to the 2019 FIBA 3X3 Jeddah Masters on October 18 to 19 and also brought home a cool P1,000,000 prize for the crown.
Franky Johnson delivered the win for Basilan in the race-to-two extra period, getting the ball off a handoff from Troy Rike and nailing a fadeaway deuce from the right corner over Karl Dehesa.
“Everything was just moving so fast,” said Johnson. “I wasn’t even thinking about that shot, but as soon as my teammate got the rebound and got the ball to me, I was just kinda open a little bit so I just decided to pull it.”
Rike’s trust in Johnson, who had four points in the win, paid off big time for the Steel.
“The play didn’t come off as cleanly as we wanted, but that’s what I’m saying. I trust Franky, I believe in Franky and he’s one hell of a shooter. So I know that if I give him even an inch of space, I knew he was gonna knock it down,” said Troy Rike, who was also part of Grindhouse-Pasig which won President’s Cup four months ago.
Marcus Hammonds and Roosevelt Adams, meanwhile, led the Steel with had 11 and six points, respectively.
To get the finals, Basilan defeated Tycoon-Ballers QC, 21-4 in the quarterfinals while outlasting leg two champs VetHealth-Delhi 3BL in the semis, 21-14 (2:31).
For the second straight conference, the Balanga franchise finished in second place, bringing home P400,000 and a ticket to the 2019 Xiongan Challenger from August 23-24.
