K88 Rigmarolers Bow Out

"Nice game, 'Bo!" Rod consoles K88 star player Bimbo Bersalona.

Bimbo just takes a sip from his glass of iced tea, still wincing from the hamstring injury that he may have again aggravated after the hard-fought basketball game.

"Kaya natin sana yun. Kinapos lang talaga. Tapos malas pa dahil di pumapasok mga tira natin nung first quarter kahit tutukan na," I add, still quite drained from the heart-breaking loss.

"Kahit nga nung lumamang sila ng 10 points, di ako kinabahan eh. Tapos nilamangan pa natin sila ng 3 points nung 4th quarter. Crucial lang talaga yung dalawang turnovers natin pagkatapos nung time out. Dun sila umabante," coach Ali quips, a bottle of beer in hand.

"Eh kung ipinasok mo ba naman kami nina Boyet, eh di nabantayan sana namin yung bitaw ng bitaw ng tres sa kanila," Neil Tanada jokingly replies.

"Bakit nga pala nandito yang si Ali? Yari ka mamaya pag dumating yung mga binangko mo kanina. Lalo na sina Dondon. Galing pa raw sya ng Laguna, sabay di mo man lang ipinasok," Caloy adds. Laughter erupts in the group.

"Wala kasing galang itong mga batang 'to eh. Di man lang pinagbigyan yung mga matatanda!" Boyet shouts loud enough for the opposing team, who were also holding their post-game celebrations at the other table, to hear.

"Pinahirapan nyo nga kami eh! Ang sasakit nga ng katawan namin!" exclaims someone from Batch 94.

"Akala kasi ni Chunky URC yata ang laro eh!" rebutts our side.

Laughter erupts again, everyone knowing well that the joke was in reference to the headlock Chunky gave to the opposing team's center in one of the rebound plays.

The Kumbento88 Rigmarolers just lost their Final Four semifinal match against Batch 94. Final score was at 67-65. It was a hard-fought game. The breaks just didn't go our way in the end. We had a few chances to send the game into overtime during the final possession of the dying seconds. But it really wasn't meant to be.

"Di na naman ako makakatulog nyan mamaya," Bimbo tells the group.

"Okay lang yan. Sila na mismo nagsabi, nahirapan sila sa atin. Eh isipin mo, ang babata nyang mga yan. Tapos muntik pa natin silang matalo," Rod comforts Bimbo.

"Yun na nga lang siguro iisipin ko mamaya. Pero sayang talaga eh," the tone of disappointment clearly evident in his voice.

It was going to be a painfully long night for the K88 Rigmarolers.