Red Bull thwarts Magnolia for third

Red Bull took advantage of the injured Amal McCaskill playing only the first five minutes of the game for Magnolia, hacking out a 102-90 win for the third place honors in the Smart PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Adam Parada threw his weight around minus an able defender, and the Bulls easily pulled through, matching the Sta. Lucia Realtors’ record of three successive second runner-up finishes done from the 1997 Commissioner’s Cup to the 1998 All-Filipino Cup.

Parada piled up 33 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and one steal, leading Red Bull to a fourth third-place finish overall since joining the league in 2000.

“This is the best consolation we can get after blowing a crack at the finals. Being shut out (in the semifinals series) by Ginebra, the least we can do is try to win third place and be consistent with our finishes in the last three conferences,” said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao.

“Certainly, it’s not a bad finish for a team like ours,” added Guiao, left with a lowly-rated crew following the departure of key players Rico Villanueva, Lordy Tugade, Larry Fonacier and Junthy Valenzuela.

Guiao and his troops accumulated a 29-22 win-loss record in the season — the first time in six years the ball club finished with less than 30 victories.

Magnolia, on the other had, wound up with a 24-24 mark — down from its 35-27 slate last season.

It didn’t help that Magnolia coach Siot Tanquingcen opted to play McCaskills and Dondon Hontiveros short minutes due to slight injuries.

The Bulls took the half at 48-43 and preserved the lead up to the finish in the game marred by the ejection of Carlo Sharma early in the fourth quarter for hurling the ball at referee Gharchie Ferrer.

It was Sharma’s reaction after a no-call on Dorian Peña in a rebound play.

Leo Najorda scored a career-high 22 points while Cyrus Baguio added 15 points as significant contributions for the Barakos now looking forward for a good pick in the 2008 Rookie Draft set at the end of the month.

Seven Bulls have expiring contracts. Guiao said done in principle are the contract-extensions for Baguio, Sharma, Mike Hrabak, Topex Robinson and Warren Ybanez.