Jerrick Ahanmisi, brightest among the star

Jerrick Ahanmisi was the brightest among the stars Friday.

The Terrafirma sniper carved his name in the annals of the PBA All Stars by reigning supreme in the Pocari Sweat Three-Point Shootout and the ArenaPlus Obstacle Challenge-Guard Edition Skills Events.

Ahanmisi started his historic day in the kickoff of court action in the Season 50 PBA All Star Weekend backed by ArenaPlus at the Candon City Arena with a winning performance in the obstacle-filled contest among backcourt men, the same event his elder brother Maverick ruled 10 years ago.

Showing his agility and quickness, the younger Ahanmisi navigated the course filled with obstacles, including two passing goals, and knocked down shots on designated areas in 24.94 seconds  to beat five others in a thrilling finale.

Left in the Fil-Am’s wake were Blackwater’s Dalph Panopio (26.97), TNT’s Rey Nambatac (27.94), Converge’s Juan Gomez de Liano (35.83), Titan’s Fran Yu (37.52) and San Miguel’s Juami Tiongson (50.7).

He returned to the hardcourt over half hour later for the duel with the league’s top long-distance shooters –  and came out victorious as well.

Spiking his bid with a conversion of the two golden balls from the four-point arc, Ahanmisi gunned away 30 points in the final round to beat the PBA’s all-time three-point scorer, Marcio Lassiter of San Miguel (25 points) and De Liano (18).

“I’m so proud of myself because I work hard every single day and I put my best out every day in practice and in the games. So God’s just blessed me today,” said Ahanmisi, who basked in glory at centercourt twice in awards ceremonies led by Candon Mayor Eric Singson, Vice Mayor Kristelle Singson and PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial.

“This (feat) means that my hard work is working and I just gotta keep putting my foot forward every single day and making sure that I’m pushing myself every single day to get better,” he added.

Meralco’s Brandon Bates, meanwhile, gained a slice of the limelight for ruling the Obstacle Challenge-Big Man edition.

Bates clocked 22. 86 seconds in the shorter course for frontliners to outclass NLEX’s Brandon Ramirez (27.26) and Magnolia’s James Laput (45.69).

He succeeded JM Calma of SMB, who got the boot in the first round of the head-to-head KO preliminaries versus Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar.

“I’m shocked,” said Bates. “ Honestly, I thought I was going to be out in the first round. So to get to the last round and then to actually win it, I’m like, what the heck? It’s, well, a dream.  But it’s cool, it’s cool.”