IF YOU find it hard to believe Ahno Corpuz’s stat line in a recent ligang labas game — 154 points, with 50 of 64 three points made and four free throw shots as icing — then you’re not alone.
Ahno Corpuz can’t believe it either.
“Nasaniban ba yung kamay ko?” he remembered thinking as he launched basket after basket from beyond the arc.
You may have already seen social cards of Corpuz's performance going viral on your Facebook feed. Here's how it happened.
As his second game of the day, his team, the Amazing Balumpare, sat him down all throughout the first quarter. He’d just swished in thirteen easy threes a few hours before, and he needed to rest his sore muscles. It was late afternoon, and inside the CKT Infiniti Glass basketball court in Balot, Tondo, just a few hangers-on were on the sidelines, watching the Balumpare take on the overmatched Vintage. So few spectators were on hand to witness the hardcourt miracle that happened when Corpuz hit the floor.
He hit his first few threes; no surprise there from a high-scoring sniper who’d already been hailed by HoopX two years ago as a “Steph Curry from San Juan City.” In his long years as a ligang labas vet, 60-, 75-point games were no stranger to this sharpshooter.
But that day, “Sabi ng mga teammates ko, pre, gawa ka ng record,” he said in an interview with Spin.ph. “Basta pwesto ka na kaagad. Ngayon, ang ginawa ko, nagpa-screen ako sa mga kakampi ko. E ang lalaki ng mga kakampi ko e!”
Added Corpuz, “Aminado naman tayo na mahina talaga ang kalaban. Feeling ko naman sa mga kalaban namin, marurunong lang, di tulad namin na talagang nahasa sa ligang labas.”
In just one quarter, he’d already almost matched his three-point output just a few hours before — a dozen treys. But Corpuz wasn’t done.

The score sheets almost didn’t have enough space to contain the artillery barrage Corpuz unleashed at the second half: 38 — count ‘em — 38 threes. No twos for Ahno’s gintong kamay, and the teammates who’d dared him to set a record could only shake their heads. (Balumpare would go on to win the game, 206-93.)
“Napapakamot lang sila sa bench,” Corpuz said, laughing. “Sabi nila, ‘Ano ba’ng kamay meron ka? Saan mo binabad iyan?’”
Ahno Corpuz is a longtime ligang labas veteran
Vince Tan Batongbakal, the commissioner of the commercial league that hosted the Balumpare-Vintage game, was among the lucky few who witnessed Corpuz's incredible performance.
"Halos lahat ng tira niya, pumapasok," he told Spin.ph with a tone of wonderment. "Pinapaligiran na siya ng kalaban, di pa rin mapigilan, kasi ang galing rin niya sa catch and shoot."
The scoreboard at the CKT Infiniti Glass court went only up to 199, so the game officials had to cycle back to zero to tally the Balumpares' pinpoint shot-making.
Corpuz's goal, according to Batongbakal, was to beat Jimboy Deles' record, which also stood at 154 points, from a previous commercial league that was held before the pandemic. (Spin.ph previously wrote about Deles' stunning 130-point performance in a recreational league back in 2019.)
And while Ahno was disappointed that he could only match it, Batongbakal and the rest of the spectators were blown away by Corpuz.
"Di ko talaga in-expect," said Batongbakal. "Yung paliga ko kasi, running time siya e. Rebound, rebound, pasa sa kanya, tira, shoot lahat. Ultimo yung boarding, pumapasok e."
The organizer of Hustle Basketball Club is also aware of the many doubts about Corpuz's unbelievable record. But as commissioner, he assured Spin.ph that the rim and the running time were all standard.
"Si Kuya Ahno, dati pa naman, halos lahat ng nakakakilala sa kanya, alam yun. Pure shooter talaga yun. Kahit off night, meron siyang masyu-shoot na three points. Yung mga hindi naniniwala, hindi siya kilala," he said.
Amazing Balumpare is only one of six teams that are duking it out in the current Hustle Basketball Club Season 2, which is open to players 5'10 and below. (Ex-pros are also welcome, but only if they've been inactive for at least two years.) But Batongbakal revealed that Season 3 is likely in the works, and will probably feature an open division.
That will be good news for 35-year-old Corpuz, for whom basketball is a way to make a living. “Laki talaga ako sa basketball,” he said. Since he graduated from San Juan National High School, he’d been sneaking out of his school team to play in amateur leagues as far as Mindoro and Pampanga.
He reckons that that’s what kept him from his dreams of turning pro. “Inuna ko talaga ang ligang labas,” he said wryly. “Mahilig ako dumayo. Mahilig ako sa pustahan. Syempre pag pustahan, money game, e. Para-paraan lang.”
To make up for his height — he only stood at 5’5 — Ahno cultivated a sweet shooting touch. At practices in barangay basketball courts, he challenges himself to make a hundred treys before calling it a day.
Even so, his own prolific performance in the Balumpare-Vintage game stunned him. “Binibiro nga ako ng asawa ko, ‘Palaos ka na, nakakagawa ka pa nang ganyan,’” he said with a laugh.
And two days after the game, he still can’t believe his 154 points.
“Hindi biro yung ganun. Ang sakit kaya sa braso nun.”
(Updated with an interview with Vince Tan Batongbakal.)
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph