Summerville, St. Paul of Bakilid advance to J Centre Mall hoop finals

CEBU, Philippines - Summerville and Bakilid I overpowered their playoff rivals in HoopStars’ Lord of the Rings - Battle of the Villages at J Centre Mall and advanced to the championship in the adult-open and teens 19-under categories that began as of press time last night.

Summerville shocked adult-open powerhouse Agro-Macro Subdivision, 57-39, in a low-scoring but highly defensive game that saw center Niño Tidoy picking up for the Drillers scoring 14 points mostly from the low post.

The villagers from Ibabao, Cordova had a collective production with forward Franco Cipriano leading in the first quarter with 5 of his 9 points, as playing coach Brian Gabasa pumped up the tempo further with two successive triples in the second quarter, ending the half at 28-17.

Tidoy took charge in the third quarter that stretched Summerville’s lead over Agro-Macro to 17 as the final canto started, with Bernie Ares joining the rally sparked with a trey by small point guard Sheldon Gahi to end the game with an 18-point margin.

On cue by coach Gabasa, the Drillers contained the Agro-Macro shooters with high-scoring center RJ Acha limited to 10 and Vince Cabungcal managing just 9 points in the last playoff game of the tournament presented by Jonie’s Flavored Chicken.

In the 19-under teens category, St. Paul College (SPC) that played for Bakilid, Mandaue City edged the bull-strong Batz Boys of Casuntingan, 72-70, with Roberto Jayme and Robert John Fuentes playing like unstoppable scoring machines producing 17 and 16 points.

The scores

First game

Summerville (57) – Tidoy 14, Ares 10, Cipriano 9, Virtucio 7, Gabasa 6, Cleopas 4, Gahi 3, Abadia 2, Villarta 2

Agro-Macro (39) – Acha 10, Cabungcal 9, Co 6, Cabahug 4, Salgado 3, Borres 2, Rebalde 2, Tagalog 2, Rico 1

Quarterscores: 0-11; 18-6; 14-8; 15-14

Second game

Bakilid-SPC (72) – Jayme 17, Perater 17, Fuentes 16, Abrigo 14, Suico 9, Magale 8, Batiancila 6, Bayate 2

Casuntingan (70) – Lanado 18, Patindol 18, Guadiano 8, Regidor R. 5, Dekit 4, Regidor L. 2

Quarterscores: 23-20; 15-18; 15-14; 19-18