CESAFI Basketball: USC Warriors chalk best finish in elims

The University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors were steadier down the homestretch and upended the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, 80-77, to place second in the elimination round of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) collegiate basketball at the Cebu Coliseum.

In the secondary match, the University of Cebu (UC) Junior Webmasters completed a six-game sweep by beating the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers, 90-81.

The victory gave the Warriors a 4-2 win-loss record and the number two spot behind UV after the elimination round, to carve their best ever finish since the inception of the CESAFI in 2001.

"Tsamba lang. Bilib lang ako sa puso na mga bata kasi hindi talaga sila bumigay kahit nag-rally pa 'yung USJ-R", said USC assistant coach Mike Reyes, who whooped it up with the players at the center line after the final buzzer sounded with pint-sized guard Vernini Tangarorong rebounding a miss by the Jaguars for their last possession.

The loss relegated the Jaguars into fourth place, paving the way for idle UC Webmasters to take the number three spot. The Webmasters and the Jaguars will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage during the playoffs but it will be seventh placer Don Bosco College (0-6) and Cebu Institute of Technology Wildcats (2-) who will play in a knockout match this coming Saturday which will also be the start of the second round for the women's division.

Last Sunday's loss by USP to CIT, 75-76, was a real heartbreaker for the Panthers who were in the best position to grab the second spot had they won. Now, the Panthers lost everything including the twice-to-beat advantage as they were thrown at far fifth spot.

Actually, UC, USJ-R and USPF ended the elimination with identical 3-3 win-loss records but the Webmasters obtained the highest quotient against the Jaguars and the Panthers.

The Webmasters obtained 1.04 while the Jaguars had 1.045 and USP had the lowest quotient with .973.

As usual, the Warriors relied too much on the 1-2-3 punch of Niño Ramirez, Enrico Llanto and Arletroy Mercader, who did the heaviest damage to the Jaguars and of course, the head-up play of Tanagaroroang, who tended the backcourt with precision and extra care.

Tangarorang finished with 10 points.

The smallest man from the Jaguars' bench Armand Ponce tried to save his team by leading the offense scoring 17 points but he failed. Worse, some of the Jaguars' scorers expected to contribute were placed in a freezer like Luther Luke Jusiniani, who had only three points and Ranyulfo Malinao with a matchstick.

Another missing links for the Jaguars were Lyndon Gudez, who was limited to just four points, Ariel Lozano with seven points and Randy Pogoy with eight points.

Lucikly for the Jaguars, Gabas was involved in the scoring with 15 points.

Earlier, Mark Gil Panerio, Reynan Capoy, Bill Connors and Mark Madison Rago all scored in double figures to lead the Webmasters into their sixth win topping the elimination as the number one qualifier and their victims the second placer.

Franz Dion Dysam reached his average scoring 21 points to lead the Baby Panthers.

The scoes:

Fruist Game:

Secondary

UC (90) - Panerio 15, Capoy 12, Connors 10, Rago 10, Enriquez 9, Babad 6, Espinosa 5, Mohamad 5, Ferrolino 4, Cabanero 4, Singson 2

USP (81) - Dysam 21, Canoy 14, Elorde 12, Maraño 11, Bordalba 8, Muñez 5, Dela Cruz 2, Cabatingan 1 Halftime: 43-42

Second Game:

Collegiate

USC (80) - Ramirez 20, Llanto 18, NMercader 17, Tangarorang 10, Dabuco 6, Padayao 5, Igao 3, Gallarfde 2, Tagalog 2

USJR (77) - Ponce 17, Gabas 15, Hatague 9, Pogoy 8, Lozano 7, Gudez 4, Arpay 4, Villahermosa 4, Carilla 3, Justiniani 3, Delifno 4, Malinao 1 Halftime: 45-37