Baby Panthers book last semis ticket

CEBU - At the onset, the third seeded University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers were playing below par but in the end, they proved too hot to handle for the University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors as they scored a vengeful 75-56 victory to clinch the last semifinal slot in the juniors division of the 8th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

The Baby Panthers’ entry to the next round was delayed following their 58-64 loss to the Baby Warriors last Tuesday. Fortunately, they enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage to get another crack at the semifinals.

Despite their resounding victory, the Baby Panthers still face a tough grind as they take on next the topseed and defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers in the best-of-three semifinal series.

“Tan-awon lang namo unsay among mahimo basta fight lang gyud mi,” said USPF head coach Camilo Go.

Down by five points at the end of the first period, 10-15, the Baby Panthers fought back with aplomb in the second canto to forge a 26-all deadlock at the bend.

The Baby Warriors were on top for the last time, 36-32, as the Baby Panthers suddenly exploded with an 18-0 bang to wrest control of the match for good.

The Baby Panthers’ scoring parade continues on the way to pad their lead to 18 points, 54-36. The closest the Baby Warriors could come was at 54-66 at the final 1:23 mark courtesy of a barrage of 3-pointers - two coming from Dominic Adlawan and Kim Adrian Reyes, son of USC basketball consultant Mike Reyes.

The Baby Panthers were quick to recover, with Marvin Demana knocking in his second triple of the night to practically seal their win, 69-54, with 50 ticks left before the final buzzer.

Demana, the smallest guy from the Baby Panthers’ bench, stood the tallest in offense with 17 points followed by Peter Cañete, Jr. with 13.

The wide-bodied Kim Jordan Nuñeza topscored for the Baby Warriors with 12 points.

The scores

USPF (75) - Demana 17, Cañete 13, Ferraren 11, Arong 11, Nudalo 11, Caguindagan 6, Casalari 5, Silao 1

USC (56) - Nuñeza 12, Reyes 8, Monteron 8, Adlawan 7, Nacua 6, Uy 6 Gabuya 5, Sepe 3, Kikuchi 1

Halftime: 26-all - The Freeman