CEBU, Philippines - Keiffer Ravena showed why he’s the reigning MVP in UAAP juniors division.
After a so-so performance in their rout of Japan, Ravena pumped in 20 points in a game-long brilliance to help the Philippines blast Chinese-Taipei, 87-55, the other night in the 2nd Nokia Pilipinas Youth Invitational Championship at the USC-Main gym.
Now toting a 2-0 card, the RP juniors arranged a showdown with the Iranians, who are also carrying a similar slate after thrashing Japan 90-71 in the first game.
The RP-Iran duel today will be no less a finals preview as the two powerhouse squads are already headed for a titular battle Sunday evening.
The two protagonists fought on even playing field at the outset with the Pinoys prevailing only by a matchstick at the end of the first period, 22-21.
The story abruptly changed in the second canto as after padding their lead to 35-29, Chris Tolomia and Romero conspired in an 11-2 rally to put the Filipinos on top by 15 points, 46-31. That spelled disaster for the Taiwanese the rest of the way.
Ravena sustained his sizzling offensive in the third quarter to give RP a 20-point edge twice, the last was at 58-38 with a little over two minutes left in that stretch.
Curiously, it was also Ravena’s triple that handed RP its biggest lead of the night at 34 points, 87-53, with only 23 ticks remaining before the final buzzer.
RP’s coaching staff and fans, however, had a scare when Tolomia drove to the basket and hurt his left arm with 3:42 left in the game. The trainers immediately pulled him out of the court and wrapped his arm with bandage.
Coach Eric Altamirano said they don’t know the extent of the injury but assured the fans that Tolomia will be playing against Iran today.
When asked what would be their strategy against the taller Iranians, Altamirano smiled and said, “We’ll think about it.”
The scores
RP (87) - Ravena 20, Tolomia 11, Alolino 11, Pate 10, Teng 9, Romero 7, Pessumal 5, Javillona 3, Bantayan 3, Labingisa 2
Chinese-Taipei (55) - Yang 9, Wang 9, Chen 7, Chen Kua-Chun 6, Lin Yan Hsuh 6, Lin 5, Wen 4, Chung 3, Cheng 2, Wu 2
Quarterscores:22-21, 46-31, 64-48, 87-55 (FREEMAN NEWS)