Viva stalls Montana; Hapee one win to final

There will be no Hapee-Montana championship series yet as Viva spoiled it all with a telling 19-3 fourth quarter bomb to reverse the tide and beat Montana, 73-57, yesterday in the semifinals of the Sunkist-PBL 2003 Unity Cup at the San Juan Gym.

With the win, the Water Force kept hopes alive for the finals. They must win against John-O on Tuesday to claim the last finals berth – that is if Hapee also wins over the Jewelers.

In case Viva wins over John-O and Hapee loses to Montana, a three-way tie may ensue. Under such case, the team with the highest quotient takes the first championship seat while the other two will playoff for the last finals berth.

Cesar Catli topped with 12 points and four rebounds and did a good job stopping Gary David in the final quarter.

"The boys played inspired as they offered this to the father of Jeff Napa, Sgt. Ricky Napa who’s now in comatose after being shot in the head in the line of duty," quipped Viva coach Koy Banal.

In the first game, Hapee Toothpaste warded off John-O, 67-52, and move a step closer to the best-of-five