Hapee sparkles, stays in chase for semis

Hapee Toothpaste-PCU found a way to control Kelly Williams and Arwind Santos as it stunned Magnolia Ice Cream, 81-70, yesterday to remain in the hunt for a semifinal berth in the 2006 PBL Heroes Cup at the San Andres Gym.

Rob Sanz led all scorers with 23 points while Gabby Espinas added 20 as the Teeth Sparklers notched a fifth win in nine outings that kept their hopes of booking the second outright spot in the semifinals. But the key was defense as Espinas helped in containing the athletic frontcourt duo of Williams and Santos, who were held to just five and eight points, respectively.

It was the Wizards’ second loss against seven wins.

"We succeeded in containing Williams and Santos — that’s the key," said Hapee-PCU coach Junel Baculi, who already has seven PBL titles including three for the Lamoiyan franchise.

Earlier, Harbour Centre unleashed a huge second quarter run as it ripped Toyota Otis, 84-70, to clinch at least a playoff for a quarterfinal berth.

Marcy Arellano led the onslaught as he sizzled with 21 points.

including 14 in a second quarter run when the Port Masters turned a 12-19 deficit to a 40-21 advantage at the break.

Harbour’s 28-0 second quarter blast was the league’s biggest run in a quarter since Welcoat Paints’ 22-0 blitz in an 87-51 thrashing of disbanded Chaz Perfume in 1999.

The Knights managed to inch closer at 67-72 with a little over two minutes to go before LA Tenorio scored seven points in a 12-3 finale that sealed the Post Masters a fifth win against the same number of losses.

"We were quicker and controlled the boards in the second quarter, these were the keys," said Harbour coach Jorge Gallent, who is now 3-1 (win-loss) since taking over from Dindo Pumaren last November.

It was the Knights’ eighth loss against two wins to crash out of the quarterfinal race.