Jr Warriors crush UP, keep Filoil Cup lead

MANILA, Philippines - Defending juniors champion University of the East used a methodical defense to demolish University of the Philippines, 97-52, in the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Invitational Cup at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Largely because of an effective defensive effort, coach Mark Herrera’s Junior Warriors seized control early, built a 14-point lead in the second quarter and never looked back in fashioning out the lopsided win.

The Recto-based squad led by as many as 52 points before completing the rout, their second straight win in Group C.

Shervin Gutierrez led the team with 15 points with four other Junior Warriors also winding up with double-digit outputs.

“This league is our gauge for our would-be performance in the UAAP,” said Herrera, who also coaches the under-13 RP youth. “We tightened up on our defense. There must be no let up.”

Earlier, University of Perpetual Help downed De La Salle-Zobel, 81-77, for its second win in four starts in Group A.

The Junior Archers dominated the first two periods but the Junior Altas turned things around in the third quarter, riding high on the exploits of Marc Bitoy.

The Junior Archers tried to regain control in the final quarter with freshman Renzo Subido drilling two three pointers to trim their deficit to five, 68-73.

The Junior Archers came even closer at 75-77 before Lance Feliciano made a crucial basket fanning La Salle’s hopes with 23.8 seconds left.

“In the first half, the Junior Archers had 12 fastbreak points. So we had to make an adjustment with our transition in the second half,” said UPHSD coach Tonichi Pujante.

“We ran down on our defense in the final two periods. I told the boys that we should not let them (Junior Archers) attack us. We should attack them instead,” Pujante added.    – Kristina Noelle Villanueva