MANILA, Philippines -- Kobe Paras and the LA Cathedral Phantoms lost for the third time against top seed Bishop Montgomery Knights, 59-47, on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) in the quarterfinals as they bowed out of the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.
Paras tried to rally his team but it was not enough to overcome the much superior Knights, who will meet surprise semifinalist Orange Lutheran, which knocked off highly regarded Corona Centennial led by another Fil-Am sensation Sedrick Barefield.
The 17-year old son of former PBA Rookie-MVP Benjie Paras poured in eight of his 14 points in the third quarter as the Phantoms cut the double digit deficit to just five, 33-38. They even managed it to make it closer, 38-42, at the start of fourth quarter but the Knights' top gun Stephen Thompson, Jr. and Jordan Shackel hit back-to-back treys to restore a 10-point lead.
It was the third straight win of Bishop Montgomery over LA Cathedral this season with the first two meetings going down-to-the-wire unlike this one.
The Oregon State-bound Thompson led the Knights with 20 points while Shackel added 11 as they did enough to beat the Phantoms, who will go back to the Division 3 for the state playoffs according to Los Angeles Times.