Lancers score three-peat in Coca Cola PBA caging

CEBU, Philippines - For the third straight year, the Coca Cola PBA Youngstars Cebu leg is going to have the same champion team, the Lancers Basketball Club which cruised to a masterful 81-59 win over Cebu Warriors in the championship game held at the Capitol Parish gym. And expectedly, three-year Coke PBA veterans Orlan Wamar and Joshua Flores led the attack.

The Lancers streaked to a 22-15 first quarter lead behind Wamar and Flores, who combined for 13 first period points. The Lancers then poured it on in the second quarter, streaking to a 36-22 halftime lead which served as a heartbreaker for the Warriors side, which has bowed to the Lancers also for a third straight year.

The Lancers limited the Warriors to seven second quarter points thanks to a stingy defense. The lead ballooned to 58-40 after three periods with Froilan Maglasang stepping up to surprise the crowd with timely triples. It was then Royce Alforque’s turn to step up in the fourth period along with Flores as the Lancers pulled away for good.    Flores’s 24 points led a Lancers side which had nine players contributing on offense. Wamar added 18. John Galinato and Neville Morales had 13 points apiece for the Warriors. In the consolation round game, Cebu Elite topped Dragons Ballclub,69-56.

The Lancers will now face the champions of Bacolod and Iloilo at the Visayas Regional Finals set for May 10-11 in Iloilo City.

The Coca Cola PBA Youngstars Basketball Tournament is held in partnership with the Philippine Basketball Association. Its local partner is the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) under the auspices of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

Meanwhile, in an Under 19 pocket tournament of  the CYBL, the Palaro bound CVIRAA team snatched the championship with a 69-60 win over USC.

CVIRAA started out slowly, giving USC a 13-10 lead after one quarter before waking up in the second period to break the game open. Janjan Jaboneta and Lucky Ecarma combined to give CVIRAA a 33-23 lead at halftime. The lead stretched to 53-30 at the end of the third quarter behind Ecarma and Ridge Mantua. USC staged a rally in the fourth quarter but simply ran out of time to overcome the deficit.

Jaboneta led CVIRAA with 17 points as Ecarma chipped in 15. Juneau Antigua led USC with 22 points. The team left for the Palarong Pambansa, which will be held in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

 The scores

Lancers (81) – Flores 24, Wamar 18, Maglasang 9, Cahigas 8, Alforque 8, Canoy 7, Zenarosa 4, Igot 2, Gonzaga 1.

Cebu Warriors (59) – Morales 13, Galinato 13, Ting 12, Antigua 12, Balaga 4,Pakanna 3, Chavez 2

Quarterscores: 22-15, 36-22, 58-40, 81-59

CVIRAA (69) – Jaboneta 17, Ecarma 15, Mantua 8, Laguyo 7, Galinato 7, Igna 5, Navarro 5, Ong 2, Ortega 2, King 1

USC (60) – Ju. Antigua 22, Sable 13, Villagracia 12, Mendez 7, Malazarte 6, Je. Antigua 4, Aying 2, Maravilla 1, Ting 1

Quarterscores:10-13, 33-23, 53-30, 69-60 (FREEMAN)