CEBU CITY, Philippines – The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers ended the elimination round by clinching a semifinals ticket with a 78-60 lambasting of the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars in the High School contest of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (CESAFI) held at the New Cebu Coliseum.
The win allowed the UV Baby Lancers to improve their win-loss record to 7-2 and climb up to the second spot in the standings. This earned for them an automatic entry to the semifinals along with the defending champion Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles who finished the eliminations with an 8-1 slate.
High School Team Standings After the Elimination Round:
1. SHS-Ateneo – 8-1 **
2. UV – 7-2 *
3. CEC – 6-3
4. UC – 6-3 *
5. DBTC – 6-3 *
6. USJ-R – 4-5 *
7. SWU-PHINMA – 3-6
8. USC – 3-6
9. USPF – 2-7
10. CIT-U – 0-9
** Clinch automatic semifinals berth
* Clinch playoff berth
With 10 teams seeing action in the High School contest, the top 2 teams will gain automatic entry into the semifinals while teams ranked No. 3 to 6 will have to go through the quarterfinal round, where teams No. 3 and 4 will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage. Teams ranked 7 to 10 will be eliminated.
Although the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons, the University of Cebu (UC) Junior Webmasters, and the Don Bosco Technological Center (DBTC) Greywolves hold a similar 6-3 record, the Dragons take the third spot after defeating both the Greywolves last September 23 and the Junior Webmasters last September 10.
After winning over the DBTC Greywolves last September 17, the UC Junior Webmasters are on the fourth spot.
Thus the CEC Dragons and the UC Junior Webmasters will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal round.
In the quarterfinal round, the CEC Dragons will go up against the USJ-R Baby Jaguars who ended the elimination in 6th place with a 4-5 card, while DBTC Greywolves will face last season’s 1st runner-up, the UC Junior Webmasters.
Teams 7 to 10 are eliminated. Thus Southwestern University-Phinma (SWU-Phinma) Baby Cobras, University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers, and the Cebu Institute of Technology University (CIT-U) Wildkittens have seen their 2016 season ending already.
The quarterfinal round will begin on September 25, Sunday. The winners in this round will complete the semifinalists.
After absorbing their second loss at the hands of the Magis Eagles last September 4 and despite facing a handful of controversies that resulted in several of their players getting suspended, the UV Baby Lancers came back stronger to sweep their remaining matches.
The Baby Lancers had no trouble routing the Baby Jaguars despite missing Raul Jancork Cabahug, who sprained his ankle during practice, and Justin Jake Rosete, who is serving his final 4-game suspension after he was accused of putting a Magis Eagles player into a head lock.
Ivan Jay Maata was named the Best Player in their final game against the USJ-R Jaguars with his double-double performance of 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Scores:
UV Baby Lancers (78): Laurente 19, Maata 12, Escobar 10, Paraldo 10, Jelianggao 4, Yerro 8, Brillo 5, Omandac 4, Bayaton 3, Loyola 2, Maglasang 1.
USJ-R Baby Jaguars (60): Ortiz 14, Ando 11, Ranara 11, Camacho 9, Gonzaga 6, Domingo 5, Robles 2, Echavez 2. – Rappler.com
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.