THE Final Four cast for the Aspirants Open Division playoffs in the inaugural Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) basketball competitions has been determined.
Top seed Saint Jude Catholic School, which is unblemished in eight appearances in the six-week tournament for players aged 13 and under, will clash with fifth-seeded Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy (5-4) and No. 2 seed Philippine Cultural College (7-1) will tangle with No. 3 seed Pace Academy (6-2) in a pair of semifinal encounters to be held on Saturday, February 15, at the Uno High School Gym in Manila.
The SJCS Judenites and PCC Seagulls, by virtue of their 1-2 finish in the elimination round, will have a twice-to-beat advantage over MGC-NLCA and Pace Academy, respectively.
During the quarterfinals, St. Jude, PCC and Pace made short work of their lower-seeded opponents while MGC-NLCA whipped No. 4 seed Icure-Jubilee Christian Academy twice to advance to the next round.
St. Jude ousted Uno High School, 83-24, behind double-figure scorers Joao Filipino (13 points), Calvin Uy (13), Gian King (11) and Bentley Tia (10 along with nine rebounds).
Treating the game like a scrimmage, Philippine Cultural College utilized its regulars sparingly and instead relied heavily on its reserves in pulverizing No. 7 seed Saint Peter the Apostle School, 73-43.
Burly John Santos and Edge Sy tossed in 12 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Seagulls. Pace Academy gave up the game’s first six points before turning on the heat the rest of the way in pummelling No. 6 seed Grace Christian College, 105-66, behind child-mountain Getson Lim, who amassed 30 points on 14-of-19 field shooting, plucked down 26 rebounds and blocked four enemy missiles.
Pesky Pol Antiporda also contributed 22 scores and 16 boards and long-range specialist Jeff Lugay added 15 markers for the Pacers. Underdog Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy needed to beat higher-seeded Icure-Jubilee Christian Academy twice and accomplished the feat with wins of 64-59 (Feb. 8) and 79-77 (Feb. 9) over the weekend.
Both victories by MGC-NLCA came in a dramatic come-from-behind fashion. In the front end of their quarterfinal matchup, the pint-sized duo of Mikel Go (19) and Ike Lim (15) each knocked in five triples and combined for 34 points for MGC-NLCA, which had lost, 65-53, to Icure-JCA during their elimination duel.
Tristan Lao’s suffocating defense on Icure-JCA hotshot Carlo Lim also was a pivotal factor as the tournament’s leading scorer (22.0 ppg) struggled with a frigid 5-for-20 field shooting en route to an 18-point effort.
In the rubber match, MGC-NLCA overhauled a 16-point deficit (45-29) early in the third quarter but rallied around energetic Patrick Uy (19 of his team-best 22 points came in the second half), Lao and Go (six points in the final 2:58) at crunchtime and eventually won it on a hard drive by John Angping with 39.3 seconds left.
That put to waste Carlo Lim’s 29-point, nine-rebound performance for, which ended its season with a 4-5 card. Both semifinal matchups promise to be slam-bang affairs. During the elims, St. Jude edged MGC-NLCA, 69-68, after overcoming a 14-point third-quarter deficit (46-32), and Philippine Cultural College took control early in the second quarter in blasting Pace Academy, 53-37, behind its Twin Towers John Santos and Daniel Manalang and a tough defense on Pacers center Getson Lim, the tournament’s No. 2 scorer (19.4 ppg) who was held to a measly nine points.
Should MGC-NLCA and/or Pace Academy turn the tables around on Saturday, do-or-die matches would be held on Sunday, Feb. 16, also at the Uno HS Gym.
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