BANTAY, ILOCOS SUR -- Aljay Allosa's jump shot in the last 10 seconds lifted Davao Region Athletic Association (Davraa) Eagles secondary boys basketball team to a thrilling 94-93 upset win over Central Luzon (CLRAA) in the Palarong Pambansa 2018 quarterfinals held at the San Juan Municipal Gym in Municipality of San Juan Thursday.
CLRAA, according to Davraa coach Nestor Sorrosa, failed to convert their ball possession having succumbed to an inbound error in the dying seconds.
"Come-from behind among daug. Biya mi mga 12 ka puntos pero gigukod namo sila sa last quarter den nagtabla-tabla nami (It's a come-from-behind win for us. We are behind as much as 12 points but we rallied in the last quarter and then a series of deadlocks ensued)," the veteran coach said.
He estimated a total of four ties going into the last two minutes.
Ever reliable Vince Petdeo Cuajao of Holy Child College of Davao (HCCD) and Lawrence Marione Angeles of Ateneo de Davao University drilled in back-to-back three-pointers to close the gap, 92-93, with CLRAA still ahead in the final minute of the match.
Allosa's game-winning basket and Davraa's tight defense, thus, sealed the win for the Eagles who advanced to the semifinals set at 9 a.m. today against a still undetermined opponent.
Cuajao poured in a total of 31 points to lead the charge for the team composed of HCCD, Addu, Cor Jesu College of Digos and St. Mary's College of Tagum players.
In secondary girls futsal, Davraa salvaged the bronze after beating Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), 5-2, in their battle for third at the Santa Municipal Gym.
Joyce Semacio of Philippine College of Technology knocked in four goals as teammate Diane Cosare added one goal.
The Alvic Troyo-coached Davraa earlier absorbed a 3-6 defeat from Central Visayas (Cviraa). Both teams were tied at 1-all in the first half then forced two more deadlocks, 2-2, 3-3, before Cviraa broke away to wrap up the match and book a ticket to the finals against the National Capital Region (NCRAA) still playing as of Thursday.
Over at the Cirilo Lao Construction Compound, Davraa secondary girls’ softball team suffered a heartbreaking 5-6 loss to Cviraa.
Softball coach Willie Bayocboc said, "Close fight kaayo kay na-extend mi og duha ka innings. Nauna man mi og two runs (It was a close game, the match extended to two innings. We first scored on two runs)."
He also said Davraa had on its advantage veteran pitcher Irene Lumanas who struck out a lot of Cviraa batters. But the latter put up a solid defense to counter Davraa's attempts to score.
The Davraa elementary and secondary boys football teams were eliminated as well as the elementary boys and secondary girls basketball teams.