Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Warriors bows down vs Admirals in Bbeal action By Roderick Osis
DESPITE the absence of its leading scorer Harold Sabado, Cordillera Career Development College handed the Pines City Colleges (PCC) Warriors their fourth defeat in the ongoing men's basketball of the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League (BBEAL) on Sunday, 78-56, at the University of the Cordilleras (UC) Gym.
Sabado was in civilian clothes cheering for the Admirals during the second half of the game but Coach Gerry Estrangero said he just let him change his clothes for some of his bench players to experience the game and give them time to mature as players.
"I just had to let him change after the second half because I wanted all players to have their playing time and mature as players and have the experience as we progress in the league," Estrangero said.
The PCC Warriors looked poised to steal a game and handed the defending champion their second consecutive defeat after leading by four, midway in the third period 41-37.
The Admirals, after a shocking loss against the Saint Louis University (SLU) Navigators last Saturday made sure the Warriors lead was a fluke after catapulting a 10-4 run at the end of the third quarter to lead by two, 47-45.
PCC pushed their game one notch higher in the fourth quarter after scoring five consecutive unanswered points to once again grab the lead by three, 50-47 with 7:43 left in the payoff period proving that they are not the league's whipping team.
"I told my players, no matter how weak the opponents may be, they shouldn't be complacent," returning coach Estrangero said after having a stint with the then BCF Shields (now UC Jaguars) in early 2000 and led the team to two final appearances in the men's basketball division of BBEAL.
The Admirals, having championship experience, slowly regained their composure and scored 11 unanswered points to finally put the game away 58-50 with 4:31 left in the fourth period.
"I think it is an eye-opener for us not to let our guards down because we almost collapsed in the third and fourth period because our team tried to relax," Estrangero said.
He added that they were surprised by the SLU team upsetting a supposed to be perfect season for the Admirals, which paraded the same lineup when it won the men's basketball championship against the University of Baguio (UB) last year.
As of this writing Monday, SLU was testing the waters against the UC Jaguars.
