THE tenacity of the University of San Carlos Baby Warriors in the elimination round was nowhere to be found when they faced the University of the Visayas Baby Green Lancers in the semifinals of the juniors basketball of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Baby Green Lancers, fourth-ranked in the juniors division bashed the top-seeded USC, 84-63, to take Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinals series.
Yesterday was a complete turnaround on what transpired in the elimination round. The Warriors, who had a no-sweat entry to the semis for being the top team, were trampled by UV, who had to scamper to get a slot to the semis.
UV had to get past University of San Jose-Recoletos, beating it twice to make it to this point in the tournament.
The Baby Warriors were only able to flaunt the grit they had when they clobbered UV in the elimination round in the first two periods.
The gamed ended at a low 15-all at the first quarter and remained tied at 32-all at the turn.
UV managed to get past the Warriors in the second half as they rode on the blunders of the error-prone Warriors.
Wasted charities
While UV’s Carlos Tabaquero and John Abad rained triples that built up the team’s lead, the Warriors were squandering easy baskets. The biggest blow was when Abad fouled Brian Negapatan and Kyle Santos from the three-point lane. From the six possible points they could have made from it, USC was only able to sink in one.
The Warriors wasted nine charities in this period alone and the third canto ended with UV at the helm, 53-46, and carried on with the advantage until the game ended.
In the decisive round, the Baby Green Lancers then leaned on the heroics of Junard Premacio, Eugene Viagedor and Abad, who was the All-Stars MVP. (MCB)
