THE basketball rivalry among the six congressional districts started as the the Cebu Province Governor’s Cup Inter-District Basketball Tournament opened Saturday night with the powerhouse First District displaying a show of force when they mangled the equally talent-laden Sixth District, 92-81, at the Cordova Sports Complex.
The Rudy Enterina-mentored First District broke the game open in the fourth quarter following a hotly contested first half.
Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats’ high-scoring forward Joshua de la Cerna played like a man possessed as he scattered 31 points to lead the First District to victory.
Behind the exploits of de la Cerna, the First District came out strong in the opening quarter as the Talisay City-based squad started the game with a 22-13 blitz in the opening quarter.
However, the Elmer “Boy” Cabahug coached Sixth District bounced back in the second quarter behind the explosion of Jarey Ceniza and Allen Tarona, who scored nine and six points respectively to inch to within a point, 39-40, at the halftime bend.
De la Cerna however continued to score huge baskets, while his CIT-U teammate Allan Dimco caught fire and led the team to a 63-56 lead entering the final quarter.
De la Cerna and Jan Auditor then combined forces to negate the 11 points explosion of Ritchum Dennison who scored 11 points for the Sixth District in the final period.
Auditor added 15 points, Dimco had 11 points and Jefford Aldave added 10 for First District, while Tarona scored 18 points. Ceniza added 14 and Dennison scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
On Friday, the Fifth District will host the Second District at the still to be disclosed venue while the Sixth District will try to return the favour as they visit the First District in Talisay City Sports and Cultural Complex, both game scheduled at 7 p.m.