Royal Star Trading defeated Sweet Crystal Sugar to clinch a place in the Class C finals. The former got out to a strong start and led 15-13 after one quarter. Sweet Crystal Sugar fared better in the second quarter, rallying to tie the game by the halftime buzzer.
Royal Star Trading regained their momentum in the third and outscored the Sweet Crystal, 33-14, to push their lead up to nineteen points as they headed into the final frame. Sweet Crystal Sugar kept fighting in the fourth, trying to cut the lead, but the Royal Star Trading came up with clutch plays on both ends of the floor to secure the win with a final score of 76-62.
Doc Judah Gozar led Royal Star Trading with 12 points, Beejay Paredes followed with 10, and Mark Yee added 8. Meanwhile, Richard Co and Harold Maghari led Sweet Crystal Sugar with 12 points each, Jason Yap followed with 9, while Cris Pascua dropped 8 points.
In the other semis match, Basecom didn’t look like a team that not only had a whole week to rest, but came with a complete line up, as they didn’t waste time asserting their supremacy over AACI Transport that was outmatched, coming in with only eight players.
Basecom was suffocating on defense and highly efficient on offense, a recipe led them to a 27-19 lead in the first quarter. AACI Transport then showed some signs of life and cut the lead to four at halftime, 43-47.
At that point, Basecom tightened up defensively to make it an 18 point game by the end of the third quarter. AACI Transport simply didn’t have enough weapons to turn things around in the remaining ten minutes, as Basecom cruised to a 115-84 victory, putting themselves just one win away from the title.
Nike Montalvo led the Basecom putting up 21 points, and Dirk Dongon, Tata Javillo and Michael Calibo each finished with 14 points. Meanwhile Oda Tampus paced AACI Transport with 22 points, Michael Deocadiz had 20, and Michael Veñegas delivered 12.*
