Sweep
Talisay completes 10-game romp, gains VisMin final slot
ALCANTARA, Cebu — MJAS Zenith-Talisay City completed a sweep of the two-round eliminations on Thursday night and was amply rewarded.
For achieving the feat, the Talisay cagers gained an outright spot in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup – Visayas Leg finals, their 10th win coming at the expense of ARO Builders-Lapu Lapu which they mauled, 99-62 at the Civic Center here.
The development meant the rest of the field would have to play in a stepladder format to determine who will get the other ticket in the best-of-three finals.
In this format, the second seed would advance to the semifinals where they will have a twice-to-beat advantage. The third and sixth seeds, as well as the fourth and fifth seeds, would compete in knockout games where the winners would face one another for the right to take on the second-seed in the semis.
“Malaking bagay sa amin na makuha namin yung sweep para makapahinga kami,” said Aquastars head coach Aldrin Morante. “Siguro masasabi ko lang is all of this is because of the players. They deserve to rest.”
The Aquastars rode the red-hot shooting of Patrick Cabahug in the first period, where he tallied nine, to help the team establish a 24-9 lead.
From there, it was all Talisay City as Lapu-Lapu struggled to find the basket and did not get the deficit down to double-digits, going only as close as 12 the rest of the way.
Talisay City closed out the game in dominant fashion, outscoring Lapu-Lapu, 30-11, in the fourth period, highlighted by a pair of slam dunks from the high-leaping Jaymar Gimpayan.
In the second game, Jaybie Mantilla put Dumaguete on his back and carried them to a 90-85 win over Tabogon.
Down by 15 at halftime, Mantilla—a former CESAFI MVP—came alive and exploded for 17 points in the third to turn the tables on the Voyagers and shove the Warriors into the driver’s seat, 71-69.
He then completed a three-point play with 2:44 left in the game to put Dumaguete in the lead for good as the Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-7, good for a share of fifth place alongside Tubigon Bohol.
“We needed to win this game. So there was no time to relax and we needed to step up so that we could get a better position in the playoffs,” said Mantilla, who also is the SK chairman of Brgy. Suba Pasil in Cebu City. “Coach Leode (Garcia) also told me that I needed to step up and really show my game.”
The scores:
First game
Dumaguete (90)—Mantilla 29, Gabas 19, Doligon 14, Regalado 12, Velasquez 8, Aguilar 5, Gonzalgo 2, Tomilloso 1, Ramirez 0, Porlares 0.
Tabogon (85)—Lacastesantos 16, Bersabal 15, Diaz 13, Vitug 12, Sombero 12, Bringas 9, Orquina 5, Delos Reyes 3, Caballero 0.
Quarterscores: 18-27, 34-49, 71-69, 90-85
Second game
MJAS-Talisay (99) — Cabahug 22, Villafranca 12, Menina 11, Santos 10, Eguilos 9, Gimpayan 8, Jamon 8, Hubalde 6, Acuña 6, Mojica 5, Moralde 2, Casajeros 0, Alvarez 0, Dela Cerna.
ARQ Lapu-Lapu (62) — Lusdoc 12, Tangkay 10, Regero 10, M. Arong 5, Ochea 4, Abad 4, Senining 4, Juntilla 4, Berame 3, Galvez 2, Mondragon 2, Igot 2, Solis 0, F. Arong 0
Quarterscores: 24-9, 41-26, 69-51, 99-62
