PAGADIAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR—A huge third quarter storm propelled fourth seed Zamboanga Sibugay to the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge best-of-three Finals, knocking out top seed GlobalPort-Misor, 81-64, in the knockout semis, Monday at the Pagadian City Gymnasium here.
Zamboanga Sibugay will now wait for the winner of the Pagadian-BYB Kapatagan match-up for its Finals foe. Game One is on Wednesday.
“Nag-materialize lahat ng hard work namin, especially ‘yung offense namin ngayon,” said Warriors head coach Arnold Oliveros.
Ahead by just a mere four points at the break, Zamboanga Sibugay came out of the dugout with guns blazing.
Jaybie Mantilla delivered 13 of his 19 points – with nine rebounds and a steal – in the third period while the Warriors dropped 29 points. They also held the Valientes to just nine to build a huge 24-point spread entering the fourth, 66-42.
MisOr then opened the payoff frame with nine straight points courtesy of Andoy Estrella and Reil Cervantes. It inched within 15 with 7:59 of basketball left to play.
However, that would be the closest they could get as the Warriors steadied down the stretch.
“This is a do-or-die kaya sinabi ko sa kanila na ibigay na ang lahat. Hindi na kami magtitira bukas, buhos talaga kami ngayon,” Oliveros said.
Cris Dumapig chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds while Jan Jamon and Monbert Arong got 11 points apiece.
Joel Lee Yu paced the Valientes with 17 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Estrella chalked up 16 points of his own.
Cervantes went 4-of-16 from the field and finished with 10 points. On the other hand, Mac Baracael went field goal-less with five points, all from the line.
The Scores:
Zamboanga Sibugay 81 – Mantilla 19, Dumapig 14, Jamon 11, Arong 11, Foronda 9, Octobre 8, Sorela 5, Caunan 2, Imperial 2, Lacastesantos 0, Pasia 0, Bangcoyan 0, Almocera 0.
MisOr 64 – Lee Yu 17, Estrella 16, Cervantes 10, Nalos 7, Baracael 5, Salcedo 4, Meca 3, Ubalde 2, Diaz 0, Agbong 0, Ballesteros 0.
Quarterscores: 22-16, 37-33, 66-42, 81-64.
