Jumike Casera of the University of Cebu Baby Webmasters is fouled by Jomari Ranuco of the Don Bosco Greywolves in the high school division match of the 16th Cesafi basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
THE Don Bosco Greywolves kept their magical season alive as they forced a winner-take-all game for a spot in the semifinals by defeating the University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters, 77–64, in the quarterfinals of the 16th Cesafi juniors basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
Faced with a twice-to-beat win disadvantage against last season’s runners-up, the Greywolves came out firing on all cylinders and led by as much as 21 points before surviving a furious second half surge by UC.
The knockout game will be on Thursday, 5 p.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinal round alongside the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, the University of the Visayas and the Cebu Eastern College Dragons which booked their spot in the Final Four with a 72–55 win over the University of San Jose-Recoletos Baby Jaguars.
Dave Manlapat had 18 points while Harvey Sanchez tallied 10 points, four boards, four assists and four steals to help put CEC in the semifinals for the first time since 2013.
The story of the day though was Don Bosco. Long considered to be the high school division’s doormat, the Greywolves have turned things around and are now on the cusp of making it to the Final Four.
It was a total team effort for Don Bosco as five players scored in double-figures led by the 17 points and nine rebounds of Al Mendez. \
Jan Mangaron and Miguel dela Torre had 13 apiece with the latter also pulling down 10 boards. Grenal Malubay notched 12 while JB Damolo ran the Greywolves offense to perfection, finishing with 11 points and 10 assists.