Zamboanga Sibugay’s Jaybie Mantilla pulls up a jumper in front of Mac Baracael of MisOr in their knockout semifinals match of the VisMin Super Cup. | Photo from VisMin Super Cup Media Bureau
CEBU CITY, Philippines— The Zamboanga Sibugay-Anak Mindanao Warriors cruised to the Best-of-Three finals of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge after upsetting the top seed GlobalPort-MisOr Valientes, 81-64, in the knockout semifinals match on Monday evening, December 13, at the Pagadian City Gymnasium.
With their huge victory, the fourth seed Warriors will wait for the winning team between the BYB-Kapatagan Buffalos and the Pagadian Explorers which is being played as of press time.
“Nag-materialize lahat ng hard work namin especially ‘yung offense namin ngayon,” said Warriors head coach Arnold Oliveros.
(All our hard work materialized today especially our offense now.)
Ahead by just a mere four points at the break, Zamboanga Sibugay came out of the dugout with guns blazing.
Former Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) MVP Jaybie Mantilla scored 13 of his 19 points in the third period as his team dropped a total of 29 to build a commanding lead of 24 points, 66-42.
This developed as they also held the Valientes to just nine points in the same period.
The Valientes tried to claw back in the final period by scoring nine straight unanswered points from Andoy Estrella and Reil Cervantates to cut the lead to 15 with eight minutes left.
However, it was the closest they could get as the Warriors maintainted a big lead until the final buzzer.
“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.
(This is a do-or-die, so I told them to give their all. We won’t leave anything for tomorrow, give your all now.)
Aside from 19 points, Mantilla who also played for the UP Fighting Maroons in UAAP tallied nine rebounds and one steal.
Cris Dumapig chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds while Jan Jamon and Monbert Arong got 11 points apiece.
Another Cebuano, Joel Lee Yu led the Valientes with 17 points, four rebounds and two assists. Estrella contributed 16 points and Cervantes with 10.
BOX 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.
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