Johaness Chua, Adven Jess Diputado, Tonyson Luther Lee. | SHAABAA photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines —Defending champions Core Pacific Money Exchange-Batch 2000 and Heritage Supreme Land Developer-Batch 2012 won their respective playoff games in the Sacred Heart Ateneo Alumni Basketball Athletic Association (SHAABAA) Season 26 on Sunday evening, September 17, 2023, at the Magis Eagles Arena in Mandaue City.
Division A defending champion Batch 2000 outlasted Yangtze Cooling Ice Systems-Batch 1992, 79-72, to advance in the semifinals, while Division C champs, Batch 2012 took game one of their best-of-three semifinals showdown against Harley Davidson-Batch 2014, 86-78.
READ: SHAABAA Season 26: Diputado leads Batch 2012 to another victory
Glenn Albert Ocampo and Johaness Chua worked in tandem in Batch 2000’s win over Batch 1992 as both scored 17 points. Sergs Al Go Bui tallied a double-double game of 13 points with 15 rebounds and Joseph Lo added 12 points in Batch 2000’s big win.
Joel Co spoiled his double-double game of 23 points and 22 rebounds for Batch 1992.
Batch 2000 will play against Bayfront Hotel- Batch 1990/97 in the semifinals.
READ: Batch 2001 win second straight in SHAABAA
Division C Play-in
Meanwhile, Batch 2012’s Adven Jess Diputado led his team anew by erupting for 32 points in their big win over Batch 2014. Diputado also had five boards, six dimes, and three steals, while Dave Wilson Yu aided him with 22 points.
Jair Igna matched Diputado with his own 32 points, but these were not enough to give Batch 2014 the much-coveted finals berth.
Batch 2021 erased Batch 2022’s twice-to-beat advantage after their 99-72 victory on Sunday. Their do-or-die game schedule has yet to be announced.
Walter Franz Yu exploded for a double-double game of 24 points and 15 boards, while Martin Patrick Dumon also had 24 points. Rey Marcus Fuentes nearly had a double-double game for Batch 2021 after tallying 23 points with 9 rebounds.
Batch 2022’s Rey Tristan Fuentes had the biggest score of the night, 43 points, but faltered in protecting their twice-to-beat advantage.
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Division A Play-In
In the other Division A play-in game on Sunday, Speed Demon Vivant-Batch 94/95/96 cruised to the semifinals after demolishing SENTRAL Bar & Lounge-Batch 2002, 90-49.
Tonyson Luther Lee led Speed Demon with his double-double outing of 19 points and 15 boards.
Ryan Zear Lauro scored 18 points in Batch 2002’s losing efforts.
Batch 94/95/96 will face the ARQ Builders-Batch 2001 in the semifinals.
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Division B Play-in
In Division B’s play-ins, Bigatin Trading-Batch 2008 stayed alive after narrowly beating Efficascent Boost-BRC-Batch 2010, 59-57, erasing the latter’s twice-to-beat advantage.
Elmer Mikey Cabahug unloaded 19 points with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks to lead Batch 2008 in forcing a do-or-die game against Batch 2010 on Wednesday.
On the other hand, Crossfit-Subtero-Batch 2006 also upsets Puresteel Manufacturing Corporation-Batch 2011, 74-64, which also eliminated the latter’s twice-to-beat advantage.
John Galo topscored the game with 17 points for Batch 2006, while Bernard Chioson spoiled his double-double game of 22 points and 12 rebounds for the losing squad.