Hermosa scores 52 to tow Telstra to semifinal round

SAM Jordan Hermosa came up with a helluva game, exploding for 52 points and collaring 10 rebounds to power the third-seed Telstra Boomerangs to the Final Four with a 96-83 disposing of the sixth-seeded 24/7 Cagers last Saturday in the EVO League of the 1th City Sports Club-Cebu (CSC-C) E-League for Basketball at the CSC-C Gym.
Jatgard Vios aided Telstra’s cause by chipping in 21 points.
Ralph Belarmino scattered 41 markers but couldn’t save the Cagers from elimination. Jan Michael Cipres added 13 markers.
Meanwhile, after being one of the league’s perennial whipping boys, the Author Solutions Inc. (ASI) Hardbacks finally scored a major breakthrough, earning their first-ever semifinal appearance by pulling off a 75-63 win over the Results Spartans.
The Hardbacks, the number-four seed in the first round of playoffs, advanced to the best-of-three semifinal round where they will play the number-one seed Supportsave Dragons, who clinched their own Final Four ticket by smashing lottery winner Teletech Titans, 86-61.
The seventh-seed Calttek Trojans, on the other hand, lived to fight another day after they stunned the second-ranked Kyocera Frontiers, 73-67.
Supportsave, ASI, Telstra and Kyocera went into the playoffs armed with twice-to-beat edges over their lower-ranked foes for being the top four seeds.
ASI had four players scoring in double figures with Justin Jay Dela Cruz and Jonas Panerio firing 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Dela Cruz also came up with 10 rebounds. Armalon Fernandez added 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Donald Stephen De Leon chipped in 14 markers.
Jade Seno paced the Spartans with 31 markers.
Niño Belande remained steady, leading the Dragons with 20 points and 18 boards. He was backed by Germaine Jo Guarisma, who tallied 19 points.
Jonas Concepcion topped the Titans with 26 points, while Shemaiah Roi Moliva pitched in 11 markers.