Pulpogan shatters Casili's four-peat dream, enters finals in Alegado Cup

CEBU, Philippines — All good things come to an end.

That's the painful truth Casili has learned.

This after Casili's bid for a historic four-peat A came tumbling down after if suffered a crushing 78-86 defeat at the hands of Pulpogan in the SK Juniors Category A (Under-21) of the 7th Mayor Teresa 'Nene' P. Alegado Fiesta Basketball Cup in Consolacion.

From the very beginning of the month-long tournament that is among the highlights of Consolacion's annual fiesta in honor of their beloved patron San Narciso on October 29, things already went bleak for the grandslam champs Casili.

First, they lost three-time Most Valuable Player Cyril Sabellana, who got injured while playing for the Consolacion Sarok Weavers in the 1st Cebu Province Under-21 Inter-Cities and Municipalities Developmental Basketball Tournament where they won the North Division title and finished second overall to grand champion Minglanilla Archangels.

Casili's campaign was dealt with further blow because John Kirk Gonzaga, one of its top guns, couldn't play for the team being a varsity of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. The CESAFI phohibits its players from playing in other tournaments while the league is going on.

The void they left was too huge for Rey Gonzaga to fill in Casili's arsenal. Gonzaga did live up to the challenge by exploding for 33 points but his singular offensive outburst proved futile against a more solid and determined Pulpogan squad.

Gyle Patrick Montaño, a member of the Southwestern University-Phinma (SWU) Baby Cobras who is also a proud Sarok Weaver,unloaded 28 points, 15 rebounds and three assists in Pulpogan's wire-to-wire victory. They were firmly in control after taking an early 24-20 lead, which bubbled to 14 points, 66-52, after three quarters.

James Wenard Saliot, a mainstay of the University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, banged in 20 points and Raymundo Osabel added 15 markers as Pulpogan did not only dethrone Casili but also barge into the finals against the winner of the other semifinal match between Nangka and Pitogo.

In the Midget Category A, Jade Dayday scattered 19 points on top of eight rebounds and eigth assists as Lamac lived and fight for another day after annihilating the twice-to-beat Poblacion Occidental, 93-61.

Adrian Don Adolfo added 17 points and John Miguel Maglasang contributed 15 markers for Lamac, which ripped the game right from the start, 22-13. Poblacion Occidental closed in at halftime, 28-32, but Lamac whipped up a furious offensive storm in the final half to dump its foes by 31 points at the final buzzer. (FREEMAN)