Playoff spots up for grabs in Alaska caging

CEBU, Philippines - Positioning for the playoffs. This was the tone of the day at games of the Alaska Basketball Cup Cebu 2014 played at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Mango Campus Gym over the weekend. University of San Carlos (USC) Green positioned itself for a possible sweep of all three age groups, while University of the Visayas (UV) and Cebu Eastern College (CEC) stayed on pace.

In the Under 10 division, USC Green grabbed the top seeding with a 53-29 win over University of San Jose -Recoletos (USJ-R) to finish the elimination round with a 5-2 record. In the other Under 10 game, USC Gold broke into the winning column by topping SHS-Ateneo de Cebu, 37-29.

In Under 10 games for guest teams, Don Bosco halted St. Benedict, 24-19, while UV stopped CEC, 29-22.             USC Green is in first place for the regular Under 10 teams with a 5-2 slate followed by USJ-R (3-4), USC Gold (1-6) and SHS-AdC (0-6). UV leads the guest teams at 6-0, followed by CEC (6-1), St, Benedict (3-4) and Don Bosco (1-4). The semifinals format will have #1 play #4 and #2 face #3.

In the lone Under 13 Division 1 games, Holy Spirit School (HSS) of Tagbilaran climbed to second place with a 60-46 win over Don Bosco.

USC Green sits on top of the standings at 5-0, trailed by HSS (3-1), CEC (5-2), UV (4-2), SHS-AdC (2-2), USJ-R (0-5), Don Bosco (1-5) and USC Gold (0-3). While USC has a lock on #1, the tight battle here is for the #2 to #4 spots among CEC, UV, HSS and SHS-AdC.

In Under 16 Division 1 games, USC Green cruised to its fourth straight win, 79-25, over San Isidro parish School. CEC ripped Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion-Mandaue (CIC-M), 66-20.

Team standings for Group B are USC Green (4-0),  SHS-AdC A (2-2), UC (0-3), Don Bosco A (0-4), SIPS (2-3). In Group A, team standings are UV (4-0), CEC (4-1), USC Gold (2-3), SCSIT (2-3), USJ-R (1-4) and CIC-M (0-4).

In the only Under 16 Division 2 game, Mt. Olives Christian Academy won over St. John Seminary, 75-63.

Team Standings for Under 16 Division’s Group A are: SHS-AdC (3-0), Don Bosco B (3-0), ALC (2-1), USJ-R-B (1-3), SIPS-B (1-2) and BJS-A (0-4). Group B standings are UV-B (4-0), CEC-B (2-1), MOCA (2-2), BJS-B (0-2), and SWU (0-2). (FREEMAN)