26 April 2019
CEBU CITY—The defending champions Talisay City Aquastars and the Mandaue City Ballers stayed hot as they tallied separate wins that netted them semifinal seats in the 2019 Governor’s Cup Under-21 Inter-Cities/Municipalities Basketball Tournament last Friday, April 26, 2019.
Both unbeaten after five games in the quarterfinal round, Mandaue dominated Argao, 92-65, at the Samboan Sports Complex, while Talisay routed Alegria 95-77, at the Minglanilla Sports Complex.
Becoming the first team to earn a semifinal spot in Bracket A, Mandaue was led by Kenneth Brillo and Gabriel Cometa with 22 and 19 points, respectively.
Jay Deiparine fired 19 points, Kendrick Abarquez and Ronan Briones tallied 14 apiece, Clark Ruedas donated 12, Keaton Taburnal pitched in 11 and John Villabrille had 10 for Talisay, which emerged as the first semifinalist in Bracket B.
Dumanjug, on the other hand, downed Medellin, 86-56, dealing its opponent a major blow in its semifinal bid in Bracket A.
Medellin fell to 3-2 (win-loss), allowing Balamban to take the solo second place at 4-1.
Dumanjug climbed to 2-3.
In the other Bracket A match, Danao moved up to 2-3 after it beat Samboan, 84-77.
It was Samboan’s fifth loss in six games.
Tuburan brightened its chances of securing the other semis seat in Bracket B after it nipped Tabuelan, 85-73.
Tuburan improved to 5-1, while Tabuelan dropped 1-4.
Keeping their flickering semis hopes alive were the Minglanilla Archangels, who tripped the Consolacion Sarok Weavers, 101-78.
The two squads now have similar 4-2 ledgers—good for third place in Bracket B.
Tournament format states only the top two teams in each bracket will advance to the semifinals.
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