PSS, Wushin off to good starts

 PSS-McGraw Hill and Wushin Corp. began their campaign in the 3rd Annual Shirley’s Coffee Shop Invitational Basketball League on a positive note after recording contrasting wins last Tuesday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

In the first game, Wushin clobbered GPPC, 87-67, while PSS edged Grillin’ in the second match of the night, 91-86.

Wushin had a breakout game in the second half en route to a 20-point winning margin. The 1-2 punch of Jun Tabora and Ferdie Tobias led Wushin’s second-half recovery, as they combined for 16 of the team’s 28 points in the third period.

Before Wushin’s explosion in the third canto, GPPC was ahead at halftime, 34-24. GPPC was in cruise control early when it held Wushin to only three field goals in the opening quarter for a 20-8 advantage. Wushin then kept the driver’s seat in the second frame despite having only two players scoring in that canto. Randy Mungcal had eight points to finish the first half with 12 markers, while Alex Ocampo added eight.

Tabora, who was scoreless in the first period before making a late surge in the second quarter, continued improving his numbers in the second half. Tobias, who was limited to four points, also stepped up and Wushin drew contributions from four more players to grab the upper hand, 52-47, with a full quarter to go.

GPPC lost the lead in the third with its uneven offense, as only three players lit up the scoreboard with Ocampo making eight and Mungcal and Boboy Sampang were limited to three and two markers, respectively.

With Wushin holding a precarious five-point margin at the start of the fourth, Tabora saved his best for last, sizzling for 18 points to lead the team’s breakaway. Tabora almost outscored the entire GPPC crew, who combined for 20 markers in the payoff canto and earned most of their points from the foul line.

Tabora finished with a season-high 33 points, while Tobias chipped in 20. Edwin Santos also had double figures, adding 10. Ocampo paced GPPC with 23, while Mungcal logged 20, but was limited to one field goal in the second half.

In the second game, PSS also leaned on its balanced scoring to beat Grillin’ in a nip-and-tuck game. PSS had 10 players making it to the scoreboard against Grillin’s five.

Dave Sablan, who was held to eight points in the first half, redeemed himself in the second, firing 15 to top-score for PSS with 23. He, Kelvin Fitial, and Gus Palacios knocked in timely baskets in the fourth to thwart Grillin’.

Grilling fell behind early, 4-16, but picked up its game late in the first period and hung in there, trailing by only three after three quarters, 60-63.

However, Grillin’ still could not overhaul the lead, as it had only Sonny Lerio, Lerio Pagarao, and Roy Hernandez scoring for the team in the fourth canto. Lerio had 11 points, Pagarao added 10, and Hernandez nailed four in the fourth frame.

Only Lerio and Pagarao canned more than one field goal for Grillin in the final canto. In contrast, PSS had five players scoring at least four points apiece. By the end of the match, PSS had four players tallying double figures and four others combining for 24 markers.

Lerio and Pagarao had 30 and 28 for Grillin,’ respectively, while Hernandez chipped in five. Rocyl Ritual had a quiet seven points, while James Kintz recorded five and both were scoreless in the fourth.

First Game

Wushin 87 – Tabora 33, Tobias 20, Santos 10, Cosino 8, Tibayan 8, Patawaran 3, Tengco 3, Farinas 2.
GPPC 67 – Ocampo 23, Mungcal 20, Tolentino 8, Sampang 8, M. Tagle 3, Jimenez 2, Jalandoni 2, Rivera 1.
Scoring by quarters: 8-20, 34-24, 52-47, 87-67.

Second Game

PSS-McGraw Hill 91 – Sablan 23, Villacrusis 13, Fitial 13, Palacios 11, Mendez 8, Manibusan 8, Buniag 4, Villagomez 4, Guerrero 2, Lee 1.
Grillin’ 86 – Lerio 30, Pagarao 28, Hernandez 15, Ritual 7, Kintz 5.
Scoring by quarters: 24-20, 41-40, 63-60, 91-86.