CTSI nips Lady Ol’Aces in OT

CTSI’s Nanaka Watanabe, right, takes off for a shot against the Lady Ol’Aces’ Jaime Pangelinan during their game in the women’s division finals of the 2019 TanHoldings Christmas Basketball last Sunday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

CTSI needed extra minutes to secure the women’s division championship in the 2019 TanHoldings Christmas Basketbal Tournament, eking out a 46-44 victory over the Lady Ol’Aces last Sunday night at the Gilette Mutlipurpose Gymnasium.

Jan Travilla knocked in a go-ahead triple in overtime, while Irish Pagarao also scored 3 points in the extension to help CTSI survive the Ol’Aces.

The Lady Ol’Aces drew first blood in OT with Connie Camacho hitting a running jumper, 42-40, with a little over three minutes left in the game. Both teams traded errors and misses in the ensuing play before Travilla, who was practicing her shooting from beyond the arc while waiting for the game to resume, unloaded a trey to put CTSI back in the lead, 43-42. Pagarao made it a 4-point cushion when she delivered on a coast-to-coast layup and split her charities, 46-42, with less than a minute left in the finale.

Pagarao tried to drive anew against a phalanx of Lady Ol’Aces defenders and begged for foul, but it was a let-go play. Pagarao stayed back, as she fell on the floor, leaving CTSI one man down on defense and allowing the Lady Ol’Aces’ Jaime Pangeinan to bank in a shot and keep their team in the game, 27.8 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Lady Ol’Aces then got the possession back and had a chance to tie the match anew with a 2-pointer or win it outright with a triple after Pagarao was slapped with an offensive foul, down to the final 10.3 seconds. However, CTSI’s defense did a great job sticking to the Lady Ol’Aces’ shooters with Pagarao and Nanaka Watanabe hounding Camacho, who though she managed to put up a shot in front of their bench, it was way off and the ball went out of the baseline as time expired.

Travilla top-scored for CTSI in the title win, making all her 15 points from beyond the arc. Pagarao also finished in twin digits with her 14 markers, while Watanabe tallied 8.

The Lady Ol’Aces’ Cassandra Camacho leads the team’s attack in the closing seconds of regulation during their game against CTSI in the women’s division finals of the 2019 TanHoldings Christmas Basketball last Sunday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Camacho and Lia Rangamar had 14 and 12 points, respectively, on a losing effort, while Cassandra Camacho chipped in 8, including the equalizer in the regulation. Cassandra also had a chance to make the game-winner in the fourth quarter after Pagarao missed an open shot from the 3-point area and the former got the rebound and dribbled all the way to their frontcourt. However, Cassandra hesitated, as when she was about to pull up for long shot, she faced a CTSI defender. Cassandra was called for a travelling violation and CTSI got the last possession with 0.6 of a second left in regulation.

The time was not enough for CTSI to attempt a decent shot, as it inbounded the ball from the backcourt, sending the finale in overtime.

CTSI 46—Travilla 15, Pagarao 14, Wanatabe 8,Alegre 2 W. Echavez 3, Oiterong 2, Kautz 2.
Lady Ol’Aces 44—Camacho 14, Rangamar 12, Ca. Camacho 8, Kenty 2, Pangelinan 2.
Scoring by quarter: 29-26, 40-40, 46-44.