SHARKS ADVANCE, WARRIORS/ROYALS POSTPONED

By Robert Balajadia

Action heated up, or cooled down in a sense, in the quarterfinals of the GSPN boys pre-season basketball tournament with the Sanchez Sharks defeating the Harvest Eagles while the contest between the ND Royals and St. Paul Warriors was postponed due to condensation on the court (slippery court) Tuesday night at the FD Jungle.

Sanchez 60, Harvest 37

The Sharks struggled in pool play, though you couldn’t tell Tuesday night as they stormed out the gates to get a double-digit lead on the Eagles in the early goings and never looked back.

Sharks Anthony Castro had 13 points and teammate John Buan had 12 as Sanchez closed out the 2nd quarter on an 8-2 run to go up 35-17 by the half.

Harvest managed to get as close as 41-28 midway through the 3rd quarter, but a timeout by Sharks coach Jin Han allowed his boys to regroup to keep the double-digit lead for the remained of the game as both teams emptied their bench in the 4th quarter.

Eagles’ Kobe Sotelo and Eeland Wilter had 8 points each.

Sharks’ John Buan finds a gap in the defense and attacks like a Shark in the open sea. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

ND 26, St. Paul 21 – POSTPONED

Due to an abundance of players slipping on the court, both coaches in St. Paul’s Neil Pineda and ND’s Harold Cruz agreed to postpone the game till Wednesday night at 7 pm at the Warriors gym in Harmon. The game will pick up where it ended Tuesday with 3:17 left in the 3rd quarter with the Royals leading.

The Royals have just one win under their belt in pool play, but their scrappy start and hustle on both ends had them leading the Warriors through three. The Warriors went undefeated in pool play and were in danger of an upset as the upstart Royals weren’t going away easy.

ND officially took the lead after Hance Barcinas scored on a nifty post move in the 2nd quarter to put the Royals up 11-10, part of a 6-0 run to begin the period. The Royals held the Warriors to just three points in the 2nd, their lowest scoring output in a quarter all tournament.

Keeping the momentum going, ND played just as hard in the 3rd period with Royals James Cepeda scoring their final bucket to go up 26-21 before the game was called after a series of players slipping ensued.

The game will be admission free Wednesday night, though the other two quarterfinals games between the FD Friars vs. the JFK Islanders and Sharks vs. Okkodo Bulldogs will continue on at their regular times at 5:30 pm and 7 pm, respectively.

Warriors’ Angelo ‘Arthur’ Rhodes gathers for a strong take to the rim. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Tournament Playoff Schedule

Wednesday:
FD vs. JFK @ 5:30 pm FD Phoenix Center
Sanchez vs. Okkodo @ 7 pm FD Phoenix Center
St. Paul vs. ND @ 7 pm St. Paul Gym (continuation)

Thursday:
St. Paul/ND vs. GW @ 5:30 pm FD Phoenix Center
FD/JFK vs. Sanchez/Okkodo @ 7 pm FD Phoenix Center

Friday:
Local Enterainment 6:30 pm

All-Tournament Team Announcement 6:45 pm

Championship Game – 7 pm (Docomo Pacific Live Broadcast Channel 2)
Legends 3-point shootout @ Halftime