Baby Warriors oust Wildkittens

The University of San Carlos Baby Warriors yesterday crushed the Cebu Institute of Technology Wildkittens, 55-48, in their knockout match to complete the four-team semifinal cast in the secondary division of the 6th Cebu Schools Athletic Association (CESAFI) basketball event at the USC gym.

The Baby Warriors now joined the University of Cebu, University of Southern Philippines and the University of the Visayas into the next round. The qualifiers in the collegiate division are UV, USC, UC and the University of San Jose-Recoletos.

It was still anybody's ballgame until the first few minutes of the fourth period as the two protagonists engaged in a see-saw battle most of the way.

After Robert Gines Codilla shattered a 47-all deadlock with 4:43 left in the game, John Philip de los Santos sank two timely baskets to give the Baby Warriors a little breathing space, 54-48, 45 ticks to go before the final buzzer.

An 8-1 spurt by the Baby Warriors at the final four-minute mark of the contest also saw the endgame collapse by the Wildkittens.

Baby Warriors head coach Roland Remedio said it's better to face UC than either USP or UV. They will face the UC Junior Webmasters in the semifinals, with the latter enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage.

Remedio, however, admitted that his boys are inferior man-to-man against UC, which swept all its six games in the elimination round - a feat only UV achieved in the collegiate side of the fence.

Under the tutelage of Remedio, it's the third time the Baby Warriors barged into the semis. Last year, they were eliminated by the Wildkittens and what a time for them to exact vengeance.

Codilla topscored for the Baby Warriors with 17 points, while De los Santos added 11 points.

Rex Ybañez had 15 points and Clayton Labagala finished with 12 points for the Wildkittens.

The scores

USC (55) - Codilla 17, Delos Santos 11, Alocillo 8, Bercede 7, Ferrolino 5, Otida 5, Omolon 2

CIT (48) - Ybañez 15, Labagala 12, Almario 11, Quiroga 9, Cabrera 7, Augusto 5, Aranas 4, Santos 3