CVIRAA bags U19 title of ThreeSixty Pharmacy Cup

CEBU, Philippines - The Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) High School team nearly squandered a big lead before calling on Arc Gabriel “Argee” Araw-araw anew to outlast the University of the Visayas (UV), 85-79, and win the Under 19 division championship of the ThreeSixty Pharmacy Cup 2013 CYBL 6 at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

After taking a slim 20-18 edge at the end of the first quarter, the SHS-Ateneo de Cebu manned CVIRAA team took control of the game in the second period, padding its lead to 43-29 at halftime.

UV, however, bounced back in the third and fourth quarters to narrow the gap and nearly steal the game away. The Lancers cut the deficit to 64-58 after three periods, then slowly but surely chipped away at the CVIRAA lead which reached as many as eight points at 70-62 early in the fourth.

UV pulled wihin just a hairline, 77-76, on Jan Soliva’s three-point play with 2:04 left in the game, setting the stage for Araw-araw who took over when it counted most. Araw-araw replied with a clutch triple for an 80-76 lead with 1:50 remaining.

After Ralph Dinolan closed the gap at 80-78 with 1:34 left, Araw-araw exploited a solid Dawn Ochea screen and blew past his defender for a lay-up and an 82-78 CVIRAA lead with 32.4 seconds left.

Jerome Napao split his charities, 82-79, with 17.3 seconds to go before Araw-araw calmly sank two charities as UV fouled to stop the clock, giving CVIRAA an 84-79 lead with 10.2 seconds remaining. Araw-araw is no stranger to clutch situations as he pulled off the same heroic effort in Games 1 and 3 of the CESAFI High School Finals and at the overtime win at the Seaoil Elite League Finals, also against UV.

It was SHS-Ateneo de Cebu’s first ever championship in the CYBL in the higher age groups.

Araw-araw led five players in double digit scoring with 21 points, while Rendell Senining added 19. The team drew a balanced offense from Dawn Ochea (14 points), Lucky Ecarma (12 points) and Criss Galvez (10 points). Ralph Jude Dinolan led UV with 25 points. He was supported by Napao’s 19 points and 15 from Ernesto Limitares.

In the battle for  third place, the UV Under 16 team added a second trophy for the season as it outhustled ACES, 66-56. The Passerelle Lancers led from start to finish, but had to overcome another endgame rally that saw ACES slash the lead to only two, 54-52, with 2:48 left in the game. Gerald Fernandez and Dave Cabanilla put the game out of reach, 61-56 with 55 seconds left. Fernandez led the team with 21 points while Theo Joshua Flores added 14. Oliver Sarona led ACES with 22 as Ian Ortega had 15. The UV U16 team had earlier won the Under 16 division championship via a sweep of the field, prompting them to move up one age group for exposure purposes.

The ThreeSixty Pharmacy Cup 2013 is the flagship tournament of Season 6 of the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL). The tournament is composed of 50 teams spread over four age groups: Under 10, 13, 16 and 19. SHS-Ateneo de Cebu topped the Under 10 and 13 divisions, while UV snatched the Under 16 crown.  (FREEMAN)