Isaiah Reyes and Kevin Gamboa scored 13 points apiece in the first quarter that set the tone of the lopsided contest and underscored the Jr. Phone Pals‚ potential as title-contender in this tournament confined to kids 9-12 years old.
It was the second win in as many games in Group B for the Jr. Phone Pals, composed mostly of Pasarelle players from Ateneo. The Jr. Barakos absorbed its second straight defeat.
With Reyes and Gamboa at the firing end, TNT-QC opened a 16-point lead after one quarter before closing the half at 49-32.
Carlos Reyes added 14 for the Jr. Phone Pals, who will face the Shell-Manila Jr. Turbo Chargers next on May 12.
Kevin Cruz tallied 18 points, Patrick Santiago had 15 and Michael Bautista added 12 for Red Bull-Pasay.
FedEx-San Juan also registered their second win in the same fashion with Ryan Monteclaro scoring 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter as the Jr. Express ripped the game wide open, 30-2 after just one quarter.
Their second win in as many games tied the FedEx-San Juan with Ginebra-Makati for the lead in Group A. Tomy Cruz tallied 18 points for the Jr. Realtors, who fell to their second loss.
In the other Group A action, Purefoods-Taguig clobbered Alaska-Mandaluyong in the lone game yesterday for its first win in two games.
Ronel Santos led the Jr. Hotdogs with 19 points while Gilbert Villahermosa paced the Jr Aces with eight points. Alaska-Mandaluyong absorbed its second loss in as many game.