St. Stephen's gains semis

Clyde Aparicio and Michael Lim produced another double-double performance as St. Stephen’s High School downed Chiang Kai Shek College, 69-58, to advance to the semis of the 39th Yakult Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association (MMTBA) Championship Wednesday at the Uno High School gym in Manila.

Aparicio exploded for 21 points aside from grabbing 11 rebounds while Lim had 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Stephenians dominated the game from start to finish.

With the win, St. Stephen’s, which finished the elims at No. 4, joined early semifinalist Xavier School in the event sponsored by Rusty Lopez, Converse, Puma, Davies Paint, FG Jeans, Burlington, MEC Computer, Healthy Options, Absolute Water, Outlast Batteries and PG Flex Linoleum.

In the first game, No. 6 Hope Christian High School leaned on the heroics of Janrey Garrido to score a stunning 74-72 win over No. 3 and host Uno High School and force a knockout match in their semis series.

Garrido finished with 23 points, including two free throws in the last seven seconds to upset the heavily favored Uno squad in the event being covered on TV by Makisig Sports Network.

Garrido was amply supported by Alvin Monzon who had 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Meantime, No. 2 Horace Christian College goes for the other semis berth when it battles No. 7 St. Jude Catholic School at 5:30 p.m. also at the Uno gym in Manila.