Coke Interzonals on; Taguig cagers make it

MANILA—Taguig caught the last bus to the Interzonal phase of the 2nd Coca-Cola Hoopla National Capital Region Championship with a 90-73 demolition of defending champion Muntinlupa on Saturday at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex.

Neither the rains nor the hometown Muntinlupa crowd couldn’t slow down Taguig in its march to the semifinals, where the South Zone bet joined Quezon City (East), Mandaluyong (Central), Caloocan (North), and Antipolo (West) in the two-round affair.

The fifth-placed team gets eliminated in the Interzonal while the top four teams clash in a crossover with the Nos. 1 and 2 teams holding twice-to-beat advantages.

Determined to avenge its 79-77 loss to Muntinlupa at its home court last Saturday that forced a rubber match, Taguig exploded a 10-0 bomb ignited by gunner Joshua Morris Mayor’s jumper to pull ahead 74-65 midway of the final quarter.

The scores:
TAGUIG 90—Mayor 27, Parado 18, Santos 14,  Portuguez 10,  Pumaris 7, Barro 6, Loresca 4, Baclas 2, Mariano 2,
MUNTINLUPA 73—Buenaflor 21, Ocampo 11, Paquinto 11,  Tan 7, Salvador 6, Adriano 6, Minoc 5, Sanchez  4, Blasado 2.
Quarters: 20-18; 40-38; 64-61; 90-73