The pros taught the amateurs a neat lesson in basketball as the Petron Blaze Boosters routed the all stars of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi), 82-61, in their exhibition game yesterday at the packed Cebu Coliseum.
The Cesafi All Stars hung tough in the first half and even took the lead at 22-21 after a 7-0 run that featured a gorgeous up-and-under move by slam dunk champion Rene Saycon, a three-pointer by Mike Cantonao and a basket by Miguel Tabaloc. The Cesafi All Stars found themselves trailing by just four, 32-36, at halftime.
Petron decided to stop toying with their opponents and turned up the pressure, which resulted in a 10-2 blast out of halftime with former University of Cebu stalwart June Mar Fajardo scoring on a putback and two freethrows to give his team a 46-34 lead.
The All Stars momentarily stemmed the tide and came to within six, 40-46, after another three-point bomb from Cantonao.
But Petron retaliated with a period-closing 10-0 run with fastbreak baskets from Jay Washington and a straight-away three pointer from Chico Lanete to put the Boosters on top, 56-40, heading to the last period.
Jojo Duncil led Petron with 18 points while Fajardo had a quiet 12 markers. Danny Ildefonso chipped in with 11 points.
The Boosters missed the services of several top players including big man Dorian Pena and guards, Joseph Yeo, Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter and this year’s third pick in the PBA draft Alex Mallari.
Cantonao was the lone bright spot for the All Stars as he made 19 points off six three-point shots.
NORTH DOWNS SOUTH
In the juniors all star game, the North team defeated the South squad, 87-77.
Dawn Ochea of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, grabbed MVP honors in that game with his 15 points.
The slam dunk competition was won by UV’s Saycon while University of Cebu’s Kim Gomez, son of former PBA sniper Rhoel Gomez, showed that the apple did not fall far from the tree as he won the three-point shootout contest.