Staglets shock Red Cubs in PSSBC hoop

THE SAN SEBASTIAN Staglets pulled the rug off from under the national junior hoops factory San Beda Red Cubs as they upset the 20-time NCAA champions, 75-71, in the semifinals to advance to the championship round of the 1st Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship (PSSBC) last Friday at the Chiang Kai Shek College gym in Manila.

The Staglets were still seething over their finals loss to San Beda this past season and used the memory as well as the lessons from that series to come back from a 53-63 deficit.

At the helm of the stirring fightback was Ryan Costelo, who guided San Sebastian to the victory with clutch plays along with Alfren Gayosa and Rhanzel Yong.

Yong scored 21 points on a perfect shooting clip from the field. He also had 10 rebounds while Costelo added 16 points. Lorenzo Navarro and Michael Calisaan had 10 apiece.

Standing opposite the Staglets will be the Hope Christian High School, which came back from an 11-point deficit to stun the Letran Squires, 67-60.

Jollo Go caught fire when Hope Christian needed him the most as he sank in three three-pointers and five freethrows in the penultimate period that turned a three-point deficit into a 54-46 lead.

Go finished with 14 points but it was Clint Dolinguez who led the way as he tallied 22 points and 10 boards, while John Apacible chipped in 16 points and 15 rebounds/Correspondent Jonas Panerio