Charlie nips Bravo in Cekalco basketball

TEAM Charlie nipped Bravo, 71-69, Saturday night for its fourth win in six games (4-2) in the ongoing Center Katipunan A. Lopez Christian Organization (CEKALCO) 2013 Second Season basketball tournament at the A. Lopez open court in barangay Labangon, Cebu City.

Team Charlie enjoyed a hairline lead, 17-16, in the opening period with Estoy Panerio leading the charge. But Bravo sizzled in the second quarter and responded with a 17-12 rally led by the hot tandem of George Gacho and skipper Dondon Tenchavez to erect a four-point advantage, 33-29 at the half.

Bravo continued to outplay Charlie in the third quarter, and outscored the latter, 24-20 behind high-leaping slotman Bryan Codilla and Tata Maspiñas for a, sizeable, 57-49 lead heading to the final quarter.

However, Team Charlie stepped up its defense in the fourth period anchored on Dodong Soco and Donny Panugaling which effectively cooled down Bravo’s offense and allowed Charlie to steal the victory after outscoring Bravo, 22-12 in the windup.

Estoy Panerio and Richard Gubaton paced Team Charlie with a game-high 28 and 18 points, respectively, while George Gacho paced Bravo (2-4) with 18 markers.

BOX SCORES

CHARLIE (71)- Panerio 28, Gubaton 18, Soco 9, Bacho 4, Do. Panugaling 4, Da. Panugaling 4, Besties 2, Molejon 2.

BRAVO (69)- Gacho 18, Tenchavez 13,`Codilla 12, Maspiñas 10, Castro 8, Arnival 6, Perino 2. /Correspondent Dale Rosal