David takes down Goliath.
In a shocking turn of events, Western Visayas pulled off an upset victory after eliminating defending champions National Capital Region (NCR) in the quarterfinals of the Palarong Pambansa secondary boys’ basketball, 76-67, in Laoag, Ilocos Norte.
Playing like well-oiled machines, the John Guanco-mentored cagers showed a lot of grit to dethrone the reigning champs, including last year’s MVP Roje Matias.
Represented by St. Robert’s International College Panda Rockets with reinforcements from Capiz and Negros cagers, WV surged to an early double-digit lead before thwarting NCR’s late run with timely baskets from Paul Barcelona and Alfred Ysulan.
NCR was represented by National University Nazareth School Bullpups and hopes to claim the back-to-back title in this year’s edition of Palaro.
According to WV team manager Eugene Chua, unseating NCR was a huge achievement for his team, but they hope to complete their run in the week-long competition.
“Of course our goal is the gold,” Chua told during an interview with Fastbreak. “Very huge win, but we cannot settle for this. We went here to Palaro with an aim of winning the championship, and hopefully we can complete the job.”
Chua also told Iloilo Metropolitan Times that they managed to focus, follow the gameplan execute, and lastly, play hard on defense, the reason why they beat the NCR.
To recall, NCR was unblemished after going 3-0 in the elimination round, where it defeated Northern Mindanao with a 98-67 blowout before routing Bicol (Region 5) with a 105-58 masterful victory. NCR also eked out an 83-67 win over Eastern Visayas to go spotless after the eliminations.
Western Visayas, on the other hand, had a 3-1 record in Group C.
With the win, the team is advancing to the semifinals, a game closer to the title.IMT Sports
