Valenzuela finally puts one over Batangas; San Juan stays on top

VALENZUELA found a perfect time to finally beat inaugural season champions Batangas City.

A more focused Valenzuela Classic squad came out to play a disoriented Batangas City Athletics on Saturday night at the Caloocan Sports Complex as the CDO Idol Cheesedog- backed team hammered out a 78-66 triumph.

San Juan Knights coasted to their fourth straight win, but not after surviving a late charge by home team Caloocan Supremos, 81-77, in the second game. The Knights remained undefeated after four games to keep solo lead in the 26-team cast.

But Valenzuela’s win was a breakthrough. It was the first win in four tries for the Classic over the Tanduay-sponsored Athletics since last season. Batangas City defeated Valenzuela in last season’s semifinal round.

But the Chris Gavina-mentored Classic came out prepared this time.

“We only had two days break, but for eight days, we’ve been preparing hard for our game against Batangas City. We’ve watched the films. We’ve devised plans on how we can become quicker. It feels great to finally get that win against this tough Batangas team,” Mr. Gavina told

BusinessWorld.

Chris de Chavez led the way for the Classic with 22 points, but defense proved to be the biggest factor in the team’s win against one of the most explosive teams in the tournament.

Valenzuela held Batangas City to a paltry 32% shooting from the field (22-of-68) with ex-pro Bong Galanza pacing the inaugural champions with 12 points.

Jhaymo Eguilos, Batangas City’s main man in the middle, was limited to eight points.

Even the Athletics’ usually dependable guards struggled big time as Lester Alvarez made only oneof-seven shots from the field while Teytey Teodoro only had five on twoof-nine shooting. —