Casili gains 1-0 upstart, Garing forges rubber
In other women's matches, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-2, while Peng Shuai, Elena Vesnina, Elise Mertens,
Coco Vandeweghe and Alize Cornet also won.
Edvar Aguilar and Kendrick Alcover led a balanced attack as Casili upended Lamac, 85-76, to draw first blood in the best-of-three Midgets Category A finals of the 7th Mayor Teresa 'Nene' P. Alegado Fiesta Basketball Cup the other night at the Consolacion covered court.
Aguilar finished with 20 points and Alcover scored 18 for Casili, which needs only one more win to wrap up the coveted title in their bracket.
The two protagonists fought on even terms for most of the first three quarters but Casili let loose a solid endgame punch, 23-15, to knock down Lamac.
Melmar Maluya and Jano Hermitanio also figured prominently with 29 combined points for Casili.
John Miguel Maglasang paced Lamac with 20 points, while Adrian Don Adolfo and Darius Edrian Casiao nailed 15 and 11 markers, respectively, in a losing effort.
Earlier, Rovello Robles, Jay Dy Esdrelon, and Von Cedrix Burlaos tallied 17 points each as Pulpogan bested Poblacion Occidental, 78-71, to lift the third place trophy.
In the SK Juniors Category B finals, Albert Villamor fired 20 points as Garing pummeled the twice-to-beat Tolotolo, 80-68, to forge a suddendeath match.
Clyde Alin and Joshua Marayan chipped in 16 points apiece, while Vonxale Tundag added 14 markers for Garing, which kept Tolotolo at bay after posting a 59-49 lead going into the final 10 minutes of play.
Jaypee Jay Ponce, Jay Harold Herbieto and Jessie Bathan connived for 51 points, albeit for a losing cause. They enjoyed a twice-to-beat incentive for being undefeated in the elimination round. —
EBV