Lancers smell victory

Sunstar
October 11, 2007

Will the best-of-five championship series of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. end in today’s Game 4 at the Cebu Coliseum?

The organizers seem to think so as the awarding ceremonies will be held this afternoon prior to the main offering, which is Game 4 of the collegiate championships between defending champions University of the Visayas Green Lancers and University of San Carlos Warriors at 5 p.m.

Today’s game is a must-win for the Warriors to keep their title bid alive. After the Warriors claimed Game 1, it became an all-Lancers show as UV swept the next two games to lead the series 2-1.

The Warriors need to keep their cool and step up their defense so they could shackle the unstoppable UV guards. On top of their concerns are Von Lañete, Ritchum Dennison and Chris Diputado, who went on scoring splurge in the last two games.

USC head coach Jay Ramirez admitted after their win in Game 1 that though they lacked the talent of the powerhouse UV squad, they made up for it in their stifling defense.

Like in Game 1, USC needs to put its defense into play and put the UV guards away. This is a must since these are the people who dictate UV’s victories.

Offensively, Enrico Llanto needs to play decoy and trust his teammates more to do the scoring, while the other Warriors need to step up and not leave Llanto and partner-in-crime Niño Ramirez do all the dirty work as the two can’t win the game alone

If the perimeter shooting of the powerful USC duo plus Carlo Padayao and Sam Hermosa clicks today and they outscore the slow-starting Lancers, then they will have a
chance to recuperate and extend the series to a deciding Game 5.

Before the game, the awarding ceremonies for the other winners will take place.

Those who will get an award are women’s basketball champion USC Lady Warriors and runnerup University of Cebu. High school division champion UV Baby Lancers will be awarded as well as the University of Cebu, University of Southern Philippines Foundation and USC Baby Warriors.

In the collegiate division, University of San Jose Recoletos and Southwestern University will also be awarded and the high school and collegiate Mythical Five and Most Valuable Players will also be named. (MCB)