By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Reach Sports-Colegio de San Agustin Bacolod (CSAB) punched a ticket to the semifinals round of the 3rd Chairman’s Cup Negros 17-and-under category after a 61-52 win over Kenn in the quarterfinals at the Willy and Nolita Au Court of Bacolod Tay Tung High School.

Raishen Rojas and Ed Marinduque spearheaded the offense for Reach Sports-CSAB with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Kenn made their presence felt early as they took a 16-10 first quarter advantage, but they were limited to just six points in the second frame as Reach Sports-CSAB took a 27-22 halftime lead.

Reach Sports-CSAB rode on their momentum in the second half as their lead ballooned to 49-34 in the third quarter.

Kenn attempted to make a run in the fourth quarter, but was foiled by the defense of Reach Sports-CSAB.

Jake Roxas and Floyed Lumio led the way for Kenn with eight points apiece, while Dylan Umadhay contributed seven markers.

Meanwhile, C&C Café/Ang Bata Hardware also secured a semifinals seat after an 82-75 victory over Bacolod Trinity Christian School/Lamtex Plastic Ware in their own quarterfinals encounter.

Jerry Manday spearheaded the offense with 27 points, Jester Paypa added 20 markers, while Ahron Cagayao shot 10 points for C&C Café/Ang Bata Hardware.

C&C Café had some anxious moments in the fourth quarter as they saw their 65-55 third quarter lead cut to 73-71 on back-to-back triples by Trinity’s Kenan Abella and John Joseph Gerardo.

However, C&C Café responded with a 9-4 scoring run behind Manday and Ahron Cagayao to establish an 82-75 advantage with less than a minute left in the fourth period.

Gerardo anchored Trinity’s offense with 19 points, Andrei Sto. Tomas backed him up offensively with 18 markers, while Abella and Enzo Robles ended with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bobcats, for their part, also moved on to the semifinals round after a come-from-behind 61-57 victory over the Obi Knights.

JayJay Dayon led the way for the winning team with 14 points./ASC, WDJ