McGraw-Hill Public School System’s shooting never slackened in the first half as it kept the six-point lead towards the end of the first and second quarters.
Dave Sablan who led the Hyatt’s offense in this period made it a hard for PSS to stretch the lead as he sizzled with 17 points and matched Mateo’s number of steals. He could have made it harder for PSS had his finger did not break in the last few minutes of the first half.
Nate Mateo continued his adrenaline surge and Ray Lizama picked up where Sablan left off, carrying Hyatt together for a slim lead at the end of the third quarter.
PSS and Hyatt traded shots that kept the game too close in the final quarter and ended in 73-73 tie.
The first over time raged on as both teams tightened the defense.
In the offense, however, Hyatt and PSS attackers spent more time killing time than going for a kill.
The shooting spree ensued between two tandems—Mateo and Lizama versus Derrick Aughenbaug and Maverick Itibus.
Mateo added two more to his 24 regular period markers while Lizama kept the head with four of his 26 points.
Itibus who had brief appearance in the first half scored four of his six points and Aughenbaugh added three to finish with 21 points.
Gabaldon let the bombs away in the beginning of the second OT with his second three-pointer.
At this period, only Bob Coldeen scored. Earlier in the first half, he had a long-range feat that could have helped PSS keep pace this time but fired only two-pointers to have six of his 11 points.
Gabaldon’s third three and Mateo’s continuous attacks nailed PSS to 86 points and Hyatt got the badly needed win to hang on to the championship games.
Scores:
Hyatt 93 – N. Mateo 31, R. Lizama 26, D. Sablan 17, Gino Libuw 10, Y. Gabaldon 9.
PSS 86 – D. Aughenbaugh 21, P. Mendiola 19, J. Villacrusis 16. M. Manibusan 13, B. Coldeen 11, M. Itibus 6.
Quarterscores: 15-21,34-40, 52-51, 73-73 OT: 80-80 2OT: 93-86
