Taguig makes Hoopla Inter-Zonal phase

Taguig caught the last bus to the Inter-Zonal phase of the 2nd Coca-Cola Hoopla National Capital Region Championship late Saturday, ousting defending champion Muntinlupa, 90-73, at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex. Neither the heavy downpour nor the hometown Muntinlupa crowd couldn’t slow down Taguig on its march to the semifinals where the South Zone bet joined early qualifiers Quezon City (East), Mandaluyong (Central), Caloocan (North), and Antipolo (West) in the succeeding two-round affair. The fifth-placed team gets eliminated in the Inter-Zonal while the top four teams clash in a cross-over with the Nos. 1 and 2 teams holding twice-to-beat advantages. The finals will be a best-of-three showdown. Trailing 61-54,Taguig uncorked a 10-0 run courtesy of Christian Barro, Armin Santos, Efren Parado and Carl Francis Loresca to wrest the lead at the close of the third period. Determined to avenge its 79-77 defeat to Muntinlupa at its home court last Saturday that forced a rubber match, Taguig unleashed another 10-0 surge ignited by ace gunner Joshua Morris Mayor's jumper to pull ahead, 74-65, midway of the final quarter. From there, Taguig simply exchanged baskets with the dethroned champion. Muntinlupa coach Fred Levita did not wait for the game to finish and walked toward the Taguig bench to congratulate coach Mixson Ramos with 12 seconds remaining. "Maganda ang nilaro nila. Talagang kanila ang laro. Kontra pelo kami. Dalawang beses tinalo nila kami sa aming turf at dalawang beses din namin tinalo sila sa kanilang court," said Levita, who consoled his players after the loss and vowed to come back next year with an even stronger lineup. Mayor, the league's holder of the most number of points with 43 points, paced Taguig with 27 points, Efren Parado chipped in 18, Armin Santos 14 and Maru Portuguez 10. Taguig and Muntinlupa fought fiercely in the first three periods, exchanging leads and battling through six deadlocks. — RJ/KBK, GMA News