Central Luzon (Region III) is back in the semifinals of the Palarong Pambansa secondary boys’ basketball after an 83-54 quarterfinal beatdown of CARAGA (Region XIII) on Thursday at the Centennial Arena in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.

Central Luzon and CARAGA were neck and neck in the first quarter, 16-16, before the squad from Pampanga started to put the pedal to the metal in the second frame.

The boys of Coach Frederick Dimatulac exploded for a 25-point quarter while limiting the Agusan del Sur-repped squad to only eight, ending the half with a 17-point lead, 41-24.

Central Luzon’s style and pace of play continued to reign in the third, going on a 27-12 scoring disparity against a CARAGA team that seemed to have lost all rhythm against the pesky defense of the former Palaro finalists.

The win sets a semifinals date between the Pampanga Delta-backed squad and Davao Region, who earlier disposed of Northern Mindanao in their quarterfinals match.