BAGUIO CITY – New comer in the YMCA Cup Head Start Elementary School won its first game in the YMCA Cup when it outlasted Mount Carmel Montessori, 44-43, at the YMCA Gym, here, in their debut for the elementary level of the league.
A close fight ensued between the opponents from the first canto of play with a display of basketball strategies that brought about the excitement of spectators. An array of defensive and offensive strategies and the display of talents and skills in handling the ball also gave the game a rare expectation of elementary basketball.
After a 10-all standoff at the end of the first quarter, Head Start showed more eagerness to start the second canto of play as they engaged a running game with much enthusiasm that resulted in Mt. Carmel’s committing more errors and turnovers. That gave Head Start the advantage in controlling the game, registering a 6 point lead 24-18 at the half.
With much surprises from both teams, the second half of play got more exciting as Mt. Carmel came back with resilience. They resorted in a whole court press and trapping defense to also force Head Start to turnovers and started to chip off the lead, bringing it down to only three points at the end of the third canto, 31-34.
More action was seen in the fourth canto of play as both teams showed much of their skills, players scrambling for the ball, fancy dribbles, outlet passes and shooting that made the spectators on their feet.
With time ticking down, Mount Carmel saw an opportunity to take the lead and took advantage by connecting a three point conversion in the dying minutes of play to go up, 35-34. That initiated a see-saw game between the teams as action ensued on the last minute of play. Mount Carmel was still in the lead, 41-40, when a quick two point conversion by Head Start gave them back the lead 42-41. With just a few ticks to go, Mt. Carmel again manage to convert two more points to regain lead, 43-42, time down to just 3.9 seconds.
Mount Carmel then applied a challenging whole court press in an effort to deny Head Start the potential winning shot, however, Head Start countered strategy by issuing an outlet pass that found an open shooter who converted a two pointer to give them the win 44-43 as the fourth canto buzzer sounded.
Other winners in the elementary level were; UCGSHS 69, SLAH 11; Lucban 52, Puguis 38; Mabini 53, SLSC 30. High School Level winners; SLAH 72, PCNHS 55; UBSHS 52, Benguet NHS 48; YMCA 64, Head Start 57; Berkeley 78, PMS 62; SLULHS 90, San Jose 49; BCNHS 105, AGP 52; Berkeley 83, UCGSHS 77; UBSHS Greyhounds 73, SLSC 65.
