Defending men’s basketball champion University of Baguio Cardinals will rely heavily on film review and tactical execution to counter the firepower of the Cordillera Career Development College Admirals and star guard Renz Jornacion as the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League enters the stepladder semifinals.
UB wrapped up the elimination round Tuesday evening at the UC gym with a dominant 88-56 victory over the University of the Cordilleras Jaguars, securing a 6-1 record as the Cardinals face a steep climb back to the finals.
CCDC finished the eliminations with a perfect 7-0 mark, earning an automatic finals berth with a twice-to-beat advantage. UB must now win at least three stepladder elimination games to set up a title rematch.
Cardinals head coach Kevin Orduna emphasized that neutralizing CCDC’s deep bench and main offensive option will require sticking to their defensive principles rather than making radical changes.
“Well, meron naman kaming mga schemes kasi eh,” Orduna said. “So babalik lang kami sa film viewing namin. Titingnan lang namin what went wrong, kung ano ‘yung went well… We have our schemes, kailangan lang namin mag-execute.”
Containing Jornacion remains top priority for the Cardinals. When asked about stopping CCDC’s premier scorer, Orduna joked about the difficulty of the task before stressing single-coverage accountability and team defense.
“Kung pwede nga lang na five against one na eh,” Orduna said with a laugh. “Pero hindi pwede, ‘di ba? So kailangan lang namin i-work ‘yung mga one-on-one defense namin, and ‘yun nga, ‘yung mga schemes namin sa kanila. Confident naman kami na kaya naming i-pull off ‘tong season na ‘to.”
In their elimination finale against UC, the Cardinals pulled away after a tight opening quarter.
While the Jaguars briefly held an early lead behind a three-pointer from Donni Cadiogan to make it 7-6 at the 6:21 mark, UB responded through Wade Chrysler Mondina to reclaim the lead before both teams ended the first period locked at 12-all.
UB gained momentum midway through the second quarter, using an 11-2 run capped by back-to-back baskets to push the lead to 31-18 at the 5:15 mark then maintained a comfortable 43-28 cushion going into halftime.
UC mounted a brief 9-0 rally in the third period capped by a Nerfie Jazz Marianothree-pointer to trim the deficit to 49-40 with 3:50 remaining.
The Cradinals quickly responded with a 14-2 surge to close the frame ahead 63-42.
The Cardinals continued their relentless pace in the final quarter, extending the margin to 30 points at 75-45 midway through the period before closing out the 32-point blowout victory.
Jude Quitolbo, who was almost a non – factor in their loss against the Admirals earlier, set the tone for the Cardinals with 22 points while Dion Marcus Ortaleza scored 16 while Yzyr Nel Palispis chipped in 13.
Mariano paced the Jaguars with a team high of 12 points with Cadiogan adding 10 while Junlor De Guzman and Keith Chesters Tomas adding eight points apiece. Roderick Osis
