St. Paul College of Pasig (SPCP) held off a gritty fourth-quarter stand by Live Learn Hoops Brgy. QC to secure a 45-42 victory—its second straight—in the Akari U16 Girls’ Basketball Invitational on Thursday at the 3rd Fitness Lab.
Clinging to a 42-38 advantage in the final frame, SPCP took a hit when top scorer Brooklyn Sanchez fouled out with 4:38 still to play. Rising to the occasion, Fernandez and Andrea Panganiban stepped up by combining for three free throws to stretch the cushion to 45-38 with under two minutes left.
Princess Cunanan refused to let LLH go down easily, scoring back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to just three, 45-42, with 51.5 seconds remaining.
SPCP had chances to put the game away, but Fernandez and Mikaela Galauran missed four free throws in the final moments. On the other end, Reside couldn’t capitalize either, missing two shots from the line that would’ve made it a one-point game.
With four seconds left, SPCP’s #16 again came up empty at the stripe, but Banguilay’s last-second half-court heave didn’t connect, allowing St. Paul to hang on for the hard-earned win.
Sanchez once again led the way for SPCP with 24 points and five assists, following up her 31-point explosion against Tripple B the night before. She was the only St. Paul player to score in double digits.
For Live Learn Hoops, Brianna Banguilay finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and four steals, while Cunanan notched a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds in the losing effort.
SPCP climbed up to a 3-1 record, while LLH dropped to 1-3.
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