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Nokia-Pilipinas R.P. Youth Basketball National Team Wins by 1-point After a Thrilling Comeback! |
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Written by Francis Sevilla
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Saturday, 05 April 2008 |
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As Reported by: Isagani C.Garcia II
Los Angeles, CA – The Salesian High School basketball gymnasium was filled with anticipation and excitement. The evening felt like a mid-summer’s night match up against two rivals where heat and humidity where major factors. The Exhibition Game lived up to expectation as the RP Youth Team came back from a 22-point deficit in the 3rd quarter to beat the Hooptown All-Stars 62-61. The first half was a feeling out period where the RP Youth Team attempted various defensive strategies to keep Hooptown off balance. The RP Youth Team deployed man-to-man full court pressure and half court traps to obtain easy steals, but Hooptown was steady sharing the basketball and hitting open shots. Towards the end of the 1st half, Hooptown began to exercise its strength extending its lead to end the half with a 39-24 score. 
Recent file photo of Nokia Pilipinas in action at the ongoing PBL.
The 2nd half started with Hooptown expanding its lead to 22 points and looked as if the game was going to be a blowout. After a timeout, RP Youth clamped down defensively and kept Hooptown scoreless for almost 10 minutes. RP Youth erased their deficit little by little where every basket scored provided the team with confidence. To start the 4th quarter, RP Youth Team was still down 14 points but had momentum on their side. The game went down the wire when the RP Youth took the lead with less than a minute left in the contest. Hooptown advanced the ball upcourt where Nate Bichara (Los Angeles Valley College) hit a 3 pointer to put Hooptown up by 2. With less than 30 seconds left, Ryan Garcia (Far Eastern University) drove to the basket and got fouled making the continuation shot. Garcia completed the 3-point play by making the free throw and putting the RP Youth up by 1. Hooptown took the ball out of bounds in attempt for last seconds heroics, but RP Youth defenders batted the ball away as time expired. RP Youth limited Hooptown to 9 points, outscoring them by 15 in the final quarter. The teams will play another highly anticipated rematch at Salesian High School on March 29, 2008 at 6pm.
| Score by Quarters |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
| RP Youth |
12 |
12 |
14 |
24 |
62 |
| Hooptown |
18 |
21 |
13 |
9 |
61 |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 April 2008 )
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