By Louie Razon
After starting its season with two blow-out wins over St. Paul’s College of Pasig and Angelicum College, the Junior Lady Archers beat Chiang-Kai Shek College (CKSC) on Saturday, 58-54. This was definitely DLSZ’s toughest test so far in its defense of the WNCAA title. After building a 9-point lead in the first quarter which had grown to 14 points in the fourth, the Junior Lady Archers had to hang on for dear life when veteran guard Angel Caldo and reigning MVP Kat Nuñez successively went down with cramps, just when CKS went to a desperate full-press with 3 minutes remaining. Successive turnovers quickly shrank the lead to three until Nuñez returned to restore order and convert her free throws with 30 seconds left.
DLSZ seemed to be hardly feeling the impact of the graduation of key veterans Annette Razon, Nicole Arguelles, Tatj Medina and Isabel Menchaca, as 6-foot junior center Jamie Roxas and sophomore power forward Kristine Teo lorded it over the CKS frontline. New recruit, Justine Domingo, provided key points also. While the temporary sidelining of Caldo and Nuñez showed the fragility of the ball-handling corps, the Junior Lady Archers are on track to sweep their group as they face relatively light opposition prior to the playoffs. The WNCAA follows a two-group format with a playoff between the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams in each group, which is then followed by the quarterfinals.