SHSJ is Visayas Passerelle Champion
USC South is Runner-up to Ateneo de Iloilo in SBP
Roxas City - Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) scored a back-to-back championship in the Visayas Regional Finals of the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament after outlasting Iloilo Commercial Central High School (ICCHS), 84-75. But it didn’t come easy.
The Eagles raced off to a 30-15 lead after one quarter behind the 16 points of Kris Porter and 12 of Rebreb Diputado. The lead was sustained through halftime with SHSJ enjoying a 47-34 lead. That’s when ICCHS decided to make a move. They outshot the Eagles in the third quarter to cut the SHSJ lead down to 64-55 after three periods. At one point, ICCHS got as close as five, 52-55 in the third period before SHSJ retaliated with its own counter rally. ICCHS banked on its momentum to repeatedly attach the interior SHSJ defense, cutting down the lead to 62-66 at the six minute mark of the fourth quarter. Porter, Diputado, and Adrian Muller then combined with an 8-0 run to take a comfortable 77-64 lead with 3:13 left. After Muller’s split charities gave the Eagles a 79-68 lead with 1:56 left, ICCHS made one more charge with a 7-2 run to cut the lead down to 75-81, with 24 seconds left in the game. Bradley Bacaltos and Muller then sealed the win with three free throws for the final count.
Porter dominated the inside defense of ICCHS with 22 points. Bacaltos added 14 while Diputado and Muller had 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Eagles will now represent the Visayas in the national finals of the tournament which will be held next month. They’ll go up against defending national champion La Salle Greenhills, Xavier University of Cagayan de Oro, and the winner for the Luzon Finals.
SHSJ Coach Rommel Rasmo said that winning the Visayas championship didn’t come easy. “We had a hard time because they (ICCHS) were very persistent and never gave up, while we had moments of complacency in the end-game that gave them another chance to take the game.” Rasmo said.
While Cebu was going for a double Visayas championship, it will have to settle with sending only one team to the national finals as University of San Carlos South (USC) lost in a tight-rope fashion to Ateneo de Iloilo (ADI), 40-42, for the championship of the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) division. After taking the first quarter, 14-7, it was a close, nip and tuck affair all the way to the final score. Both teams were tied at 19-all at halftime, while USC South took a slim 32-30 lead after three periods. The fourth period was a see-saw battle for the lead with ADI kicking things off to take 33-32 lead. USC South then replied with a burst to take a 36-33 lead. ADI regained the lead at 39-38 with 1:56 left in the game. After a series of turnovers on both sides, Juneou Antigua scored on a lay-up to give USC South a 40-39 lead with 38.5 seconds left in the game. ADI’s Miguel Sasuman then drilled a long jumper from the wing to give ADI the lead, 41-40 with 21 seconds left. USC South had another chance to win the game, but they mishandled a rebound after a missed free throw by Sasuman with 14.7 seconds left. ADI made one more free throw for the final score with 11.3 seconds left. The Baby Warriors had one more shot at sending the game into overtime, but couldn’t convert against the tight ADI defense. Carlo Ortega and Christian Joy Satorre had eight points apiece to lead USC South. The loss snapped USC South’s six-game winning streak dating back to the Cebu leg of the tournament.
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