Xavier School downed St. Jude Catholic School, 83-75, Thursday night (February 18), to complete a two-game sweep of the best-of-three Juniors Division finals in the 40th Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association tournament at the Chiang Kai Shek gym in Tondo.
In the title-series opener last February 15 at the Jacinto Tiu Competition Court inside the Xavier School campus, the Golden Stallions defeated the Judenites, 82-77. With the twin victories, Xavier School romped away with its third consecutive championship, joining Chiang Kai Shek College (1978-80 and 1990-92) as the only teams in Tiong Lian history to register three straight titles on two occasions.
Xavier School, which won the Juniors title for a seventh time in the past 10 seasons, also topped the tournament from 2001 to 2003 behind the terrific trio of JosephYeo, Tyrone (TY) Tang and Chris Tiu.
In last Thursday’s Game Two of the 2010 finals, first-year head coach Jonathan (Budds) Reyes’ troops gave up the game’s first two points (a Kim Lo follow-up) before knocking in 14 straight points, including back-to-back triples by Donal Ong and seven points by Jose Anton (Jett) Manuel, to go ahead, 14-2. The Gold and Blue never trailed thereafter and took the first 10-minute quarter, 23-14, on a three-point play by sophomore Jeron Teng, who did not start the game following an ankle sprain injury he suffered in the early minutes of the series opener.
Xavier School grabbed a 32-14 advantage – the biggest in the entire contest – after scoring 16 straight markers (from 16-14) bridging the first and second quarters. Manuel, a senior, was forced to the sidelines with three fouls (two in the first quarter) in the first 20 minutes but Teng’s 11 second-quarter points gave the Jesuits-run school a 40-30 lead at halftime.
Despite Manuel sitting on the bench for the entire third quarter, St. Jude was unable to make any headway as Teng kept the pressure by muscling his way for eight of Xavier’s 18 points for a 58-46 edge by the Stallions after three quarters. Xavier was still ahead by double digits, 64-50, when the Judenites – like in Game One – came roaring back midway through the fourth quarter behind the outside bombs of top gun Jason Ligad, who scattered a dozen markers during the final 10-minute frame.
Ligad and Kim Lo sparked a 7-0 run that trimmed their team’s deficit to seven points, 64-57, at the 4:49 mark. However, Harold Ng completed a three-point play and Donal Ong connected on his third three-pointer to give the Xaverians a 70-57 edge, time down to 3:22.
After the Gold and Blue team went ahead, 74-60, on a Manuel basket, St. Jude threatened again and came within eight, 76-68, with less than a minute to play. Ng, who scored seven points in the last quarter, knocked in a fielder with 31.5 seconds left for a 78-68 Xavier lead that finally broke the backs of the two-time runner-up Judenites.
Teng, the tournament’s No. 1 scorer (23.3 ppg) and No. 3 rebounder (11.6 rpg), finished with 25 points (on 10-for-19 field-goal shooting), 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals in 35 minutes and was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player. Manuel, who hit at a second-best 20.1-point clip for the entire competitions, collected 15 points and two rebounds in just 16 minutes.
Ng tallied 12 and Kevin Lim, Donal Ong and Bryan Tan each had nine points. Lim also grabbed 11 boards for Xavier, which scored 23 points off St. Jude’s 23 turnovers. Ligad, a junior, wound up with 22 points (including 4-for-8 from the three-point area), seven rebounds and two steals for St. Jude, who for the second straight game won the rebounding race, 50-44. Lo, the tournament’s leading rebounder at 11.9 rpg, chalked up 16 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Stocky guard Derrence Lam totaled 14 points and hardworking forward Justin Uy had 11 points and seven reebies for the losers.
Xavier School finished the 2010 season with a perfect 9-0 record and an overall 19-game winning streak over three seasons (including Game Three of the 2008 finals and 9-0 in 2009).
