Xavier and Chiang Kai Shek clash in Tiong Lian Finals
Henry Liao ’72, YEHEY! Contributors
2/15/2007 9:02:38 AM
It will be unbeaten Chiang Kai Shek College versus defending champion Xavier School for the Juniors Division crown in the 31st Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association tournament.
On Valentine’s Day, the Chiang Kai Shek Blue Dragons eliminated unheralded Grace Christian High School, 94-62, and the Xavier Golden Stallions ousted St. Stephen’s High School, 68-55, to arrange a title showdown for the second consecutive year.
With their rivals armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, Grace Christian and St. Stephen’s needed to win their Feb. 14 semifinal games to force sudden-death playoffs but both failed miserably.
Chiang Kai Shek scored the first eight points of the game against Grace Christian, which entered the Final Four following back-to-back victories over higher-seeded St. Jude Catholic School in the quarterfinals, and never trailed throughout. It led by as many as 36 points, 92-56. Brylle Sy led five CKSC players in double-figure scores with 23 points, followed by Steven Chua, Rainiel Mendoza and Karl Villaflor, all of whom had 11 apiece, and John Go, who contributed 10.
Xavier got off to a slow start against St. Stephen’s, trailing 7-4 at one point. A 10-0 blast erased a 13-11 deficit and the Gold and Blue never surrendered the lead thereafter. St. Stephen’s closed in midway through the third quarter, 43-41, on the strength of a 13-2 run (from 41-28) but Stallions skipper Justinn Sze scored three consecutive baskets early in the fourth quarter, 53-45, to keep the Stephenians at bay. Another 9-0 run (from 54-48) gave Xavier the first of its two 15-point leads, 63-48 (the other was 67-52).
Guards Ronald Chua and Jasper Pua topscored for Xavier with 11 points each. Alejandro Torres added 10. Center Gabriel Banal, aggravating an old ankle sprain injury, played limited minutes and made just five markers. Sze knocked in all of his nine points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter.
The best-of-three final series will be played on Wednesday Feb. 21 (6:00 p.m.) and Friday Feb. 23 (6:00 p.m.) and, if necessary, Monday Feb. 26 (6:00 p.m.).
A year ago, Xavier School defeated Chiang Kai Shek 2-0 in the finals and wound up with an unblemished 9-0 record in the tournament behind league MVP Woody Co, who subsequently joined the UP Fighting Maroons and earned 2006 UAAP Rookie of the Year honors.
Going into the finals, Chiang Kai Shek is unbeaten in seven assignments but Xavier itself owns a seven-game winning streak following an opening-day 69-62 loss to the Blue Dragons.
Chiang Kai Shek is favored over Xavier School with their well-oiled inside-outside game. The Blue Dragons have the advantage at center with do-it-all 6-5 Justin Chua and his able backup Rainiel Mendoza. Banal and Paulo Pe will have their hands full against both mastodons. Xavier may have the taller backcourters but it does not a consistent outside threat among them. In contrast, the shorter guards of CKSC like Terrence Lam, Karl Villaflor and Ralph Lim can hit the threes all night.
Even the experience factor favors Chiang Kai Shek, which is hungry for its first Tiong Lian title since back-to-back championship finishes in 1994 and 1995.
