CKSC edges Xavier, forces a game 3 in Tiong Lian Juniors Finals
February 22nd, 2008by Henry L. Liao ‘72, YEHEY! Contributors
There will be a winner-take-all Game 3 in the Juniors Division finals of the 32nd Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association tournament.
Wednesday night (Feb. 20) at the Uno gym, defending champion Chiang Kai Shek survived a furious rally by Xavier School to register an 83-77 victory that deadlocked the best-of-three series at 1-1.
Two days earlier, Xavier posted a dramatic 85-83 win over CKSC in the series opener that shattered the Blue Dragons’ two-year, 16-game winning streak.
The decisive Game 3 will be played at the Uno gym on Friday (Feb. 22).
It was like a shootout at the OK Corral in Game Two as Chiang Kai Shek and Xavier combined for 20 three-pointers. In the third quarter alone, there were six threes - four by CKSC and two by Xavier.
The Blue Dragons finished with 11 trifectas - four by Arnold Shih, three by Karl Villaflor, two by Ralph Lim and two by John Capati, the last of which produced the game’s final points with 6.4 seconds left and sealed CKSC’s victory.
The Golden Stallions, on the other hand, wound up with nine - five by Gabriel Banal (including a pair in the fourth quarter), two from Robin Tan and one each from Jeric Teng and Tomas Santos.
Xavier took an early seven-point (19-12) advantage on three-pointers by Gabriel Banal, Robin Tan and Jeric Teng but CKSC came roaring back with its own barrage of trifectas, knocking in five of them behind Villaflor and Shih to move ahead, 41-29.
With CKSC’s 6-5 Justin Chua taking a breather, the Golden Stallions tallied nine straight points to slice the deficit to three, 41-38. Halftime score was 43-40, in favor of CKSC.
Chiang Kai Shek started strong in the third quarter, getting three consecutive treys from Shih, Lim and Capati at one stretch to lead 54-41. That 13-point edge was duplicated late in the period when Chua knocked in a twinner for a 65-52 score.
CKSC was ahead 67-56 at the end of the third quarter. It was 69-56 after Chua opened the fourth with another basket.
Then, as in Game 1, Xavier mounted a serious rally around Banal’s dozen markers to deadlock the score at 74-74 on a pair of freebies by Tan, time down to 3:36.
A cluster of four points by Steven Chua and CKSC was back on the driver’s seat, 78-74. However, Banal retaliated with his fifth three-pointer to cut the deficit to one, 78-77, with a minute and 15 seconds.
Justin Chua subsequently connected on a putback, 80-77, and following a costly Xavier turnover, Capati sealed the deal with a shot clock-beating trey with 0:6.4 ticks left.
The 6-5 Chua posted game highs of 27 points (11-19 FG, 5-6 FT shooting), 21 rebounds and five blocks for the Blue Dragons, who also got double-digit scoring from Steven Chua (15), Shih (14) and Capati (10).
Xavier was bannered by Banal, who had 28 markers (11-20 FG, 1-3 FT), 10 boards and four blocks, two of them consecutively off Justin Chua.
Teng contributed 23 points (9-26 FG, 4-6 FT), 10 rebounds and four assists while Tan added 11 markers. Miguel Tan, who collected 18 points in Game 1, was held to just four.
Xavier School is looking for its seventh Juniors Division title (1972, 1998, 2001-03 and 2006) in the Tiong Lian competitions while Chiang Kai Shek is bidding for its 15th overall crown (1970, 1974, 1978-80, 1985, 1987-88, 1990-92, 1994-95 and 2007).
Earlier, Xavier School picked up its sixth consecutive Aspirants championship with a 2-0 finals sweep of Chiang Kai Shek.
In Tiong Lian history, only three times has a school secured titles in both the Aspirants and Juniors divisions in the same year - 1991 by Chiang Kai Shek and 2003 and 2006 by Xavier School.
