Magis Eagles off to hot start in NBTC nat’l finals

THE Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles got their campaign in the Seaoil NBTC Elite League National High School Championships off to a rousing start after scoring two wins yesterday over their Visayan rivals at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The Magis Eagles, the Cebu leg champions, first made short work of the Se Sam High School of Ormoc City, 90-59. They then demolished the Sun Yat Sen High School of Iloilo City, 79-58, to stand within a win away of making the semifinal round of this tournament which pits the best high school squads from all over the country.

The Magis Eagles led early on, 22-10, and pushed their lead to 15, 28-13, after six straight points from big man, Dawn Ochea. However, complacency reared its ugly head for the Magis Eagles and opened the door for their opponents to post a comeback. With star shooter Paul Rubin waxing hot, Sun Yat Sen climbed to within three, 35-38, at halftime.

Sun Yat Sen slashed the deficit down to just one, 39-40, early in the second half but the Eagles recovered behind Cebu leg Most Outstanding Player Julius Cadavis, Ochea and RP Under-16 team member Henry Ochea. With them, SHS-AdC established a, 59-50 lead heading to the last canto.

Then, they broke the game wide open with a 13-2 run anchored on Rendell Senining and Jair Igna for a, 72-54 advantage with 7:03 remaining. Sun Yat Sen failed to recover after that barrage.

Cadavis led the way for the Eagles with 18 points and eight rebounds while Dave Wilson Yu had 15 markers. Asilum had 14, Ochea chipped in 12 while Aaron Sing added 11 markers.

Next up for the Magis Eagles is West Negros University today at 4 p.m. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio