Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu nears NBTC crown

THE SACRED HEART School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles moved a win away from claiming another national title as they made their way to the finals of the Seaoil NBTC Elite League National High School Championships after beating the Emilio Aguinaldo College of Cavite, 93-75, in the semifinals yesterday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The Magis Eagles have racked up titles at nearly every level of grassroots basketball and they appear poised for another headline-grabbing victory as they dictated the tempo early on and then fought back every attempt by their opponents to climb back into the game.

Julius Cadavis led the way for the Eagles with 19 points while Henry Asilum racked up 15 markers. Janjan Jaboneta finished with 12 while Dawn Ochea chipped in with 11.

Allen Superable paced EAC  with 27 points.

The championship game between the Eagles and La Union was still being played in as of press time.

SHS-AdC led by 20, 30-10, in just the first period alone as Asilum, Patrick Go and Ochea connived with one another to take the fight out of the Cavite-based squad.

Superable helped EAC come within 10, 36-46, and eventually trailed by just 12, 36-48, at halftime.

The Eagles pulled away once again, 59-42, with 5:03 left in the third. But Cavite crawled to within 11, 48-59, before Jaboneta came alive to bail the Eagles out.  /Correspondent Jonas Panerio