Just like the blood-rivalry in the collegiate leagues, the colors green and blue wage their battles just as fiercely in the junior ranks.
And just like in the animosity between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the La Salle Green Archers, the blue battalion won as the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles seized the solo lead in the juniors division after edging the University of the Visayas Baby Lancers, 79-73 yesterday in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.
Playing to a packed crowd, the two proud teams scratched and clawed until the very end. However, little-known wingman Jair Igna, who hit two consecutive baskets in the last minute of the game completed the Eagles’ comeback from a five-point deficit in the final period.
SHS-AdC jumped to an early, 23-12 lead after the first canto, but UV, behind the steady shooting of guard Nelson Peralta, was able to catch up and even take the lead. A three-pointer and a three-point play by Peralta finally put UV in front, 64-61 with 4:03 left. Another trifecta by Peralta and a putback by Paul Desiderio established UV’s five-point bulge, 69-64.
However, a quick six-point cluster by Dawn Ochea tied the count at 71-all and on UV’s offensive, Peralta’s pocket was picked by Igna leading to the go-ahead basket. He then added a long two-pointer for a 75-71 lead with 35.4 seconds remaining. From then on, UV imploded as John Tudio and Efren Aying committed unsportsmanlike fouls.
Big man Julius Cadavis paced SHS-AdC, which improved to 5-0, with 17 markers even as Igna added 14 and Patrick Go chipped in 12. Peralta led UV with 25 while Desiderio added 15 as UV fell to 5-1.
WARRIORS TRIP JAGURAS
Meanwhile, the University of San Carlos Warriors finished the first round with a 4-2 record after nipping the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars, 54-52, in an error-filled but exciting match-up late Tuesday night. The loss dropped the Jaguars near the bottom with a woeful 1-5 record.
The game was fought on near-even terms until the last two minutes when the Warriors took advantage of some cracks in the defense of the Jaguars, to run away with the victory.
USC led 42-37 at the start of the fourth but USJ-R, behind the shotmaking of Abulaiz Suliman as well as a steal and lay-up by Jason Olbedado, took the lead at 48-47, 2:24 left.
That was the last time USJ-R took the lead as moments later, Sam Hermosa canned a free-throw and a driving lay-up that put USC on top, 50-48. That was followed up by a fastbreak lay-in by Jabby Bautista off a pass from Mike Cantonao and then two free-throws by Giovanni Padillo with less than a minute remaining, which established a 54-48 Warriors lead.
Hermosa led USC with 16 while Cid Cortes added 11. Olbedado had 15 points for USJ-R.