The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles waited for one whole year to accomplish their mission of vengeance. And what a wait it was.
Yesterday, the Magis Eagles dethroned reigning champions, Cebu Eastern College Dragons, 82-76, to advance to the finals in the juniors division of the 2011 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) basketball tournament at the packed Cebu Coliseum.
The Magis Eagles took their lumps at the hands of the Dragons — which swept them in the finals last year — in stride and grew from those. In the end, sweet vengeance was theirs as they marched to the championship series where they will face the top-seed University of the Visayas Baby Lancers.
Jair “The Igniter” Igna proved that he is more than just a defensive specialist as he scored 20 points spiked by six treys, two coming in the final canto which helped stem the tide in the face of a furious uprising by the Dragons.
The game was close in the first half, which SHS-AdC led 38-34. But the Magis Eagles came out of the dugout with more focus and fire with back-to-back threes courtesy of Igna and Aaron Sing to grab a, 46-34 lead. They headed to the fourth riding on a, 61-50 bulge.
However, the champions did not fold that easily. Sensing that their season was on the brink of disaster, Lyle Sumayang, Marvin Bauya and Alfred Sedillo conspired for a 9-0 run that saw the deficit shrink to three, 74-77, with 1:08 left. Making matters worse for the Magis Eagles were the fouling out of ace big men Julius Cadavis and Dawn Ochea.
The Dragons had a chance to come even closer on their next offensive but Sumayang opted for an ill-advised fadeaway jumper which nicked the ring, and led to a free-throw by Mavii Suarez for a four-point margin, 78-74. Later, CEC guard Luther Huevos drove the lane but missed on a difficult lay-up and the Magis Eagles sealed the win with free-throws from Alexander Lim and Dave Yu.
Cadavis added 18 for the Magis Eagles’ cause while Suarez contributed 11. CEC was paced by the 20 of Bauya and the 19 of Sumayang. Sedillo added 12.