Year of the underdogs

THE Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Eagles scored the first major upset in the 2010 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) high school tournament following a shocking 78-63 win over the University of the Visayas Baby Lancers Thursday night at the Cebu Coliseum.

The victory put the Eagles in a possible triple tie finish with pacesetters UV and the University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters.

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UC defeated SHS-AdC 84-80 last Aug. 5, while UV defeated UC, 85-76, last Aug. 10.

Because of this, the Eagles might get the highest quotient using the Fiba quotient system to break the multiple tie.

From losing to the Baby Lancers, UC also lost to the CEC Dragons. SHS-AdC also lost to CEC and UV’s other defeat was a forfeiture to CIT-U.

And if the situation will not change today and Sunday, last year’s doormat team CEC Dragons will in the finish No.1 spot, the Eagles at No.2, UC at No.3 and UV in fourth place.

The top four teams will hold a twice to beat advantage in the quarterfinal round that will start on Sept. 9.

The semifinal round will be a single round robin affair with the top two teams playing in the best-of-five championship series.

UV headed right for the money when they opened the game in a 6-0 blitz but their offenses suddenly conked out. The Eagles took advantage of the opportunityand built up a 37-23 lead at the first half.

The Baby Lancers continued to struggle under the pressure defense of the Eagles. All the Baby Lancers could do was cut the lead down to six, 48-54, at the end of the third period.

Feeling the pressure, the Baby Lancers struggled to score on every position but their impatience only led to either poor shot selections or turnovers, while the Eagles played a very fluid game anchored on Adrian Roland Muller and Adven Jess Diputado.

Muller scored the game-high 25 points, while Diputado added 18 as SHS-AdC nabbed its fifth win in seven games.

Gerald Legarde led the scorers with 14 points, while Alwin Aguirre and Vincent Mendoza added 11 and 10, respectively.

Today, the remaining juniors division games will be played with CEC trying to keep its hold at the top spot as they play the winless Don Bosco Technology College. The Eagles face the embattled USJ-R in the main game at 5:30 p.m. The USC Baby Warriors face the defending champions CIT-U Wildkittens at 1 p.m., while UV goes against the USPF Baby Panthers at 4 p.m.