THE University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars have ended the title drought after winning their first-ever preseason title.
The Baby Jaguars defeated the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles in a winner-take-all Game 3, 83-68, of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) high school division championship on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019 at the Cebu Coliseum.
USJ-R made its biggest move in the payoff period, dropping a backbreaking 10-0 blitz to register a 74-62 lead with 3:09 left to play. Kendrick Abarquez sparked the run with a layup followed by Keizel Gaviola’s three-pointer. Kevin Guibao then drilled another one from downtown before punctuating the run with a layup.
L.A Casinillo converted a gutsy layup on the other end but Gaviola was quick to return fire with a three-pointer with 1:39 left after teammate Abarquez split his free throws.
Santos Go then scored a three-point play from an offensive rebound before Guibao put the icing on the cake with a wide-open layup on a fast break.
Ryzel Abatayo led the way for the Baby Jaguars with a game-high 28 points, 19 of which were scored in the second quarter. Abatayo canned in five triples in the second period.
Guibao showed his all-around brilliance as he finished with 21 points. He was named the tournament’s MVP. Gaviola added 13 points, Go contributed 10 points and Abarquez pitched in nine points.
LA Casinillo scored 15, Ariel Dinglasan had 13 and Joey Villamor added 10 for the Magis Eagles.
The Magis Eagles held a 16-13 lead in the first quarter before USJ-R took the driver seat, 36-33, at halftime.
“This is the first preseason title for the USJ-R Baby Jaguars. The last time we won the championship was in the Cesafi regular season way back in 2002,” said Baby Jaguars head coach Edito Salacot. “I’m very proud of the performance of my boys.”
“I’m glad that our prayers were heard. At the start of the preseason, I told my boys to aspire for the championship,” he added. “Our players were quick to adopt the system, that’s the reason for our good performance in this tournament.”
USJ-R drew first blood in the best-of-three series but SHS-AdC won Game 2 to force the decisive game.
Salacot said the same lineup will compete in the 2019 Cesafi regular season. (RSC)