THE Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles leaned on their championship savvy to repulse the University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) Webmasters, 62-51 and make their way to the finals of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) Season 23 high school basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.
Pushed to the hilt by a hard-fighting UCLM squad that was dealt a heavy blow with the suspensions of several key players caused by the scuffle that occurred in their first game last Thursday, Ateneo de Cebu dug deep and leaned on the shotmaking of Alden Cainglet to give them some much-needed cushion in the final period.
Up by just three at the start of the fourth, Cainglet drained a three-pointer to beat the shot-clock buzzer while RJ Dacalos canned a putback to put the Magis Eagles in front, 52-44. A steal and a layup by Cainglet then pushed the Magis Eagles’ lead to 10, 54-44, with 4:55 left in the game.
UCLM tried to stay within striking distance behind two straight baskets by Arnold Minoza that trimmed the deficit to six, 48-54. However, a putback and two free-throws by Jelo Rota and a short jumper by Dacalos halted UCLM’s momentum and put the game on ice in Ateneo de Cebu’s favor.
Cainglet led Ateneo de Cebu with 23 points, while Dacalos finished with 15. Rota added 10 points for the Magis Eagles, who are gunning for a third straight Cesafi high school title.
Minoza paced UCLM with 19 points, while Geo Lumagod had 14 markers.