Sometimes it pays to be in last place.
Take the unprecedented case of giant killer St.
Jude Catholic School in the Juniors Division playoffs of the 39th
Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association high school tournament.
St. Jude won just once in its first six assignments
and ranked seventh and last in the elimination round. However,
the Judenites survived three straight knockout (one-loss-and-
you-are out) matches in the playoffs to reach the Tiong Lian finals
for the first time since they joined the league in 2006.
SJCS whipped No. 2 seed Grace Christian College
twice in the quarterfinals then ousted No. 3 seed Uno High School,
69-59, during the semifinals to become the first team ever to
secure a finals berth with a losing record (4-5).
Can St. Jude complete its Cinderella-like run by
beating defending champion and top seed Xavier School in their
best-of-three titular showdown?
I won’t bet my lunch money on that.
Then again, if the Judenites somehow pull off an
upset against the Golden Stallions, that certainly will be a herculean
feat and one for Ripley’s Believe It or Not as no last-seeded
team in Tiong Lian history has ever advanced to the finals and
captured the crown.
In Xavier School, St. Jude is facing a powerhouse
that is unblemished in the tournament with a 7-0 record so far
and terrorizing the opposition on both ends of the floor.
The Golden Stallions employ a swarming trapping
defense that helps fuel their offense to the tune of 103.9 points
an outing. And they have the prodigious Jeric Teng, who is norming
41.7 ppg, the highest scoring average in Tiong Lian’s tradition-steeped
history.
The 6-1 Teng has had games of 52 (vs. Hope Christian
High School) and 55 points (vs. Chiang Kai Shek College) and scored
47 points in the Gold and Blue’s 118 73 shellacking of St. Jude
in their final elimination-round assignment last Jan. 30.
Additionally, Xavier is appearing in the finals
for the ninth consecutive year, having collected five titles in
the previous eight. It blew out No. 4 seed St. Stephen’s HS, 76-65,
in the semifinals.
St. Jude’s impressive turnaround in the playoffs
can be attributed to the all-around play of 6-foot junior frontliner
Kim Lo, who averaged 21.0 points, 20 rebounds and 5.0 steals in
the two games against Grace Christian then collected 17 points,
23 boards, two steals and one blocked shot against host Uno in
the semis.
The best-of-three finals will be played at the
Uno Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 17, and Friday, Feb. 20. If necessary,
a third game will be held on Monday, Feb. 23.
The Tiong Lian games are being televised by the
Makisig Sports Network via Skycable Channel 76 and 82 on Thursdays,
Saturdays and Sundays from 5-9 p.m. |