Webmasters, Dragons gun for 2-0 advantage

CEBU, Philippines - Game 2 of both the secondary and collegiate championship matches of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) basketball tournament will be played today at the USC Gym.

Games today

(Cebu Coliseum) 

1 pm UV vs. UC (Jrs. for 3rd place)

2:30 pm USC vs. SWU (Srs. 3rd place)  

4 pm SHS-Ateneo vs. CEC (Jrs. finals)

5:30 pm UV vs. UC (Srs. finals)       

The University of Cebu Webmasters and the Cebu Eastern College Dragons hope to make it 2-0 in their respective championship matches.

The Webmasters stopped defending perennial champion University of the Visayas last Thursday, 72-66, in the collegiate division.

The Dragons, on the other hand, scored a masterful 88-70 victory over the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles in the high school division.

The two battles for third place will precede the championship matches.

The championship series are both best-of-five affairs.

UV, which won all nine previous titles of this inter-school league, cannot afford to lose today’s game as it would give UC a huge advantage.

The Lancers will, however, need to solve a puzzle that is six feet and nine inches tall, Junemar Fajardo of UC, who is the key man of the Webmasters.

Fajardo, probably the hottest commodity among Cebu’s current crop of collegiate stars, has proven to be very tough to defend against at the paint.

In their opening match of the series, Fajardo scored 23 points to lead his team.

He hopes to get support from Edward Pao, Kelvin Juliane, Quinton Brian Heruela, Robinson Mohammad and Luigi Bercede as they gun for a pivotal 2-0 lead tonight.  

On the other hand, the Lancers who never lost two finals game in succession, will hope that Adrian Lao, Harold Cincoflores, Phil Mercader, Ralf Olivares and Eman Calo would deliver.

Aside from that UV needs to make sure that its big men, Rene Jun Saycon and Andrew Avillanoza, who were ineffective against Fajardo in game 1, would be able to solve the defensive puzzle.

If UC is gunning for history as the first team to win the title aside from UV, CEC is also hoping to etch its own historically in the local inter-school league.

From being dubbed as the laughing stock last year due to its huge losses with margins reaching over a hundred points, the Dragons have drastically turned things around this season.

CEC made it as the top qualifier after the semifinal round and then stamped its class Thursday in the big opening game win for the championship series.

While CEC’s turn around may have been deemed miraculous, the secret is actually the dedication of its basketball aficionado alumnus, Chester Cokaliong, who took the initiative along with Frederick ‘Llama’ Ong to support the team financially.

The rewards have been obvious.

The SHS-AdC magis Eagles are also in the championship for the first time in this league.

The team also underwent a major build up prior to this season and had scored big victories against the vaunted UV Baby Lancers.

Hoping to put aside the jitters that led to the loss last Thursday, the Magis Eagles are hoping to see a turn around this afternoon.

The Dragons once again hope to get the offense from their starting unit composed of Nike Montalvo, Roy Villarias, James Neil Sumayang, Benjamin James Zosa and Mark Olayon.

The Magis Eagles, on the other hand, can count on the gritty Adrian Roland Muller, Adven Jess Diputado, Bradely Bacaltos, Henry Renzal Asilum, Julius Salvador Cadavis and Dawn Henric Ochea, among others. (THE FREEMAN)