LSGH blanks Xavier in BBI hoops

MANILA, Philippines – La Salle Greenhills’ 10-Under and 17-Under squads both rallied past their Xavier High School counterparts for a pair of wins in the Smart Breakdown Basketball Invitationals Cherifer Tangkad Sagad Basketball Tournament last Sunday, January 7, at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City.

In 10-Under division play, Xavier led by as much as 16 points, 30-14, with 3:38 left to play in the second period. After coach Rene Flores Jr. called for a timeout, the Greenies, behind the backcourt of Gian Gomez and Dominic Tuason, forced the Golden Stallions into turnovers while converting fast break lay-ups.

LSGH dropped a 14-2 bomb to narrow the gap, 32-28, at the halftime break. La Salle continued its stifling defense and took the third period, 39-37, after Tuason hit a triple right before the buzzer.

Xavier kept it close in the fourth until center Bryan Hachuela hit consecutive jumpers to put the wind out of the Golden Stallions’ sails, 52-45, to coast until the final buzzer.

Gomez, a transferee from San Sebastian College, finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 steals to earn Player of the Game honors.

LSGH’s U-10 squad is atop the division with a 5-0 record while Xavier succumbed to their first defeat, 4-1.

In the 17-Under Division, both schools waged a nip-and-tuck affair, Xavier also took the lead and held off LSGH’s repeated rallies for the first 25 minutes until the latter forged a 53-all deadlock by third quarter’s end.  The game remained close until Joshua Marcos scored five straight points to stretch a 69-66 lead to a 74-69 lead. LSGH prevailed 79-72.

Joshua Marcos, who also played for LSGH’s NCAA title squad, top-scored with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Xavier’s Darren Sytin led the Golden Stallions with 19 points.

LSGH’s 17-Under team hiked their slate to 5-2 while Xavier dropped to an even 2-2 record.

In another 17-Under BBI match, San Beda routed AMA Computer College 85-62 in a game that saw both the coaches of both squads nearly come to blows after the match.

The Red Cubs’ Team B, who are slated to take over from the NCAA squad after this school year, took control of the match from the opening tip and led by as much as 32 points.

The match got chippy in the second half and after the game, AMA’s head coach Edwin Ancheta confronted a Red Cub over what he perceived to be a dirty play. SBC coach Manu Inigo took affront to the confrontation and challenged his AMA counterpart. Both exchanged harsh words but cooler heads were able to separate both.

SBC is atop the division with a 7-0 record while AMA suffered their first loss in five matches.

In another key match, this time in the 12-under Division, Agila crushed Kings Montessori School, 73-46, behind Derek Domangcas’ game-high 24 points and point guard Jordan Salandanan’s 10 markers. Brothers Paolo and Javi Adevoso added 9 and 8 points, respectively, to fuel Agila’s onslaught.

The Smart Breakdown Basketball Invitationals are sponsored by Smart, Cherifer, San Marino corned tuna, sulit.ph, and Mared Rubber.