UV, Ateneo de Cebu start titular showdown in Cesafi high school basketball tournament

RIVALS START BATTLE

Games today:
Cebu Coliseum
(Battle for third, college)
5 p.m. – USJ-R vs USC
(Game 1 Finals, High School)
6:30 p.m. – SHS-Ateneo de Cebu vs UV

Can the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles soar high enough towards a fifth straight title? Or will the hungry University of the Visayas Baby Lancers finally exorcise the demons of past losses to the blue and white and paint the town green with their first title in five years?

The answer to these will be known today as the two bitter rivals clash once again in Game 1 of the best-of-three Cesafi high school basketball finals, over at the Cebu Coliseum.

The Baby Lancers have bore down on the Magis Eagles this season, sweeping their way to the finals which included a 61-58 victory over Ateneo de Cebu early in the season.

But as fearsome as UV has been this year, Ateneo de Cebu’s many-time champion coach Rommel Rasmo believes that the drive for five can be done with the right mindset, something he believes they didn’t have when they first fought the Baby Lancers this season.

“I think Andrew’s (Velasco) accident the previous game was one of the factors that we lost against the Baby Lancers. Although they really played well, at that time, we were still in shock. It’s really hard to overcome that kind of incident because we had to adjust in a short period of time. But I am proud of my players on how we finished the game,” said Rasmo.

Velasco, the team’s leading scorer at the time, suffered a gruesome leg injury prior to the game versus UV, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Jed Colonia, the two-time reigning league MVP who has done well to recover from an ACL injury earlier this year, admitted that not having his backcourt mate by his side impacts the team’s gameplan. However, he lauded Velasco’s eagerness to sit on the team’s bench in spite of his injury and cheer his mates on.

“It’s a huge factor. It’s also an extra motivation for us seeing him on the bench with the team and still showing heart in support for the brothers. We prepared and we’re ready to play,” Colonia said.

“I’m confident that we can win this championship. We’ll just take it one step at a time. This is what we trained and practiced for the whole summer and for the past years. So we need to make the most out of this opportunity,” he added.