Sinclair, Jaboneta help Ateneo de Cebu bag Cesafi juniors basketball crown

Players and coaching staff of the Ateneo de Cebu celebrate their championship victory in the Cesafi juniors basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

MAGIS EAGLES RULE

In the darkest times, it is then when the stars are expected to shine.

And that is what Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu’s (SHS-AdC) ace frontcourt of Joshua Sinclair and Janjan Jaboneta did as they powered the Magis Eagles to their second straight championship in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) juniors division with a nail-biting 73-66 victory over the relentless University of the Visayas (UV)  in the deciding Game 3 of the series yesterday at the packed Cebu Coliseum.

With the memory of their startling fourth-period collapse in Game 5 of the 2011 finals series against the Baby Lancers looming overhead when their 24-point third period lead was chopped down to just three, 64-67, with less than two minutes left, the 6-foot-3 Sinclair hit the biggest shot of his young career as he calmly sank a fade-away jumper to push the Magis Eagles lead back to five.

Jaboneta then hit four free-throws in the waning seconds to seal the Game 3 victory and send the sea of blue into a joyous frenzy.

The Fil-Australian Sinclair had been struggling with his shot in the series but chose the perfect time to break out as he notched 27 points on top of 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Jaboneta, on the other hand, had been averaging just a little over five points in the series’ first two games but scored 16 points and added nine boards, four dimes, two steals and a block. The 6-foot-1 power forward was eventually named as the juniors division’s Most Valuable Player.

Two-guard Pio Longa also played a key role in the win as he nailed five three-point bombs, to finish with 18.

Jaboneta and Sinclair went home with even more hardware as they comprised the Mythical Five team along with UV’s JC Escalona and Joshua Flores as well as the University of Southern Philippine-Foundation’s JB Bahio.

For a moment, it seemed as if the Eagles would run away with the game as they burst through the gates with a 12-1 run. The lead ballooned to 26-7  but UV chipped away the deficit with Escalona banking in a three-pointer from halfcourt at the halftime buzzer to pull the Baby Lancers to within 12, 23-35.

But Ateneo de Cebu countered with an 18-3 blast, before Nino Araw-Araw gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the game, 54-30, with three minutes to go in the third.

The Baby Lancers had one more run left in them as Escalona and Orlan Wamar helped UV pull to within three, 64-67, with 1:38 to go
Sinclair and Jaboneta then put the finishing touches to Ateneo de Cebu’s dominating run this season.

Wamar led UV with 21 points and six steals but failed to protect the ball, turning it over a total of nine times. Escalona had 20 markers.