Jared Bahay. | Photo from Sugbuanong Kodaker
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Jared Bahay’s heroics saved the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles from a looming defeat against the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) Baby Panthers, 59-58, in the high school basketball of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc (Cesafi) on Saturday, October 14, 2023, at the Cebu Coliseum.
Bahay nailed a game winning three point shot from the corner with two seconds remaining to complete their incredible comeback after trailing as many as 19 points in the game.
Bahay, a five-star high school prospect who committed to the UP Fighting Maroons unloaded 19 points, 11 of which was tallied in the pivotal second half.
Emmanuel Jabalon, Rezald Dacalos and Lars Fjellvang combined for 21 points or seven points apiece for the Magis Eagles.
The Cesafi high school defending champions climbed to the No. 4 spot in the team standings with three wins and one defeat, tying with the Cebu Eastern College (CEC).
Fritz Gonzales paced the Baby Panthers with 18 points, while Ronjay Catalan added 12 points as their team suffered their second loss in three games.
The Baby Panthers entered the second half with a commanding 19-point lead, 39-20, but the Magis Eagles refused to give up and managed to cut the lead to single digit, 41-49, heading into the final period.
Both teams threw haymakers at each other in the pivotal final period until the Baby Panthers found themselves in trouble when the Magis Eagles cut the lead to just five, 51-56, in crunchtime.
The Magis Eagles pulled themselves within two points, 54-56, behind USP-F, after Fjellvang scored an and-one.
Bahay then took over the show scoring the game tying layup, 56-all.
However, Catalan managed to score a layup giving USP-F the lead, 58-56, with less than ten seconds remaining, forcing SHS-AdC Magis Eagles head coach Rommel Rasmo to use a timeout and formulate the play that led to Bahay’s corner trey that gave them the victory.
UCLM 67, UC MAIN 51
On the other hand, the University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu Mandaue (UCLM) Webmasters stunned the favored UC Baby Webmasters, 67-51, in the other Cesafi high school game on Saturday.
The All-Webmasters high school showdown saw UCLM claiming the victory behind Arnold Miñoza and Revo Lao’s 13 and 11 markers.
The Baby Webmasters had Johncel Borjal and Lourdonnie Cuyos scoring nine points each in their losing efforts.
UCLM cemented its position on the top of the high school basketball standings with a 5-0 (win-loss) record, while UC Baby Webmasters suffered its first loss in four games.
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