XS Blasts SJCS
by Henry Liao for philippinebasketball.ph (02/01/2012)

JUNIORS DIVISION
Day 8, Uno HS Gym
Jan. 31, 2012

Game Results:
Xavier School 89 ? St. Jude Catholic School 67
Uno High School 57 ? St. Stephen?s High School 45

Team Standings:
Hope Christian High School (5-0)
Xavier School (4-1)
Chiang Kai Shek College (3-2)
St. Jude Catholic School (2-3)
Uno High School (2-3)
St. Stephen?s High School (1-4)
Grace Christian College (0-4)

Games Schedule: Feb. 3 (Fri) ? Xavier School vs. Grace Christian College (5:30 p.m.) and Chiang Kai Shek College vs. St. Stephen?s High School (7 p.m.); and Feb. 4 (Sat) ? Hope Christian High School vs. Uno High School (5 p.m.) and Grace Christian College vs. St. Jude Catholic School (6:30 p.m.). (End of Elimination Round)

XAVIER SCHOOL 89 ? ST. JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL 67
Notes: Xavier School phenom Jeron Teng opened with a twinner but Joel Chang hit for a three as St. Jude Catholic School took the upperhand, 3-2, for the Judenites? only lead in the game ?
SJCS?s top gun Jason Ligad made a basket to trim XS?s lead to 16-11 before a decisive 16-0 blast (eight of them by reserve Marco Ayuste) bridging the first and second quarters (first quarter score was 18-11) gave the Golden Stallions a commanding 32-11 advantage ?
Teng and Kyles Lao each scored eight points as Xavier School led, 38-23, at halftime. Ligad had 14 of SJCS?s 23 markers in the opening 20 minutes ?
An 8-0 run bridging the second and third quarters resulted in the Gold and Blue?s enjoying a 21-point advantage, 44-23 ?
Teng scored seven points in another 9-0 blast (from 50-27) to lift coach Budds Reyes? troops to a 59-27 advantage ?
The third quarter ended at 69-47 as SJCS?s Kurt Uy, returning from a three-game sabbatical due to an ankle sprain, split his free throws ?
The Golden Stallions were ahead by at least 20 points in the fourth quarter ?
The league?s No. 1 scorer with a 30.8 ppg, Teng fouled out with six minutes left (79-55 XS lead) after collecting 30 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals in just 27 minutes of action. He shot 14-for-37 from the field and 2-for-4 from the foul line ?
Lao, who owned a league third-best 20.8-point clip after four appearances, put together 28 points (on a 12-for-23 FG clip), six boards, three assists and three steals in 26 minutes. Ayuste added 10 points in 18 minutes ?
Ligad, who was averaging 23 points going into the game (second best in the tournament), starred for the Judenites with a double-double in points (27, 9-for-22 FG shooting)) and rebounds (11). He also dished out four assists but committed nine turnovers ?
Center Francis Go was the only other SJCS double-digit scorer with 10 markers along with eight reebies. Uy contributed nine points while bull-strong Richard Sy totaled eight points and eight boards ?
Free-throw shooting was an eyesore. St. Jude Catholic School made only 16-for-35 (.457) from the line while Xavier School went 11-for-20 (.550). The Judenites outrebounded the Golden Stallions, 57-54, but had more turnovers, 40-25 ?
No. 2 seed Xavier School will meet No. 7 seed Grace Christian College in the quarterfinals armed with a twice-to-beat advantage.

UNO HIGH SCHOOL 57 ? ST. STEPHEN?S HIGH SCHOOL 45
Notes: Uno High School picked up its second victory in five assignments to snatch the No. 5 seed. The Uneans, whose only other win came against winless Grace Christian College, will clash with No. 4 seed St. Jude Catholic School in the quarterfinals, with the Judenites owning a two-to-beat incentive ?
With the loss, its fourth in five appearances, St. Stephen?s High School was relegated to the No. 6 seed. The Stephenians will take on No. 3 seed Chiang Kai Shek College in the quarterfinals, with the latter enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage ?
Uno led from start to finish. The Uneans took the first 10-minute quarter by a 16-12 score and and were ahead by 17 points at halftime, 32-15 (meaning the terrible off-form Stephenians scored just three points in the second quarter) as playmaker Alvin Ang scored all of his 12 points in the opening half ?
In the entire second half, SSHS came no closer than 14 points, 39-25, on a pair of free throws by center Adrian Te. His Uno counterpart Ryan Lim, though, was unstoppable in the shaded lane in the second half, knocking in all of his game-high 16 markers (6-8 FGA, 4-6 FTA) in the final 20 minutes. Lim also grabbed 13 rebounds for a double-double ?
Pint-sized SSHS playmaker Kevin Ng, who had six points, three assists and two steals for the game, was injured with 3:25 left in the third quarter and was sidelined the rest of the way ?
Uno was ahead, 50-30, after three quarters and was never seriously threatened in the fourth period ?
Four timeouts, including three by SSHS, were called in the final 39 seconds ?
Aside from Lim and Ang, skipper Philipp Licaros scored in twin digits for Uno with 10 points, along with seven rebounds and seven assists. Burly David Chua had eight points (including back-to-back threes to end the first half) and eight boards and Kevin Kok contributed seven points and four reebies for Uno ?
Pierre Chan connected on four treys (out of 12 attempts) and had 13 points and six boards for the Stephenians, who also got nine and seven markers from Evan Ong and Te, respectively.