HOOPSTER: Final Four Playoffs Set
by Henry Liao for philippinebasketball.ph (02/06/2011)

The Final Four playoffs in the Juniors Division of 41st Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association high school tournament will unwrap on Wednesday, February 9, at Chiang Kai Shek College Gym in Tondo, Manila.

The semifinal matchups feature No. 1 seed Xavier School vs. No. 4 seed St. Jude Catholic School (5:30 p.m.) and No. 2 Hope Christian High School vs. No. 3 Chiang Kai Shek College (7:00 p.m.).

Xavier School and Hope Christian High School enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage over St. Jude Catholic School and Chiang Kai Shek College, respectively.

That means Xavier School and Hope Christian High School only need to win their February 9 encounters to arrange a best-of-three championship series.

In contrast, St. Jude Catholic School and Chiang Kai Shek College need two victories against their respective foes to reach the Finals.

In case a rubber match is necessary, it will be held on Saturday, February 12.

The best-of-three Finals will be played on February 15 and February 18. A third game, if necessary, will be held on February 22.

In the two previous seasons, Xavier School and St. Jude Catholic School faced each other in the Finals. Both times, it was the Golden Stallions that secured the crown with 2-0 sweeps.

Coupled with its 2008 Finals win over Chiang Kai Shek College (via a 2-1 decision), Xavier has captured three straight championships in the Juniors Division.

A fourth consecutive title this year for coach Jonathan (Budds) Reyes? boys will be the first in Tiong Lian history.

Last Friday, Xavier School completed the double-round elimination phase of the 2010-11 Tiong Lian competitions with an unblemished 12-0 record. Overall, the San Juan City-based school will enter the Final Four playoffs with a 31-game winning streak over four seasons (dating back to Game Three of the 2008 Finals).

Hope Christian High School finished second with a 9-3 record. Chiang Kai Shek College ranked third at 8-4 and St. Jude Catholic School took the fourth and final playoff ticket with a 6-6 mark (after a 4-0 start).

St. Stephen?s High School (5-7), Grace Christian College (2-10) and Uno High School (0-12) wound up in the lower half of the elimination-round standings and were eliminated from further action.

There are four or five players in the current Tiong Lian competitions that have attracted the attention of college scouts.

They are Xavier School?s Jeron Teng, St. Stephen?s High School?s Kent Lao (18.7 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg), Hope Christian?s Jessiery Pedrosa (15.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg) and Errol Villar (14.2 ppg, 11.3 rpg), St. Jude Catholic School?s Jason Ligad (25.6 ppg) and Chiang Kai Shek College?s Paul Aduana (17.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg).

A class by himself is Teng, who is just a high school junior. He is one of two basketball-playing ?Robo?-kids of former PBA bruiser Alvin (Robocop) Teng and is the younger brother of the University of Santo Tomas? Jeric Teng.

The 6-1 Teng is well known on the national level, having been a member of the PH Youth Under-16 and Under-18 teams for the past two years and having suited up for the country?s 3-on-3 squad to the 2010 World Olympic Games in Singapore.

Teng, who turns only 17 on March 21, also received a lot of journalistic ink after scoring 104 points in Xavier School?s 164-74 shellacking of Grace Christian College in a Tiong Lian game last January 5. It was the highest individual score in Philippine high school basketball history.

Over 12 games, Teng, the reigning Tiong Lian Most Valuable Player, has churned out averages of 40.2 points, 14.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.8 steals this season.