Blue Eaglets have a chance to make history

Blue Eaglets have a chance to make history

One day after beating the San Beda Red Cubs on their home floor to barge into the finals of the junior division of the Fr. Martin Cup II, the Ateneo Blue Eaglets found themselves facing the San Sebastian Staglets in the semifinals of the Badolato Cup.

At first, their desire could not match up with their game as King Staglet Gino Jumao-as repeatedly drove the lane for layups while smirking at his defenders. And San Sebastian was threatening to bowl over the Eaglets with the score 30-18.

A late rally allowed Ateneo to close the gap at 30-24 at the half but the coaches were unsatisfied.

Inside the Blue Eaglets’ locker room, assistant coach Joe Silva, who was coaching the team with headman Jamike Jarin out of the country, exhorted his players to ratchet up the defensive intensity. “We need stops and to be a little more aggressive. We need to challenge shots and put a hand in their face.” he thundered. “If we don’t play defense we do not win this game!”

Heeding their coach’s call, the Eaglets immediately scored in their first possession of the second half. Full court pressure here and the Staglets gave up the ball to Von Pessumal who scored on a drive.

Even as Ateneo began to ratchet up on their defensive pressure, Jumao-as kept on driving on the blue and white as they refused to take a charge from the Staglet forward. San Sebastian managed to hold Ateneo at bay 48-44 by mid-third quarter.

But the momentum was beginning to turn and the Ateneans uncorked their finishing kick with a Pessumal three at the end of the third canto to go ahead 49-48.

Jumao-as would tie the match one last time on a drive and an and-one on Pessumal to notch it at 51-all but the speedy Eaglet forward returned the favor with two free throws and a layup 55-51 Ateneo.

Whereas San Sebastian relied mostly on three players – Jumao-as, Ram Pante, and AJ Vitug, Ateneo, whipped the ball around and found huge contributions from Mio Puno, Jay Javelosa, and Paolo Romero.

With Ravena switching on Jumao-as and taking away his drive, San Sebastian was forced to play one-on-one and some of their shots were forced if not badly taken.

On the offensive end, Ravena showed Jumao-as they had he no problem getting his shot off against the taller player as he score six straight points to finish off the Staglets 73-67 and make it to the finals against San Beda.

Inside the Eaglets’ locker room, the atmosphere was light yet evenly tempered. After all, they still needed to take care of business.

They had a chance to make history – to win two pre-season tournaments. Something the team has not achieved in spite of its illustrious cage history. The last time an Eaglets team won a pre-UAAP title was when Joe Silva himself donned the blue and white alongside BJ Manalo.

“But…” cautioned Silva. “Let’s take it one game at a time.”

Ateneo 73 – Ravena 28, Pessumal 19, Puno 8, Javelosa 6, Romero 5, Gadia 3, Gamboa 2, Cacluti 2, Austria 0, Lim 0, Tenorio 0, Ressurecion 0, Suarez 0, Bitangcol 0

San Sebastian 67 – Jumao-as 32, Magno 10, Vergara 8, Vitug 8, Pante 6, Velasco 3, Balid 0, Macasaet 0, Leyva 0, Pascual 0, Sapalo 0, Pariña 0

The Eaglets play Arellano High School for the Fr. Martin II Cup on Saturday 1030am at the San Beda Gym and the San Beda Red Cubs on Sunday 2pm for the FilOil Badolato Cup at the San Juan Arena.