Ateneo Blue Eaglets win 8th straight match

Blue Eaglets keep streak going

by Kristina Noelle Villanueva *

With Ateneo staring at a slim two-point lead, 59-57, Kiefer Ravena was sent to the line following a foul by University of Santo Tomas' Jaypee Sarcia with 14.6 seconds left in the clock. Ravena muffed his first attempt that heightened the drama but he calmly sank the second to push the Eaglets ahead by three, 60-57.

The Tiger Cubs, who turned a 15-point deficit at the start of the third period to a 54-51 advantage in the fourth, refused to give up as Airon Cabauatan tried to score on a drive to close in at the lead but flubbed his basket. Eaglet Jay Javelosa and Tiger Cub Bryan Ilarde scrambled for the loose ball and with the possession granted to the España-based squad, Sarcia attempted a possible game-tying triple but came up short.

With 4.5 seconds left, the Blue Eaglets held on to the ball until the final buzzer sounded, sending Ateneo to their eighth consecutive win, 60-57 to kick off the start of the second round of the 73rd UAAP juniors basketball action at the San Juan Arena.

"I told them to do exactly just what we did when we built a 15-point lead," said Ravena, Ateneo team captain and RP Under-18 standout. "We just have to sustain our defense."

"I wasn't feeling nervous. Enjoy lang para sa game," said added the son of former all-pro Bong Ravea, on his crucial free throws down the stretch. "But I guess fatigue also caught up on us. I know it's not an excuse because a lot of games are decided at the end. Sa free throws. It's a good thing that 'yung edge namin towards the end, nakuha namin. I think it served as a barrier for us to seal the win."

The Eaglets, who are raring for a three-peat this year, snapped the Tiger Cubs' five-game winning streak who fell to 5-3.

"We have six more games. Nag-start kami ng walang talo, might as well end it in a strong note," said Ravena. "There's no way to go but up. There's no time for us to relax. So at least in the end, we'll have no regrets. Dadating at dadating din ang three-peat. It will come. But for now. we'll take it one game at a time."

The King Eaglet finished with a game-high 27-points on top of 13 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one blocked shot. While Von Pessumal was held to 4 points, fellow RP Youth mainstay Paolo Romero scored 13 points and hauled down 12 boards.

Airon Cabauatan finished with 17 points for Santo Tomas while EJ Corre and Kevin Ferrer chipped in 11 points apiece. Ferrer, the leading candidate for MVP honors at the end of the first round of eliminations, was held to only 1 point in the first half.

"I know we cannot stop Kevin (Ferrer) but I believe we were able to contain him," said Ravena. "I think it's also a factor that I know Kevin's game, with us being teammates in RP."

ADMU 60 - Ravena 27, Romero 13, Sacluti 4, Pessumal 4, Dumrique 4, Mercado 3, Austria 3, Javelosa 2, Vit5angcol 0, Suarez 0, Ressureccion 0, Puno 0, Lim 0, Gamboa 0, Tenorio 0

UST 57 - Cabauatan 17, Corre 11, Ferrer 11, Ilarde 9, Sarcia 5, Mison 4, Lazaro 0, Gooh 0

Quarterscores: 17-11, 31-23, 44-40, 60-57

* Kristina is one of my proteges who does some work for me. She is currently a student at the University of Santo Tomas taking up Journalism. Actually, I have four writers doing work for me for another site and three of them are from UST. I once gave a couple of seminars in UST and that was a blast! One class had like close to 50 students in it. I'm proud of my kids.


A classmate of mine now based in the US (well, he's lived there almost his whole life) wrote in FB: Michael Pestano ‎@Kristina- kudos on a well written sports article about the boys in blue. Keep up the great work. 
@Rick- galing ng protege mo sensei

My reply: Mike, the secret is simple -- wax in, wax out.