San Beda and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu arranged a championship showdown after contrasting runs in the six-team semifinals of the 2015 Seaoil-NBTC National High School Championships yesterday at Ynares Sports Arena.
The Red Cubs clinched the first title berth after nipping National University, 79-73, and blasting Lyceum-Cavite, 90-73, in Group B to complete a 2-0 semifinal sweep and stay as the only unbeaten squad in the tournament.
Marc Diputado pumped in 17 points and Joshua Andrei Caracut also shot 16, half in the fourth quarter, to help the Cubs turn back the Bullpups.
SHS-Ateneo, though, wound up tied with defending champion Chiang Kai Shek College and San-Beda B with 1-1 slates in Group A, but the Magis Eagles nailed the last championship slot due to a superior quotient.
The Magis Eagles stunned San Beda-B, 76-51, behind Daniel Mayol and Piero Longa’s combined 32 points.
“That’s the dream of the players—to beat a Manila-based school,” said SHS-Ateneo coach Francis Auquico. “We really pushed the players to work hard.”
Although CKSC won over SHS-Ateneo in the last semifinal match, 101-99, the Blue Dragons needed to win by 14 points to sustain their back-to-back title hunt.
The winner-take-all title match is set at 1 p.m. today at Meralco Gym, right after the 11 a.m. All-Stars game and the 3×3 Finals.