Sotto is center of attention in Eaglets triumph

Kai Sotto PHOTO BY TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER.net

He may just be too good—and too big—for juniors basketball.

Kai Sotto, the 7-foot-1 teen wonder, proved too dominant all season. And lucky for the Ateneo Blue Eaglets, they got him on their side to romp to their first UAAP juniors championship in three years.

Sotto bagged the Finals Most Valuable Player plum after boasting an incredible stat line in the best-of-three title series: 17.0 points per game built on a 63 percent shooting clip, 12.3 rebounds and 6.3 blocks

The 15-year-old swatted 19 shots in the series, while all the rest of the players had 15 blocks combined.

But Ateneo still found a gritty challenger in Nazareth School of National University before the Blue Eaglets hacked out a 63-58 escape in the deciding Game 3 on Friday to complete the school’s double crown in the men’s and juniors’ divisions.

“I just told the boys to stay composed. We’ll fight back,” said coach Joe Silva.

Sotto displayed that composure as he nailed the go-ahead putback with 25.3 seconds left that shattered a 58-58 deadlock.

In the thrilling final stretch, SJ Belangel sealed the win for the Blue Eaglets after sinking two clutch free throws in the last 9.8 seconds.

Sotto survived a foul-plagued outing and helped Ateneo recover from a 54-48 deficit, scoring seven of his 19 points in the last 4:18, while also hauling down 13 rebounds and rejecting three shots.

Belangel chipped in 16 markers and eight boards, while Dave Ildefonso got a near-double-double with his 13 points and nine rebounds as the Blue Eaglets completed a fitting ending to to their near-perfect season.