ATHLETICS

It’s Xavier vs. Uno in Tiong Lian Semis

Mr. Henry Liao (XS ’72)

Posted Tuesday, 07-Feb-2006 11:54 AM

     The top four deserving teams after the elimination round are playing in the Final Four in the Juniors Division of the 2006 Tiong Lian basketball tournament.

      The semifinal games will be held at the UNO gym on Wednesday, Feb. 8. In the first game of a doubleheader, top-ranked Xavier School seeks its seventh consecutive victory when it tangles with No. 4 UNO, which ousted No. 5 St. Stephen's 59-58 in their quarterfinal game Friday night.  (St. Stephen’s took the title in 2004 and 2005 but was an also-ran this year after losing 11 players from the 2005 squad.) In the second semifinal match, No. 2 Chiang Kai Shek takes on No. 3 St. Jude Catholic School.  During the elimination phase, CKS defeated St. Jude 75-71.

      Both Xavier and Chiang Kai Shek own a twice-to-beat advantage against their respective semifinal foes. 

      A semifinal rematch with UNO may not be as lopsided as Xavier's 122-61 shellacking of UNO in the elimination phase.  UNO is assured of crowd support once again and is expected to be rejuvenated by the return of its top scorer Kevin Lee, who missed the Jan. 27 game against
Xavier due to a foot injury.

      In that same contest, Xavier's Woody Co scored a tournament-high 53 points. The single-game scoring record in Xavier history is 64 points, which Eric Yao established during the 2001 Tiong Lian season en route  to a 40-point average. That year, Xavier captured the championship with an immaculate 10-0 record.

      After six games this season, Xavier leads the tournament in scoring with a 103.7-point clip, including scores of 105, 112 and 122 in its last three assignments.  The Stallions' offense has been fueled by shots taken from beyond the three-point arc and an avalanche of transition baskets off interceptions. More impressive, though, is Xavier’s suffocating defense, which has mesmerized its opponents into committing a lot of turnovers and led to easy baskets by the Stallions.  Overall, Xavier is giving up just 54.3 points per game to the opposition.

      Should Xavier win its semifinal match on Feb. 8, it would enter the finals for the sixth straight year. Xavier was the champion in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and runner-up in 2004 and 2005.

      A Feb. 10 playdate has been reserved in case Xavier and CKS lose on Feb. 8 while the best-of-three finals will be held on Feb. 14, 16 and 18 (if necessary).

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