ATHLETICS

Xavier Makes It Three in a Row

Henry Liao (XS'72)

Posted Friday, 20-Jan-2006 11:49 AM  

      It was another walk in the park for Xavier School Wednesday night as the Stallions galloped their way   to a 91-45 thrashing of two-time reigning titlist St. Stephen's High School at the UNO Gym for their third straight victory in as many games in the juniors division of the 2006 Tiong Lian basketball tournament.

      Xavier's swarming, full court pressure defense throughout the game forced St. Stephen's to a series of errors and the former got away with a lot of easy baskets off interceptions as well. In the mind boggling third quarter, Xavier limited St. Stephen's to only two points--on a field goal with 5:47 left--while scorching the nets with 37 markers, including the quarter's final 24 pts., to lead 76-22. If this was baseball, then the "mercy" rule would have been enforced.

      Unlike a year ago when it played matador-like defense at times, this year's Xavier squad has been unforgiving on defense in its first three assignments. From every game's start, it has applied a trapping defense that mesmerized the opposition. Coach Patrick Aquino's charges also have been more focused and appear to have developed a killer's instinct this early. Of course, it pays that the 2006 unit is so much ahead, experienced-wise.

      But this should not lull the team into complacency. Next week will be a major test of Xavier's real strength as it sees action in three successive play dates, including games against powerhouses St. Jude (Monday, Jan. 23, 7:00 p.m.) and UNO (Friday,
Jan. 27, 7:00 p.m.). Xavier's other game--vs. powder puff Grace Christian (0-2)--is on Wednesday,Jan. 25, 5:30 p.m.

      With its victory over St. Stephen's, Xavier tied St. Jude Catholic School for the leadership with identical 3-0 records in the single round-robin elimination phase of the seven-school competitions. St. Jude guns for its fourth win on Friday (Jan. 20) against dangerous Chiang Kai Shek (1-1). Xavier, on the other hand, clashes with St. Jude on Jan. 23 (Monday) in what could be a preview of the league championship.

      Xavier leads the tournament in team offense with 94.3 ppg while St. Jude is a far second at 67.7 ppg. On team defense, it's the other way around with St. Jude on top with 53.0 ppg and Xavier in second place at 58.7 ppg.

      Winless in three starts, St. Stephen's, which defeated Xavier thrice in four games last season, is now a shadow of its old self, having lost 11 players from last year's back-to-back championship team, including 2005 Tiong Lian MVP Kish Co (now with the UAAP De La Salle Green Archers).

      Against Xavier, St. Stephen's only had nine players in uniform and was   reduced to eight men late in the second quarter following an injury. The    Stallions were never threatened throughout, enjoying a 10-point lead (20-10) after the first (10-minute) quarter. Halftime score was 39-20 with Philmon Yao and Charles Tiu contributing 10 points apiece.

      Xavier got the first 13 pts. of the third quarter, 52-20, but after hapless St. Stephen's made a twinner (52-22), the Stallions ran away with 24 points in a row while holding the host school scoreless for the rest of the period. Second-stringer Alejandro Torres scored all his 12 points in the third quarter, including a pair of three-pointers.

      Xavier enjoyed its biggest lead of the night, 55 points (79-24), early in the fourth quarter before Aquino cleared his bench and fielded in his third-stringers. At 81-29, never-say-die St. Stephen's went on a 13-0 blast to cut Xavier's lead to 81-42. This led Aquino to field back Marc Tio and he doused off St. Stephen's spirited but futile rally by knocking in six of Xavier's final 10 markers.

      With the outcome settled early, Aquino had the luxury of resting Woody Co for the final 17 minutes of the game. By then, the 6-3 league MVP material had totaled 12 pts. and eight rebounds, including 8 and 7 in the first half. Tiu was also on the bench in the entire fourth quarter and he finished with 15 pts., six rebounds and four assists. Three other Xaverians scored in twin digits-- Yao , Torres and Tio, who collected a dozen markers, all in the second half, and grabbed four boards.

      Twelve of the 13 players sent in by Aquino scored. First-string guard Wesley Contreras did not play. Jert Yao equaled Co's rebounding output with eight and contributed five points as well.

      On Monday, Xavier faces an acid test in St. Jude, a team that is expected to challenge for the title. By the time, coach Aquino may have devised a strategy to stop St. Jude's main man, 5-11 center Carl Cua, who is averaging 16.0 points and tournament-best 22.3 rebounds after three assignments. Cua has had rebounding lines of 20, 22 and 25. He's lanky but shifty and energetic. No. 9 likes to operate from the low post and often seeks the ball. Cua's offensive rebounding is exceptional (it's time somebody boxes him out). Cua can miss one shot after another but he makes sure he's there to take the rebound if his shots (and his teammates' shots) do not find the mark.

      The Xavier-St. Jude showdown should be a humdinger. And lest anyone forgets, crowd support is important,too.

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