CEBU, Philippines — The Toledo Hyenas courageously overhauled a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the erstwhile undefeated One-on-One C in overtime, 101-96, and clinch the championship of the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) Under 16 Summer Showcase Division 2 presented by MVP Sports Foundation.
Mythical 5 member Joeff Cyrus Abadies topped the Hyenas with 35 points and six rebounds while Sam Kyle Aballe filled the stats sheet with 25 points, 15 rebounds, six steals and four blocks in an all-around hardcourt brilliance that made him the Know The Culture Finals MVP.
One-on-One C, mentored by CIT-U Wildcats head coach Edsel Vallena, turned to the hot hands of Kieff Suarez to post huge lead in the final canto.
Things were made worse for the Hyenas when Abadies had to be subbed out with three minutes remaining due to severe cramps. But they locked down hard on One-on-One’s star guards CJ Yurag and Suarez to slowly chisel away the deficit.
The defensive effort paid off leading to a 7-0 run by the Hyenas entering the last two minutes. Sam Aballe capped off the run with a strong layup to knot tha count at 86-all with 1:03 remaining.
One-on-One’s John Avila then split his charities off a shooting foul to bring the lead back to 87-86.
On the next possession, the Hyenas missed three close shots but luckily Aballe was there to rebound the last shot and draw a foul – making both free throws for a hairline lead, 88-87, with 26 seconds left.
In the ensuing possession, Aballe made a crucial steal off a weak inbounds pass and converted an open fastbreak layup to raise One-on-One’s lead to 90-87.
With six seconds to go, Kieff Suarez’s first three point attempt got blocked but somehow the ball bounced to an open spot on the right wing where Suarez landed and radily converted a buzzer-beating triple to send the game into overtime.
Fatigue set in One-on-One’s legs in the extra period as Suarez, Avila, and big man Reemar To-ong all fell to cramps throughout the period. This allowed sneaky guard Kevin Mascariñas to harass the replacement guards and create two pickoffs to hand the Hyenas a four-point lead, 96-92, with 2:46 remaining.
One-on-One tied the game through Clarence Bongo’s four straight points but the Hyenas held firm with Abadies, recovered from cramps, and Mascariñas combining for five points to carve out a hard-fought victory. — EBV