MANILA, Philippines – De La Salle Zobel and San Beda College took home the 10-Under and 17-Under Division championships, respectively, both at the expense of their Xavier School counterparts in the Smart Breakdown Basketball Invitationals at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City last Sunday.
The DLSZ Junior Archers, bannered by its second generation stars in Vincent Kristofer Favis, Daniel Sta. Maria, Kiefer Alas and Cris Paul Miranda, were instrumental in turning back Xavier, 76-62.
Favis is the son of former UST Growling Tiger and PBA coach Binky Favis while Daniel Sta. Maria is the son of former DLSU Green Archer Adonis Sta. Maria. Alas is the son of coach Louie Alas and youngest brother of Kevin Alas, who is now with NLEX in the PBA. Chris Paul Miranda is the son of former FEU star Denok Miranda.
Favis topscored for DLSZ with 17 points while Daryl Valdeavilla added 14. Sta. Maria added 12 while Alas finished with 7. Miranda ended up with two markers.
The Junior Archers practically led all the way with their lead going up to as much as 33 pointsbefore the Golden Stallions made it a more respectable score.
Andrew Chio was the lone Xaverian in double figures with 12.
In the U-17 category, next year’s NCAA San Beda Red Cubs rallied for a 67-61 victory against the hard-luck Xavier U-17 squad. The Golden Stallions led by as much as 12 points before the Red Cubs fought back.
Putting in a better work rate on the boards, SBC grabbed 69 rebounds to Xavier’s 32. They parlayed that dominance into an 18-8 advantage in second chance points that made for the eventual difference.
Justine Sanchez led San Beda with 19 points while teammate Cyrus Llarena added 11.
Nathan Chan led Xavier with 17 points while Martin Sadhwani backstopped him with 14. The hero of Xavier’s stunning semi-finals win over Arellano University, Gabriel Sytin, was held to five points.