Mt. Carmel dethrones Eucon

Mt. Carmel School dominated deposed champion Eucon International School in the second half en route to a 55-46 victory in the winner-take-all finale in the boys high school division of the 2014-2015 Coalition of Private School Sports Association Basketball League yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Mt. Carmel School’s William Camacho goes up for a shot against three Eucon International School defenders during the third quarter of their title game in the COPSSA caging yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Knights drew solid games from Markel Toves and William Camacho to foil the Blazers’ bid for back-to-back championships. Eucon won last year’s competition against Grace Christian Academy, 58-50.

Toves scored a team-high 20 points, while Camacho chipped in 19. Toves dropped 10 of his total output in the second quarter as he lifted Mt. Carmel to a 25-19 halftime lead after the game ended in a deadlock in the first quarter, 11-all.

In the second half, it seemed Eucon was headed for a comeback when it started the third with a short 5-0 run off Allen Yu and Jerry Wong’s free throws and Zion Alamer’s triple to move within 1, 24-25. However, the Knights went on a 14-4 windup to establish a double-digit lead, 39-28, entering the fourth quarter. Toves and Camacho combined for 10 points in that rally to give Mt. Carmel more breathing room.

Eucon failed to keep Mt. Carmel within striking distance as the Blazers were held scoreless for more than three minutes in the third period after slicing the deficit to one early in that quarter. Allen Yu nailed the two field goals for Eucon, whose offense became so predictable with the former almost always going for the basket for the Blazers. On a few occasions when Yu did not have possession, Mt. Carmel pressured Eucon’s ball handlers right at the backcourt, forcing the Blazers to rush to their frontcourt and take hurried shots.

Eucon settled down a bit at the start of the fourth and opened the last quarter with a quick 4-0 scoring off Yu and Peter Wang’s layups to cu the deficit down to 7, 32-39, but that was the closest that Eucon could get.

Mt. Carmel coach Francis San Nicolas sued for time after Eucon made two straight baskets and when the game resumed, Camacho led an 8-0 run to take the game away for good, 47-32, going into the last four minutes of the match. Camacho scored 6 consecutive points off layups and could be credited for half of the two other markers Jonah Hahn made, as the former fed the big man off a pick-and-roll play. Camacho went on to put the finishing touches in the Knights’ convincing win, as he scored 10 of their 16 fourth-quarter points. Camacho earned a living using the picks set up by his teammates from the top key to open up the driving lane and get away from his defenders.

MCS 55 – Toves 20, Camacho 19, Hahn 6, Gamab 3, Tkel 3, Deleon Guerrero 2, Son 2.

Eucon 46 – Yu 33, Alamer 7, Wong 4, Wang 2.

Scoring by quarters: 11-11, 25-19, 39-28, 55-46.