Knights reclaim crown

Mt. Carmel School’s Merrick Toves takes off for an open layup during the fourth quarter of their title game against Agape Christian School in the 2017-2018 Commonwealth Coalition of Private School Association Basketball League yesterday at the packed Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Mt. Carmel School took back the championship it lost to Agape Christian School last season after posting a 37-25 victory in the boys middle school finals of the 2017-2018 Commonwealth Coalition of Private School Association Basketball League yesterday at the packed Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Knights weathered every Agape’s storm to prevail in their third straight title showdown and avenge their 19-33 defeat at the hands of the Torchbearers during the 2016-2017 season. Mt. Carmel now has a 2-1 record against Agape in their head-to-head finals showdown, as the Knights also won their first meeting (2015-2016), 40-38.

With a score to settle after splitting their first two outings, the Mt. Carmel-Agape title duel drew a huge crowd as both teams brought throngs of supporters. With their fans cheering them on, the Knights got off to a good start, leading by 5 at the end of the first period, 11-6. Merrick Toves had 6 points for Mt. Carmel in the first canto, while Earl San Nicolas and Josh Tenorio added a triple and a layup, respectively.

Only Davis Zheng made a field goal for Agape in the opening canto and the dethroned champions continued to struggle offensively against the Knights’ pressured defense in the second quarter. Agape was held to three field goals in the second canto, allowing the Knights to lead by as much as 11, 19-8, before settling for a 21-13 advantage at the break.

When the game resumed, Agape’s Zheng tried to close the gap and was a bit successful as he scored all of the team’s 6 points in the third period to cut the deficit to as low as 5, 19-24. However, a triple from Richard Steele gave the Knights more room to operate, while Toves followed it up with a split free throw to retain Mt. Carmel’s 8-point lead, 27-19, going into the final quarter.

In the fourth period, Zheng remained persistent and Agape had one final push to mount a comeback, moving within 5 anew, 24-29, after Zheng’s long jumper. However, that was the last field goal for the Torchbearers, as they missed a bundle in the final three minutes and change of the game and went 1-for-6 from the foul line.

In contrast, Mt. Carmel got key baskets from Jeremiah Diaz, who made back-to-back fields and two free throws to steady the ship. A getaway layup from Toves with under a minute left brought the Knights’ lead back to twin digits, 35-25, while a point-blank shot from Tenorio off Steele’s feed put icing on the cake.

Steele again top-scored for the Francis San Nicolas-coached Mt. Carmel with 11 points, just one shy of his output in their 41-18 rout of Saipan International School in the semis last Tuesday. Toves added 9, while Tenorio and Diaz combined for 12 more points for the newly crowned champions.

Zheng led all scorers with his 16 points and was the lone Agape player to knock in more than one field goal in the finals. Silas Xu, who had 12 markers in their 34-31 semis victory over Grace Christian Academy, was limited to 5, 3 of them came from the foul line.

MCS 37— Steele 11, Toves 9, Diaz 6, Tenorio 6, San Nicolas 3, Galang 2.
ACS 25 — Zheng 16, Xu 5, Liang 2, Bao 2.
Scoring by quarters: 11-6, 21-13, 27-119, 37-25.