AT one point in the fourth quarter of the deciding game of the UAAP Season 88 19U finals, things looked bleak for FEU-Diliman as it trailed NU-Nazareth School by 13 points, the momentum firmly in the Bullpups' able hands.
That was until the tournament's Most Valuable Player in Cabs Cabonilas put his foot down and gave the Baby Tamaraws one last herculean performance before he sets sail to the collegiate ranks.
Cabonilas scored 10 of FEU's next 14 points in a four-minute stretch in the payoff period, one push that the Baby Tamaraws desperately needed as they completed a 106-102 overtime win over the Bullpups in a dramatic finale to the UAAP Season 88 19U finals on Monday at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
"It’s a really, really different feeling because 28 years back, ibang basketball eh. The evolution of basketball ngayon, ibang-iba na. Now, fast forward 28 years, we got one championship. I’m really satisfied," FEU-D coach Mike Reyes said whose last high school championship came in 1996 with Ateneo.
"I’m very, very happy sa nangyari today. Ang pinakamasaya ako sa championship na ito is, of course, we all know sina Cabs, Burgos, kukunin ng college team. I’m really happy for Cabs dahil parang this is the first time sa UAAP na season MVP and Finals MVP."
Cabs inspires, Baby Tamaraws charge
Seeing their MVP take it to another notch, the rest of the Baby Tamaraws followed suit.
Sam Hall, previously 0-5 from the field, drained a clutch three to trim the Bullpups' lead to two, 90-92, with exactly two minutes left in regulation.
Khean Esperanza then pushed the Baby Tamaraws to their first lead of the game since midway through the second with a three-pointer of his own 45 seconds later, before almost winning it for FEU by hitting two clutch free throws with six seconds remaining in the game.
Now clicking from all cylinders, the basketball gods seemed to have finally smiled down on the Baby Tamaraws.
With one last shot to salvage the game, the Bullpups turned to Shaun Lucido who's been brilliant all night long for them. He blew past Yousef Raneses, drew the contact and got the basket to potentially win the game for NUNS with a three-point play.
But as fate would have it, the Bullpups - bridesmaids in the previous two UAAP 19U finals - would be denied a chance to win it outright once more.
That basket was waved off as Moussa Diakiete's long arms seemed to have hit the rim, waving off Lucido's field goal, though the high-scoring guard got two free throws for the foul, free throws he hit to send the game to overtime.
Though the Bullpups got a breather by sending the game into overtime, the momentum was now firmly in FEU-Diliman's grip in the extension. And with the breaks going the Baby Tams' way, and his teammates stepping up, Cabonilas now had to finish the job.
And finish the job he did.
Holding a precarious one point lead with less than a minute remaining, Cabonilas attacked Corian Cabantog, got the basket and the foul before completing the three-point play to give the Baby Tamaraws a 102-98 lead with 44 seconds remaining.
But the Bullpups kept fighting as Lucido was fouled from the three-point line and hit two of his three free throws, before Cabonilas had an uncharacteristic error in the backcourt, resuling to Rhon-J Matias' two free throws.
An ensuing split from the line from Esperanza kept the door wide open for the Bullpups to either steal the game with a three or send the game into second overtime with a two-pointer, but Cabonilas made up for his previous turnover with a crucial steal of his own to seal the game with two free throws.
He calmly drained those two free throws, the final two points of his storied UAAP high school career, with fitting - and deafening - MVP chants as his backdrop.
Cabonilas finished with a career high 35-points alongside a complete line of 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three shotblocks in one of the most fitting swan songs a UAAP high school player's had in a long time.
To no surprise, he was later named the Finals MVP.
"Parang wala na akong masabi. Nagpapasalamat ako kay God kasi siya ang nag-guide sa akin. And kay Coach Mike, gina-guide niya ako," Cabonilas said after.
"Yung MVP na nakuha ko, hindi naman para sa akin yun, para sa coaches, sa pamilya ko, sa teammates ko. Pinaghirapan ko lang talaga."
Cabonilas' big night, however, would've gone to waste had it not for the steady hands of Esperanza who took over when the 6'4 wing got a breather in the early goings of the overtime period, and Marc Burgos who was a rock defensively as they held the Bullpups scoreless in the first four minutes of OT.
Esperanza finished with 23 points on 12-16 shooting from the line, while Burgos finished with 10 points and five blocks in the game. Den Den Enriquez added 13 points and five boards.
Esperanza's clutch exploits, wasn't lost on Reyes.
"That’s what our coaches have been telling me - clutch time, si Khean. Ngayon nakita ko how true that was," he said.
"So I always put him in during clutch situations. Kung napansin niyo, situational ako: offense, defense, offense, defense. True enough, he lived up to expectations. He can hit big shots."
Heartbreak pups
As FEU-D celebrates its first boys title in three years, gloom once again looms over NUNS who, for the third straight year, is settling for a runner-up finish. It's also the second-straight year they lost the finals in overtime of Game 3.
Lucido gave it his all for the Bullpups by firing 35 points of his own, Cabantog added 18 while Mot Matias added 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in a losing effort.
Once a dynasty in the high school ranks, the Bullpups haven't lifted a boys high school title in six years, or since UAAP Season 82.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
