CEBU high school player Joshua Sinclair admitted he was motivated to play hard against top Manila teams and is pleased to get the backing from his Sacred Heart School teammates.
“I was really motivated to take on Manila's best. Not only playing against NCR teams but competing with them was one of our main goals as a team. It was an honor playing against teams of that caliber and the feeling of winning it all was inimitable,” said Sinclair.
The Magis Eagles rallied to beat San Beda, 82-78, in the National Basketball Training Center National High School Championship on Sunday at the Meralco Gym.
[See Cebu side Sacred Heart School shakes off slow start to turn back San Beda and top NBTC tournament]
Sinclair also got huge support in his bid to topple the NCR squads, with Janjan Jaboneta scoring a game-high 27 markers on the way to claiming Finals MVP honors. Anton Araw-Araw and University of Santo Tomas-bound Zachary Huang also came up with huge games to help lift SHS.
“It was a great feeling. But nothing beats the feeling of winning it all with my brothers though,” said the 6-foot-3 Fil-Australian Sinclair, who came up with 15 points and 17 rebounds in the title match and won the Most Outstanding and Best Defensive Player awards.
Jaboneta, the Cesafi juniors MVP who will be playing for University of the Philippines in college, said he simply wanted to play well in his last match in a Magis Eagles uniform.
“I just wanted to play my game in my last game, for the last time here at SHS-AdC,” said Jaboneta.
[See Sinclair's stock rises after leading Magis Eagles to NBTC title]
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph