Xavier School, with its relentless and unforgiving variety of defenses, defeated last season's runners-up, San Beda, en route to their second NCR Passerelle championship in the last two years with a 73-65 victory.
San Beda drew first blood as they drained a three pointer followed by RP Youth U-16 mainstay Andre Caracut's twinner. Afterwards, Xavier made up for lost time by going on a 9-4 run with baskets from Jonathan Yu, Tyler Tio, and Jarrell Lim with his 3-point play tying the game at 9-all with 5:17 left in the quarter. Xavier had numerous offensive rebounds because of their height advantage which allowed them to get extra cracks at the basket. Xavier had its first lead of the game at 10-9 with 4:46 remaining with a split from the free throw line from Jarrell Lim but Lim's scoring outburst does not stop there. He goes on a personal 9-2 run including the fore mentioned free throw and gives them an 18-11 advantage. Xavier's defense was at its finest despite all their 4 team fouls from that quarter coming from Jonathan Yu. The quarter ended on a 4-0 run by Xavier with baskets from Tio and Lim who scored 16 points in that quarter giving them a 22-11 edge at the quarter break.
The pace of the game changed dramatically as the run-and-gun feel of the game turned into a halfcourt slugfest for both teams. Xavier started the quarter with back-to-back turnovers. Xavier had difficulty in executing their offense and nobody wanted to shoot the ball. John Guntang was a beast for San Beda scoring 8 points in the quarter to further help their cause. Guntang single-handedly matched the scoring output from Xavier in that quarter. Both teams did not take advantage of their opponents since Xavier was at penalty with 6:47 left and the Red Cubs with 3:50 remaining in the quarter with numerous splits and missed free throws. Changgi Hong struggled immensely from the field missing on numerous short stabs but Jefferson Tan made 2 crucial baskets to end the quarter with the Stallions still up by 4, 30-26.
The third quarter unit of Coach Owen Oliva, who have been his best performing quarter for their two past two games, started with a man-to-man defense but quickly switched back to their zone defense to match-up with San Beda's quickness. Martin Sy nailed the first basket of the quarter, the first two of his six points in the quarter, with an inside stab to give the Stallions a 6-point lead. San Beda slowly but surely clawed their way in back to the game with the free throw line due to numerous ticky-tacky fouls on Xavier. Xavier's 6'6 center and RP Youth U-16 mainstay Isaac Go was held to a single point because of their tenacious defense. This did not affect him in the defense end as he swatted away 2 shots and altering many in the process. San Beda had their first taste of the lead ever since the early parts of the game with 1:15 left in the quarter with the score favoring them, 41-40. The quarter ended with exchanges from both sides and after the dust settled, the score favored the Red Cubs, 45-43.
As the fourth quarter started, with their championship hopes hanging in the balance, the young Tyler Tio nailed a pivotal 3-pointer to start the quarter giving the Stallions a 46-45 lead. This would be the turning point of the game and momentum switched back to the side of the Stallions. Jarrell Lim again went on a scoring outburst scoring 20 points in this pivotal quarter, finishing with a season-high of 36 points, with able support from Anton Lapez who scored 5 big points in the quarter. Lim, who was named Passerelle Most Valuable Player, made shots from both inside and out as he toyed with the San Beda defense and leading the Stallions to their second Passerelle title in 2 years with a 73-65 victory.
Xavier would be playing in the National Finals as it represents the NCR and goes up against the other champion schools from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
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