Boys Championship Game

Late Jaguar rally falls short
Eagles are champions after 34-30 win
In a thrill-packed game that had the Gilberto Parejas Coliseum rocking with cheers, the Christian Learning boys varsity basketball team won the SCISL tournament with a well-crafted 34-30 win over Cooperative Tuesday. However, it was far from an easy victory. Cooperative clearly had an upset in mind as they jumped off to a 7-0 lead at the start of the game. And after the Eagles had seemingly gotten things under control in the third period, opening a nine-point lead, the Jaguars rallied to cut that lead to the point where a three-pointer could have tied things up.
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EXULTATION! -- Eagle Josh Mann (5) executes victory leap as time expires in Eagle win. Jonatan Muñoz, International

It was an epic victory achieved before a boisterous crowd comprised of large contingents from all three schools competing for championships -- Cooperative, Christian Learning and Cambridge. The two teams put on a display of skill that was a tribute to the rising level of play in the league. The tension during the game was so thick you could cut it with a knife. A butter knife.
The Jaguars opening attack was sparked by senior Daniel Linggi, who opened the scoring with a three-pointer, then added a conventional field goal. Sophomore Diego Morales got the next two points after getting a nifty feed from senior Pablo Taborga.
Eagles climb back
The Eagles then began answering back, with a long set shot by Paul Estes and a free throw by Josh Mann, but Cooperative led 7-3 after a very combative opening quarter.

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FLYING EAGLE -- David Lotz of Christian Learning shoots over Jaguar center Juan Peredo to re-tie the game at 15-all. Jonatan Muñoz, International

The Eagles finally squared things at 11-11, after getting another basket by Estes, plus a bucket by Tim Swope and two free throws by Danny Canaviri.
Linggi scored four more points for Cooperative over this stretch on a field goal and two free throws.
From this point the two teams battled evenly until the end of the half, at which point the score was knotted 17-17.
Grinding the opposition down
In the third period the Eagles seemed to be doing to the Jaguars what they have done to other teams this year -- wearing them down by sheer force of numbers. Christian Learning sent in fresh substitutes two and three at a time, and the subs seemed to play as well as the starters but with fresh energy.
Cooperative, which only had four substitutes (one of them a junior varsity player), seemed to lose the ability to work the ball inside, as it had done successfully throughout the first half. The Jaguars were forced to rely on long-range, low percentage shots -- and missed most of them.
Christian Learning, which had 12 players dressed for the game and used nearly all of them, improved its passing game and hit some long ones too. After a scoring drive led by Estes, Kyle Swope, and David Lotz, the Eagles took a 29-20 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
Linggi fouls out
Things appeared quite grim for the Jaguars at that point, and got grimmer as Linggi, sparkplug of the opening rally, fouled out with almost seven minutes left in the game. He left the game on a questionable call, after a spectaculat mid-air collision with a Jaguar as the two players, coming from opposite directions, tried to pull down an errant pass.
But at that point the Jaguars began to come back. After baskets by Juan Abuawad, Ernesto Gomez, Cristobal Roda, and Pablo Taborga, the Eagles led by only three, 31-28, with 1:26 still left on the clock.
But Eagle senior Tim Swope came through with a clutch basket and his brother Kyle added a free show for the Eagles before Gomez hit another basket to complete Cooperative's scoring for the afternoon.
Estes, Time Swope lead Eagle scorers
The Christian Learning attack was led by Paul Estes and Tim Swope, who each had eight points. Danny Canaviri posted six. Josh Mann, Kyle Swope and David Lotz had four points each.
Daniel Linggi of Cooperative was the high scorer in the game with 11 oints, including a three-pointer. All his points came in the first half. Juan Abuawad, Pablo Tasborga, and Esteban Gomez had four points. Juan Peredo, usually the team´s high scorer, had three, on a three-pointer. Cristobal Roda and Diego Morales had two points each.
Christian Learning had finished the regular season tied with Cambridge atop the league standing with a 5-1 record. Cooperative had placed third with a 2-4 record. The Jaguars won their way into the championship game with a two-point victory over Cambridge, but had to be rated as the underdog based on overall prior records.
The Eagle boys have now won the championship trophy twice in the four years since the League was founded. Cambridge won the other two years.