St. John’s Institute captured once again the NOPSSCEA juniors boys’ basketball crown by sweeping the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos in the best-of-three finals that ended yesterday at the West Negros University Gym.

Unbeaten all throughout the tournament, the Dexter Dy-mentored SJI Blue Falcons won game one, 82-71, then went on to win the title in game two, 80-72, despite the fighting stance put up the UNO-R junior Rams.

“It was a team effort and I am happy that we were able to win the championship this year,” SJI’s leading scorer Kib Montalbo said, adding that UNO-R was a tough opponent as they have a taller line-up.

Getting out of defensive traps, hitting his outside shots, and dishing out passes to his teammates, Montalbo was the core of SJI’s offense before he fouled out with 3:54 left in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 22 points.

Backing him up in the scoring department were Miguel Jison and Jai Arroyo, who delivered 14 points each and picked up the slack after center Carlo Sian got injured in the second quarter and when Montalbo fouled out.

Also bailing out SJI out of trouble whenever UNO-R threatened to take over the lead were Diego Montoya and Leland Dusaban, who tallied 9 points each.

UNO-R started strong in the first quarter with three hits from the three-point area, two from John Aposaga and one from Nohmar Bretaña, before SJI caught up in the closing minutes of the quarter to post a one point lead at 18-17.

Undaunted, UNO-R keep the fight going in the second quarter as Emmanuel Bernales and Patrick Dave Yulo combined for 11 points but SJI matched their output to tie the score at halftime at 36-all.

A jump shot from Montalbo and a trey from Dusaban late into the third quarter allowed SJI to pull away and establish a 61-56 lead going into the payoff period.

The fourth quarter belonged to SJI as the lead ballooned to 11 points, 69-58, with 6:54 left in the game before Bernales and Arriola hit back-to-back baskets to cut down the deficit at 69-62. Montalbo, however, hit a triple to restore the double-digit lead.

“We wanted to get back the title we won in 2010 and lost last year against West Negros University. Next year, I am handing over the head coaching task to coach Ritchie Militante,” Dy said.

Also contributing to the win were Eldrick Go, who scored 6 points Alec Rojas with 4 points, and Diego Montoya, 2 points.

Bernales led UNO-R with 20 points, while Aposaga and Yulo had 16 points each, Steven Enema finished with 11 points, Jun King Arriola added 4 points, Bretaña with 3, and Jules Rubino, 2 points.

Also at the sidelines watching the championship game were De La Salle University new head coach Gee Abanilla and chief recruiter Dave Dichupa who are inviting Montalbo to wear the Green Archers colors in next year’s UAAP Season.

Meanwhile, Bacolod Tay Tung High School grabbed the second runner-up honors this year after beating St. Joseph High School in their battle for third place *NAB

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