MANILA – Jared Bahay lived up to his billing as the top high school basketball player in the country after towing the Central Visayas into 2023 Palarong Pambansa glory.

Bahay showed nerves of steel in the final 40 seconds of the secondary boys basketball finals as he drained a game-winning basket that dethroned the defending champions National Capital Region, 77-73, at the Marikina Sports Center Saturday.

Tied at 73-all, the University of the Philippines-commit guard delivered a long-two shot that put them ahead of the National University-backed NCR, 75-73.

JUST IN: Central Visayas dethrones NCR in secondary boys basketball, 77-73, to win the #Palaro2023 gold medal.

Watch the game-winning basket of Jared Bahay in the final 38 seconds of the game. pic.twitter.com/g23qiOhh7w

— Karl Cedrick Basco (@cedrickkbasco) August 5, 2023

He tried to secure the win with his three-point attempt in the last 16 seconds of the match but missed the hoop. However, Bahay managed to get the loose ball and drew contact from the NCR team for two bonus shots, 4.9 seconds left on the clock.

The 18-year-old star of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu fumbled his two charities, though, but Wilhelm Josh Go got a hand on the rebound and drilled a putback jumper that proved to be the nail on the coffin for them.

Bahay dropped a scintillating 29 points in the game – enough to be awarded as the Most Valuable Player of the national contest. Alden Paul Cainglet added 12 points for Central Visayas.

“Before the game pa, alam namin na kayang kaya namin yung NCR. We were just not following coach’s system, what coach gave us sa game plan. Kalaban lang namin ourselves. Ine-encourage lang kami ni coach na i-push pa kasi alam namin na kayang kaya namin,” Bahay told reporters.

“Sarap ng feeling na nadala yung Palarong Pambansa gold medal sa Cebu. Sobrang sarap,” he added.

NCR appeared to be on path to defend their crown as they created a 57-50 separation in the third period after a pair of free throws from Juancho Palanca. They capped it with a 62-53 lead, thanks to Carl Alfanta, who poured in 14 of his total 22 points in the pivotal period.

But Region 7 slowly trimmed their deficit at the start of the payoff period through an 8-2 salvo, highlighted by a triple of Timothy Matias at the 7:36 mark, 61-64.

Bahay took the matter in own hands in the succeeding plays, knocking down a three-pointer and a tear-drop shot, successively, to steal the upperhand from the NSNU, 68-67, midway through the quarter.

NCR could have had a four-point lead had Alnhumaer Usop and Sean Solomon drained their four free throws in the final two minutes of the match and be the first to break away from the 73-all deadlock.

Helping Alfanta in the match were Elijah Yusi, who had 16 points, while Palanca also hit double-digits with 11 markers.

Meanwhile, Central Luzon, represented by Jesus Is Lord (JIL) College Foundation clinched the bronze medal after beating the Davao Region earlier via overtime.