CESAFI Finals 2011

It’s a week beyond final exams for most schools, but there’s a different kind of finals that’s taking place in the schoolyear calendar, and it’s as difficult, exciting and sure to create a lot of noise in the classroom called Cebu Coliseum. It’s the CESAFI Finals for both the high school and collegiate divisions for the 11th season of the CESAFI.

 In the high school division, we won’t see a repeat of the battle between Cinderella teams 2010 champions Cebu Eastern College (CEC) and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC). The Magis Eagles are back, but in CEC’s place is this year’s top seed University of the Visayas (UV). UV’s return to the finals was expected after last year’s painful exit in the semifinals. However, the same can’t be said about SHS-AdC. After last year’s run to the 2010 finals, people actually believed that the Magis Eagles would be favorites for the championship this year since the team was to be intact, but the loss of three key players to Manila at the end of last schoolyear suddenly changed the scenario. Groping for form, SHS-AdC started all over last summer with a new set of core players. The Magis Eagles will rely on big men Julius Cadavis, Dawn Hynric Ochea and the hustle of Mavii Suarez. In the backcourt, the rotation of Dave Yu, Patrick Go, Jair Igna, and Aaron Sing will be counted on for their inside-out game of slashing and outside shooting. The big question is if Henry Asilum will be “game-ready” to play and can quickly fit into the flow of things when he gets back from playing for the Energen Pilipinas Under 16 team that placed fourth in the FIBA Asia Under 16 Championships in Vietnam.

UV, on the other hand, was stacked with previously recruited players and a handful of carryovers from 2010. Reeve Ugsang is back to man the fort and has been a steady performer inside the paint. In support are rookie Paul Desiderio who has shown remarkable improvement in each game he has played. They also have Ron Dennison, and Nelson Peralta who can both shoot from outside and also slash their way to points. It will also be a clash between veteran coach Delfin “Jun” Pepito and Rommel Rasmo. While Pepito has proven to win it at the CESAFI and CAAA, Rasmo has dominated the Passerelle scene (Under 15 age group) of Cebu with five straight championships. Is Rasmo ripe for the big one? Or will UV’s tradition of winning prevail?

 For the first time in CESAFI history, UV will not be playing in the finals. After scoring an amazing nine straight titles, UV was runner-up last year. So who’s in? Call in Southwestern University (SWU) with their “rookie” coach in Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba who’s out to prove that he’s the best coach in Cebu today. He may have won a lot of trophies for the storied M. Lhuillier ballclub, but this is something different. Yayoy is totally new in the SWU scene and merely inherited his players from its existing program. Justin Aboude and Benito Ortuyo make up the Mutt and Jeff tandem that brought SWU this far. With his size and height, Aboude has been a terror on defense manning the paint like a feared goalkeeper: swatting shots, making people change their shots and just simply creating an imposing presence. Ortuyo is Cebu’s quickest point guard who can outrun the entire defense of an opposing squad. He gets the SWU offense going being an excellent creator of offense through his dribble drives, passes to the open shooters on the wings or feeding drop passes to guys like Aboude and Rene Pacquiao. Eleazar Armecin brings in offense through his deceivingly slow stepping drives to the basket. Using his quick first step and slim body well, he has mastered how to split defenses for easy lay-ups or pull-up jumpers. If SWU is to win, they’ll need a more consistent performance from back-up point guard Joseph Nalos so that Ortuyo can spend some time on the bench to rest. Bonifacio Guillena, Bernie Bregondo and Monbert Arong are also expected to step up to spread out the offense and keep the defense honest.

June Mar Fajardo. We all know him, don’t we? Pledging loyalty, he decided to give it UC another shot at a championship even if he could’ve left the school already. So will his decision to stay bring a second straight title to UC? It won’t be easy with Aboude matching up against Fajardo, and this is why UC’s chances on winning the title will depend on how the other guys perform. Fajardo will get his usual points, rebounds and blocks, but he needs Edward Pao, Quinton Brian Heruela, Francis Luigi Bercede and Gerald Ampoon to step up big time. If Bercede and Ampoon can contain Ortuyo’s speed, then that will solve half the problem. Pao will have to give Fajardo support from mid-range while the likes of Heruela, Ampoon and Robinson Mohammad will have to make those treys to open up the lane for Fajardo. With a scenario like this, the team with the deeper bench will come out on top. The other highlight of the finals is undeniably named Yayoy. He doesn’t pick up a coaching job just for the sake of getting a job. He’s out to win every game he coaches and he has proven to be a winner wherever he goes. Now can he take his winning act to the CESAFI? “No way,” Rhoel Gomez is calmly saying.

 So that’s it. Finally after final exams, we end the semester with the Finals. CESAFI Finals

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 Time-out: Happy birthday to my sister Dra. Naomi Navarro Poca. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].