4 age groups, 4 champs

Cebu Basketball went or had four in four. Cebu basketball’s biggest school-based tournaments of the schoolyear are over and in a pleasant surprise, the scene wasn’t dominated by a single school. We had four different champions in the four major age groups of the sport: College, High School, Passerelle and SBP. Moreover, all four championships were historical and significant for the schools and the leagues. This is a very positive sign for the development of the sport that will hopefully elevate the level of play up a notch. From a big picture perspective, we’ll get to see how the four age groups need each other as a way to grow the sport. Not too many have paid attention to it but if you take a closer look, everything else is academic.

Just ending last week was the classic CESAFI collegiate finals which saw Southwestern University (SWU) score an amazing come-from-behind win over the University of the Visayas (UV), 73-72, in the do-or-die Game 5 of the series. This was probably one of the best, if not the best finals series in CESAFI and CAAA history, overtaking the likes of the UC-SWU series of 2011 and the two UV-USC clashes before. Nothing can top a great game to end the season, and on top of that also bring out a surprise hero in one of those players who people hardly knew (more on him later). It was SWU’s first ever CESAFI championship after placing second last year. The Cobras broke the string of UV-UC titles since 2000, and we may be seeing a collegiate scene similar to the past when a title wasn’t a sure thing for UV or UC anymore. 

Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu won the CESAFI high school division title via a 3-0 sweep of UV in their best-of-five series. An impressive stat is that the Magis Eagles finished the season undefeated, going 14-0 inclusive of elimination round, semis and the finals. It was a first ever title for the school which was known as the whipping boys of the CAAA of the 90s and which was better known then for their good looks and expensive cars. The title meant that aside from UV and UC, the smaller schools are now stepping up. It wasn’t too long ago when Cebu Eastern College won the Juniors title in 2010 while CIT-U won in 2009. SHS-Ateneo’s return to the scene is actually just a fitting icing on the cake for its reengineered basketball program which started at the next two levels: Passerelle and SBP.

If SHS-Ateneo scored a first in the high school division, UV did the same in their program’s history by winning the championship of the Passerelle division which is for players in the Under 15 age group (born 1997 or younger). This was at the Milo-backed BEST Center SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament where the Passerelle Lancers defeated University of San Carlos (USC), 62-56, in the finals. They too, scored a sweep of their foes from the classification phase all the way to the sudden death playoff games in the semis and finals. USC had also scored a big morale-boosting win when it ousted SHS-Ateneo de Cebu in the semis, stopping the five-time defending champions from scoring a sixth straight. Both UV and USC proved that SHS-Ateneo’s reign as Passerelle king may be over.

But while USC lost in the Passerelle division, it was total domination for the Baby Warriors in the SBP division (Under 12 age group). It wasn’t even close. USC doused SHS-Ateneo in the finals, 67-31, in a manner which displayed how they toyed with the opposition. So dominant was USC throughout the tournament as they outscored their opponents 416-180, limiting the field to an average of only 26 points a game, while they averaged 59 points a game. That’s a whopping average winning margin of 34 points. Historical stat? This is USC’s first SBP title as a unified team of both the North and South Campuses. USC South last won the SBP title in 2009 while USC North won in 2008. They had played as two teams ever since the SBP-Passerelle tournament started. More stats? What went under the radar is the fact that USC won both the SBP and Passerelle division titles of the CYBL D-League, a feat that says a lot about their program. That’s another two titles, thus making it three out of the six age group/divisions for USC if we include the D-League.

With four different champions in four age groups, Cebu Basketball is now showing signs of a unified approach to growing the sport. It’s a natural phenomenon for SBP players to move up to the Passerelle division while Passerelle players finish their high school careers at the juniors level. They then move on to the collegiate division after high school. Remember SWU’s hero and Coach Yayoy’s Sto. Niño, John Pajantoy? Many were surprised that he stood up to the pressure when called on by Coach Yayoy because he wasn’t well known. But there were many of us who knew that he was up to it after all the battles he had gone through while playing for USC since he was as young as an SBP age group player. And yes, he also played for USC’s Passerelle and Juniors teams. He even played for USC in a fifth age group that is being developed, the Under 19 division that was launched in the CYBL this year. I can vividly recall when he was named MVP of the SBP division of the first ever CYBL season back in 2008. So when his name cropped up, we weren’t surprised at all.

444 for Cebu Basketball. Kudos!

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Time-out: Watch Philippine Azkals vs. the Singapore Lions: Face Off in Cebu City. 7pm on November 15, 2012. 

You can reach me at [email protected].