PSSBC ‘Battle of Champions’ begins today

MANILA, Philippines - The fourth Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship (PSSBC) Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Cup kicks off today with defending champion San Beda taking on inaugural winner Hope Christian High School at the San Beda College gym.

San Beda and HCHS collide at 10:45 a.m. highlighting the four-game opening bill that features the country’s top high school teams. Mapua of NCAA battles Chiang Kai Shek in the 9 a.m. opener, Lyceum faces Manila Patriotic School at 12:30 p.m. while Arellano and Xavier of Filipino-Chinese Athletic Association square off in the 2:15 p.m. main dish.

“The chase for the bragging rights as the best high school team starts today and we are excited to host the event where we hope to help discover future members of Gilas Pilipinas,” said league chairman and Jumbo Plastic Linoleum owner Jimmy dela Cruz.

Meanwhile, the formal opening rites will be held tomorrow with Globalport star Terrence Romeo and Gilas coach Tab Baldwin as special guests.

“We want to help inspire these young players so we decided to invite Romeo and Baldwin,” said Terry Que, co-owner of Rain or Shine and league vice chairman.

High scoring Kenneth Villapando will lead the MPS charge in the event also sponsored by MEC Networks, Freego, Dickies Underwear, Blackwater Sports, Hapee Toothpaste and Ironcon Builders with Molten as official ball.

Expected to spearhead San Beda’s title campaign is Sam Abuhijle who is likely to be pitted against Philippine Under-16 standout Harvey Pagsanjan while Tyler Tio and Kyle Ong are touted as the 1-2 punch of the Stallions.

Also out to impress are Mapua’s Mike Enriquez, La Salle-Zobel’s Aljun Melecio, Arellano’s Guilmer dela Torre, Adamson’s Denzel Sabroso, Far Eastern University’s Kenji Roman and University of Santo Tomas’ Clark Ballada.

The CKSC Blue Dragons will bank heavily on the troika of Jonas Tibayan, Gershom Montes and Joshua Ramirez of Chiang Kai Shek.