Cebu Elite caging kicks off this pm

CEBU, Philippines - All roads lead to the University of San Carlos (USC)-North Campus gymnasium this afternoon as the second conference of the Cebu Elite Basketball League Friendship Cup 2013 comes off the wraps with an exciting triple-header on tap.

The highly-anticipated showdown between La Salle and Ateneo high school teams will spice up the four-day tilt, but that won't happen yet as they are booked for different schedules today coincidentally against the same rivals.

The De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Junior Archers of coach Boris Aldeguer will go up against the Cebu Institute of Technology-University in the 4 pm opener, while defending champion Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles will start their title retention bid against the CIT-U Wildkittens in the main match at 7 pm.

In the second game at 5:30 pm, the USC Baby Warriors of coach Carlo Britt Reroma will mix it up with the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars. The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers took a bye and will see action tomorrow yet.

“I warmly welcome the entry of La Salle Zobel in this tournament. Hopefully, this will be the start of the many good things to come for the league,” said event organizer Chino Uy in a press conference yesterday at the USC-NC auditorium. Uy was a former shooting guard of the USC Warriors in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI).

For the Alabang-based Junior Archers, coming over here is a great opportunity for them to further fine-tune their skills preparatory for the upcoming UAAP cage wars.

“The school allowed us to join in this tournament and we took it as an opportunity. We did not hesitate to come here knowing that Cebu is a basketball fanatic province,” said Aldeguer. “This is a completely different thing than what we usually do in Manila. We hope to gain experience and learn a lot from Cebuano players.”

Aside from La Salle's high school representatives to the prestigious UAAP, La Salle Zobe also takes pride for being the reigning Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle national champion.

“They're (La Salle Zobel) really a tough team, but we can give them a good fight. They're preparing for the UAAP and we're also preparing for the CESAFI.  It's gonna be a great tune-up games for both of us,” said Ateneo de Cebu assistant coach Thaddeus Bacalso.

The six contending squads will play in a single round robin, with the top two teams in each bracket advancing into the crossover semifianals. They winners will then clash for the championship in a winner-take-all affair on Independence Day. (FREEMAN)