The CESAFI 2014 basketball season is up and running and it has been a week of pleasant surprises and a quick glimpse at the title favorites in both the college and high school divisions. Will it be another year for the Lancers? Or will the Cobras of Southwestern University (SWU) prove that their runner-up finish at the Philippine Collegiate Champions’ League (PCCL) 2013 was not a fluke? But what about the University of San Carlos (USC) with its rejuvenated line-up? And will the Magis Eagles of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu defend its 2012 high school division title (after last year’s non-champ scenario)?
In the collegiate division, the pre-season was pointing towards the Cobras as pre-tournament favorites, thanks to its performance in the pre-season at the Filoil Flying V Tournament. The Cobras topped their group and qualified for the playoffs. With the addition of JR Parker and rookie import Bendly Valdor, the Cobras are just as deadly as before. Although they lost Monbert Arong and Justin Aboude, they won’t miss much in terms of scoring. Landry Sanjo, Parker and 2013 MVP Macmac Tallo are there to fill in the void. Moreover, the scrappy duo of Bernie Bregondo and Daryl Goloran are still around to provide the defense, rebounding, muscle and hustle underneath. Extra help will come from the sweet shooting of Anton Pardo.
Not much is known about Valdor although he did have a breakout game of sorts against CIT-U recently. Valdor will be the X-factor for the team since he's relatively unknown. While the other reliables can be counted on, what does Valdor bring to the table? If he’s as good as advertised, then they’re shoo-ins to make it to the finals. If he’s a dud, then they might regret getting him on board. On the other hand, things aren’t looking to hot for the defending champions UV Lancers. The basketball scene was rocked with the news that Steve Akomo, Wowie Escosio and Arvie Cabanero aren’t returning. The most welcome news is that point guard John Michael Abad is back to orchestrate the offense of the Lancers, but he’s going to need a lot of help from the others. But who are they? Will Franz Arong, Chris Perolino and Leonard Santillan step up? Will new recruit Josue Segumpan, Raffy Octobre, and Alfred Codilla provide the much-needed support? UV’s year will be tough as they look for the right combination for their scoring with nobody else (outside of Abad) capable of scoring the lights out. UV’s imports aren’t recognized for their scoring and there was a moment in the UV-CIT-U game when UV’s all-Pinoy crew did a better job on the floor. The good news is that they’ll still make the semifinals for sure.
The tough call is whether or not they’re good enough to make it back to finals for a possible back-to-back championship. I’m sure they’ll take full advantage of the double round robin phase to get to know each other well and find ways to win. The surprise package of the college scene will the USC Warriors. They have two reliable imports in Shooster Olago and Espoir Toyambi and have veterans who are a year more mature and developed. Ian Ortega, Nico Magat and Victor Rabat are back and are expected to lead the Warriors along with Kiefer Lim. They also have interesting recruits in Ramon Asuncion who flew in from the U.S., and Venezer Ian Bensig who is expected to man the point guard spot. I hate to spoil the chances of others, but I think it’s safe to say that the finalists will most likely come from these three teams. Yes, CIT-U stunned UV and UC surprised USJ-R on opening weekend. But does this mean they’re considered serious threats to the Big Three? The question was answered when SWU trashed CIT-U and UC bowed to UV earlier in the week. USJ-R will be there along with CIT-U and UC to provide sparring partner time for the top three teams. USJ-R’s question mark is if they can maximize the output their import Quentin Luzoladio who was reportedly close to leaving the team before the season started. But we’ll also get to watch the talent of players like James Regalado (USJ-R), Jan Auditor (UC) and the CIT-U pair of Joshua de la Cerna and Allan Dimco. All leads are pointing to a SWU-USC finals, but then again, anything can also happen.
The high school division will be a close battle among SHS-Ateneo de Cebu, USC and UV, with everyone else fighting for fourth to ninth places. The Magis Eagles and Baby Warriors had busy pre-seasons and are dying to get over last year’s problems. Expected to lead SHS-Ateneo are veterans Janjan Jaboneta, Joseph Mayol and Zachy Huang. Josh Sinclair, Travis Mantua and Pio Longa are also expected to step up on their first year in the CESAFI. Also there are Passerelle veterans Nino Araw-Araw, Steven Co and Andrew Velasco. Will they be as dominating as they were in 2012 and the early part of 2013? Maybe not, but they’ll still be tough to beat. USC has now embarked on a serious basketball program that has already reaped two championships in the recent Milo Little Olympics 2014 and they’re only one game from another SBP championship. The lacking piece in the USC bio-data?
A CESAFI high school championship. And they’re going all out for the title this year. Jean Jacque Antigua, Marc Ting and Kent Malazarte are holdovers from the 2013 team and will be expected to step up for the Baby Warriors. Joseph Echiverri is also expected to give support while big men Briedyn Smith, Louise Sevilla will earn their spurs while growing with the team. The UV Baby Lancers will be led by the wily JC Escalona, Joshua Flores and Orlan Wamar, all products of the UV developmental program. Darkhorses in the high school division are CIT-U and UC, and everyone else fighting for ranking down the line; USJ-R, USPF, CEC, and Don Bosco.
The season is only a week old, and things are just warming up. Looking forward to another great season of CESAFI basketball.
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Time-out: Kudos to the U.P. Maroons for winning over Adamson yesterday!