UC Webmasters hope for third time lucky in quest for CESAFI crown

CEBU, Philippines — Will it be third time lucky for the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters?

Whatever the future holds, one is thing certain.

The Webmasters will give their all as they vie for the coveted basketball crown anew in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) Season 24 set to kick off on Saturday, September 21, at the Cebu Coliseum.

With coach Kenneth Kernn Sesante at the helm, the Webmasters have reached the Finals in the past two seasons of Cebu’s premiere inter-school athletic league.

But they bowed down to the powerhouse University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in those instances.

This time, the road won’t be easy again for the Webmasters as they will miss some key players in Season 23 Mythical Five member John Regie Dajab, Joseph Arth Nalos, Maverick Eligoyo, and John Herben Linares due to injuries.

UC though still have a slew of holdovers from its last year’s lineup bannered by team captain John Carl Angelio, reigning CESAFI 3-point King Jasper Pacaña, Ricofer Sordilla, Danie Boy Lapiz, Ray Charles Libatog, Luther Gabriel Leonard, Zareygel Rosano, Jhiey Paraldo, Michael Diaz, and Mark Jhon Ecal.

“While we missed key players due to injuries, we are still grateful that we were able to keep intact the majority of the players from last season. Thus, we are ready to compete again,” said Sesante.

Aside from their old reliables, Sesante also hopes to draw extra strength from their new acquisitions in McSteven Ursal, a transferee from the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers, Kendall Limana, formerly from the Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Baby Cobras, Fil-Am Jepherson Nonol from Houston, Texas, and Arnold Miñoza and Johncel Borjal from UC’s high school teams.

“We are excited to give it another shot this year,” Sesante continued. “We can assure that the team will go all out as always. It will be a more exciting team this season as the holdovers have significantly matured and we have new players that can make instant impact in the game.”

In their quest for that seemingly elusive championship title, Sesante knows very well that it would be a long and meandering journey for the Webmasters but they are ready to rise above any challenge that will come their way.

“Just like most of the teams, the goal is to bring home the bacon. But I know that it will be more challenging this year as the new teams like UP-Cebu, Benedicto College and CRMC have beefed up their rosters and UV is still intact,” said Sesante. “We will just take it one game at a time and let’s see where it will lead up to.”