USC, CEC, UV stay undefeated in Alaska hoopla

CEBU, Philippines - The University of San Carlos (USC) Green, Cebu Eastern College (CEC) and University of the Visayas (UV) maintained their clean slates in their respective divisions in the Alaska Basketball Cup Cebu 2014 played at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Mango Campus gym and the CEC gym.

USC Green went 4-0 in the youngest age group, the Under 10 division, with wins over USC Gold, 47-25, and SHS-AdC, 45-18. The guest teams of the Under 10 division also registered convincing wins, with CEC defeating USC Gold, 44-28 and St. Benedict Child Education Centre (SBCEC), 35-24. SBCEC recovered to scrape past USJ-R, 31-25, a day later. USC Green sits on top of the Under 10 standings at 4-0, followed by USJ-R (3-1), USC Gold (0-4) and SHS-AdC (0-4).

In the Division 1 Under 13 age group, CEC scored its fifth straight win at the expense of USJ-R, 79-42. USC Green went 3-0 via a 62-56 win over UV. Don Bosco-A topped USJ-R, 18-15, while UV halted USC Gold, 49-32.

The team standings have CEC at first (5-0), followed by USC Green (3-0), UV (3-2), Holy Spirit (2-1), SHS-AdC (2-2), Don Bosco-A (1-4), USC Gold (0-3), USJ-R (0-4). The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals.

 In the Division 1 Under 16 age group, UV streaked to the top of the standings of Group A (3-0) with a 59-26 win over Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) (3-2).  CEC (3-1) stayed within range as it scored wins over USJ-R (1-3), 63-38, and USC Gold, 82-48. USC Gold (1-2) scored its first win as it defeated Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion Mandaue (0-3), 47-40.

 The ABCC 2014, a partnership between Alaska Milk and the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL), is composed of 48 teams playing in three age groups: Under 10, 13 and 16. This is the CYBL’s seventh season.

Among the highlights of the weekend was the visit of Dondon Hontiveros, Tony de la Cruz, Coach Luigi Trillo and team manager Dickie Bachmann of the Alaska Aces. Hontiveros, de la Cruz and Trillo gave short talks for all and then gamely posed for pictures with players and fans. (FREEMAN)