Cebu Basketball 2013

Cebu Basketball was supposed to end last Thursday, but thanks to the hard work of the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras, this is extended week as the Cobras face De La Salle University (DLSU) for the championship of the Philippine Collegiate Championship League (PCCL) tomorrow.

Ironically, the year of Cebu basketball will be marked by the great achievements of SWU and the University of the Visayas (UV) who both carved out memorable feats in dramatic fashion. The Cobras made it to the Final Four of the PCCL but weren’t expected to make it to the championship series. Up against UAAP champions DLSU, Far Eastern University (FEU) and NCAA champions San Beda, the Cobras defeated DLSU and FEU to make it to the championship against the Green Archers, something that wasn’t part of the script. They weren’t supposed to make it to the finals, thus turning out to become the “uninvited” guest at the wedding. The Cobras sent a statement to the collegiate scene that Cebu is very much back and can level up with the best of Manila. Whether or not they can beat La Salle is a totally different story but the message is clear. The PCCL was wrong in booking return trip tickets for SWU last Friday and for having them check out from their hotel on the same day. The team had to transfer to another hotel since their accommodations couldn’t be extended. It’s another “Hoosiers” story in the making, so let’s see how this pans out for the “promdi” underdogs.

The UV Green Lancers also had their share of one of those great underdog wins via a great comeback when they overcame a  0-2 deficit to outlast SWU 3-2, in their best of five series for the CESAFI 2013 championship. The Cobras were favorites going into the championship as they swept both the elimination and semifinal rounds of the tournament, plus Games 1 and 2 of the finals. But what made the series the event of the year was how UV won Games 3 to 5, including the “back to basics” methods used in Game 5. With the scoreboard of the Cebu Coliseum conking out, game officials used a white board, manual stop watches and the suddenly busy barker who shouted out the time updates, to finish the game. Somewhere in between was a delay of close to two hours due to the malfunctioning scoreboard. The incident only proved once again how very badly Cebu needs a world class sports and entertainment complex. (Can we move the Hoops Dome to somewhere in the city?) For as long as we don’t have one, our only venue will always be called the “New” Cebu Coliseum even if there’s nothing new about it except the paint on the floor.

The other highlight of the year would have to be yet another Cinderella story when the Central Visayas basketball team, manned by the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) defeated the National Capital Region for the gold medal in high school basketball at the Palarong Pambansa. No one can even remember the last time the CVIRAA won the gold in the event. And winning it on home soil in Dumaguete (Central Visayas) made it even sweeter. It was another epic win of a promdi team overcoming the odds to beat powerhouse Manila.

Another promdi uprising in 2013 is the development of June Mar Fajardo who has turned out to become one of the most dominant players in the land today. Fajardo was part of the Gilas Pilipinas team that won the silver medal at the FIBA Asia Championships and is now the main man of Petron in the PBA. Also in the PBA are rookie Cebuanos Greg Slaughter and Eliud Poligrates who have also made some good impressions on their coaches and the fans.

In the youth and grassroots level, it was a mix of schools winning the different age group titles of the year, showing that the youth sector has slowly but surely picked up. UV won the Under 16 division of the Cebu Youth Basketball League’s (CYBL) ThreeSixty Pharmacy Cup, while SHS-AdC won the Under 19, 13 and 10 divisions. At the Cebu Elite Basketball League, SHS-AdC won the Under 19 division championship, UV won the Under 16 title and USC won the Under 13 and 10 divisions. At the 2013 BEST Center SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament sponsored by Milo, USC won the Cebu and Visayas Passerelle titles and placed runner-up in the national finals. USC also won the Cebu SBP division title and place second in the Visayas regional finals.

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Time-out: As the birth of Christ dawns upon us, let us continuously ask ourselves, “What am I doing to prepare for the coming of the Lord?” >>> You can reach me at [email protected].