Bleacher Talk

The Sisters of Mary School-Boystown and Girlstown are not only known for being the 3X3 capital of the south. They’re also producing 3X3 champion teams. They proved this after snaring the top two places of the International Basketball Foundation Youth Leaders Cup U18 3X3 basketball tournament held at SMS-Girlstown Sunday. SMS 1 outscored SMS 9, 22-15, in the finals to earn the right to represent the country at the IBF Youth Leaders Cup 3X3 Finals in Bali, Indonesia in September. C-Jay Gonzales scorched the net with 17 points, including the game-winning two-point basket that ended the game before time was consumed. He made a total of eight two-point baskets in the game, firing from different spots on the floor to ignite the hometown crowd that cheered for the two sister teams. Ryan Dizo added four. Ivan James Cabodbod led SMS 9 with 14 points. SMS 1 was undefeated throughout the day, going 3-0 in group play. They ousted Compre B, 16-10, in the quarterfinals before thumping Compre A...

A trip to Bali, Indonesia waits the winner of the IBF Youth Leaders Cup 3X3 Basketball Tournament that fired off today, July 28, at the Sisters of Mary School Girlstown in Talisay. This unique 3X3 tournament features teams composed of two boys and two girls per team in the Under 18 age group. Seeing action are Cebu’s top teams along with teams from Davao, Guimaras, Tagbilaran, and Tacloban. The champion earns the right to represent the Philippines to the IBF Youth Leaders Cup 3X3 tournament and workshop in Bali, Indonesia in September. Special guest for the event is Amanda Alejandrino, the country’s first representative to the IBF Youth Leaders Workshop in 2018. Cebu’s Aaron Cañete is this year’s representative to the workshop and thus serves as host for this year’s Philippine edition. Alejandrino, a champion cheerleader at National University, spoke about the thrust of the International Basketball Foundation Youth Leaders program, and how this was more than just...

--> There’s a refreshing development in local sports that augurs well for a push that I’d like to make for the revival of big-time local basketball. If you’re a follower of Cebu Basketball, you can’t help that there’s a big vacuum in the basketball market for leagues or tournaments for players who have graduated from college and for college-level teams. In the past, this would be called a “commercial league.” Way, way back, we had the Cebu Basketball Federation, Cebu Basketball League, MICAA (Mandaue), MVBA and Liga Pilipinas. The teams that played here were composed of both ex and current college players. For the ex-varsity players, this was a next step in their careers, while for college players a way to gain the much-needed experience/exposure to a higher level of competition. The most popular teams then included M. Lhuillier, Virginia Food Inc., Skygo, Sir Litz, Hapee, Gaisano, Sunpride, Mama’s Love/Casino from the IPI family, RDAK/Chariot, Conpinco, Golden Sun, La F...

SWU-PHINMA, CYBL Summer League U18 Champions  The Southwestern University-PHINMA Baby Cobras made up for its only defeat in the tournament by spewing its venom on its first round tormentor Batang Mandaragat, 85-49, to bag the championship of the Under 18 division of the CYBL Summer League Friday night at the Aznar Coliseum. Still stunned from their 61-66 loss in the elimination round on their own homecourt, the Baby Cobras made sure the outcome would never be in doubt by opening up a 22-13 lead after the first period. Dezeo Villanueva led the charge with 13 points in the period, including three triples. The halftime score was 43-33 as the sons of overseas seafarers hung tough despite being down by as many 16 points in the second period as SWU-PHINMA threatened to break the game wide open. Then the floodgates finally burst in the third period as the wards of Coach Jerry Abuyabor went on a 16-4 tear for a commanding 57-37 lead midway through the third period to pla...

Two for two is the University of the Visayas after winning the Under 15 division championship of the CYBL Summer League over the weekend via a 55-43 win over Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu at the Sacred Heart School Mango Avenue campus gym. This comes on the heels of UV’s bagging the Under 12 division title of the same tournament last week. The final score though didn’t reflect how close the game was and how UV leaned on a big end-game push to score the win. SHS-Ateneo led, 12-8 after the first period but UV recovered to take the lead at halftime, 25-20. The Magis Eagles fought back to slash the lead to just one, 34-22 at the end of the fourth period. With momentum on their side SHS-Ateneo took a slim 37-36 lead to kick off the fourth period. But that was it for the Magis Eagles as it was an all-UV show from then on. Brian Santhony Toring, Denisvee Ryan Sinoy and Lawrence Petchan combined on a 17-3 run to give UV a commanding 53-40 lead with 1:05 left in the game. The UV defe...

The Freeman is 100 years old. And I am gratefully 21 years old as a sports columnist, yes, with The Freeman. This bleacher bum will forever be grateful to The Freeman for giving us the opportunity to do what we simply love to do: write about sports. Please allow us to share our short tale about how we ended up writing (again) as we say thanks to the grand daddy of the Cebu print media industry. I realize now that it’s rather ironic that after deciding not to pursue a full-time career in journalism or anything related to the media, I now write sports for one of the oldest news dailies of the country. Let me go back a little further. As a young sports-loving student studying communication, it was natural to attempt to become a sportswriter, a dream job I had then. And when I was accepted to be a correspondent for a national daily, I was naturally excited and thrilled. I was on a high when my name was printed, ”by Rico Navarro” under my first-ever story in a national daily, a prev...

Southwestern University-PHINMA and Batang Mandaragat are on to the final four of the Under 18 division of the CYBL Summer League 2019 after overcoming their respective foes in the quarterfinals. The Baby Cobras outhustled SHS-Ateneo, 75-63, while Batang Mandaragat outsteadied Punta Princesa/Alas, 65-53, at the Sacred Heart School Mango Avenue campus. SWU-PHINMA leaned on the three-point shooting of Dezeo Villanueva to pull away for good in the third period after a close first half. The Baby Cobras took a 18-13 at the end of the first period before the Magis Eagles slashed the lead to 33-32 at halftime. SWU-PHINMA then went to its press to create turnovers and coupled with Villanueva’s three triples, created breathing room at 60-52, end of the third period. The Baby Cobras rode on this momentum to pad the lead to as many as twelve points in the fourth period before sealing the win. Kendall Limana led SWU-PHINMA with 16 points while Villanueva scored 13. Charles Libatog had 12. Jo...

The University of the Visayas strikes again! UV humbled SHS-Ateneo de Cebu, 73-16, to take the Under 12 division title of the CYBL Summer league yesterday at the SHS-Ateneo Mango Campus gym. Leading from start to end, UV stunned everyone with a 14-0 run in just five minutes, using its full-court pressure to deny SHS-Ateneo of decent looks at the goal, and getting easy baskets off steals from their relentless pressure. The first period ended with UV enjoying a 26-3 lead. The second period wasn’t any different as they maintained a 23-point lead at 32-9. The lead ballooned to 54-15 after three periods with “game over” written all over the court. It was a display of dominance for UV with Jan Mark Toring leading UV with 19 points as Jacob Cortes added 12, including three triples. Louie Bual added ten. Benj Chua led SHS-Ateneo with six points. UV is coming off an Under 12 championship at the CYBL 2018-2019 3rd Conference, also over SHS-Ateneo.   UV - Champion, Under 12, CYBL ...

I’m a sucker for feel-good stories, especially when these involve people in the world of sports. I’ve always been a believer that when treated and approached in the right way, sports is one of the best paths to develop a competent, mature and well-rounded human being. These past days I’ve had the chance to listen to two alumni of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu who both played basketball for the school and have now moved on to pursue their respective careers, Mark Anthony Ynoc and Dave Wilson Yu. They addressed the school community at the recent honors assembly. A first crucial approach to sports is not to see it as an end by itself or as a must-have career. Easier said than done. You’ll encounter many parents who think that their son or daughter is the next Michael Jordan or Lionel Messi and they’ll do everything to make sports the only way of life. Big mistake here my friends, and Mark and Dave showed us that there is more to life than sports and how it’s an excellent ...