Beat Manila?

Can the rest of the basketball country beat a team from the National Capital Region? Do we in the probinsya have a shot at proving that they are not invincible? We find ourselves in a situation like this at the national finals of the SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament backed by Milo. It’s taking place yesterday and today in Roxas City, and has brought together the top teams per region to a weekend tournament.

In the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) division, La Salle Greenhills is a four-peat national champion and is determined to score a 5-Peat here. They face the challenge of Cebu’s very own University of the Visayas, representing the Visayas, Berkeley School of Baguio (representing Luzon) and Mindanao champion Corpus Christi School of Cagayan de Oro. From the looks of it, La Salle Greenhills is tipped to score a 5-Peat but UV is out to make sure this doesn’t happen. Note that UV gave La Salle a good challenge in last year’s national finals championship game, bowing, 38-42, in a game decided in the last two minutes where UV was able to cut the lead to only two points before giving way. As we write this piece, La Salle and UV scored dominating wins in their first assignments and could be headed for a rematch of a championship game. LSGH creamed Corpus Christi School of Cagayan de Oro, 91-51, while UV trashed Berkeley School of Baguio, 79-14. La Salle was set to meet Berkeley and UV was to play Corpus Christi after this piece was sent to our editors. From the looks of it, LSGH is indeed favored, but I have a funny feeling we have better chances of scoring an upset this year as compared to 2018. I just wish UV’s players will be able to deal with the pressure of a crucial match up against a well-oiled and experienced La Salle team. Talent-wise, La Salle may be deeper, but if the game is close after three periods and the fourth period rolls around where each team’s best players see action, you never know. It’s an opportunity that UV must exploit. They’re well-prepared and are raring to go for it.

The Passerelle division though, is a totally different story. National University, whose high school program has enjoyed the support of the school owners and sponsors, is looking heads and shoulders above everybody else. They look like an all-star team of the best players under 15 years old. And true to its name, their composition is truly national. They have three key players who were once part of Cebu Basketball: Sid Reroma, Daniel Padilla and Kim Tamayo. They also have players from Koronadal, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija. Iligan and Gen. Santos. They are the tallest, longest and most athletic of the lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if they can even beat some of the regular Juniors teams of our CESAFI schools. They’re that good. They routed Hercor College of Roxas, 106-40, in their first game, then dumped Xavier School High School of Cagayan de Oro, 109-72. Wow! I don’t see any serious challenge from the rest of the field that has been narrowed down to a fight for second place. International School for Better Beginnings (ISBB) of Lucena nipped Xavier University, 72-70, but I don’t think they stand a chance against NU. ISBB plays Hercor next but the hosts would like nothing else than to get another chance to face NU in the championship game. They’ll have to beat both ISBB and Xavier in its last two games. The best team from the three provincial teams will be happy just to land in the finals and won’t even dream about scoring a major upset.

Staying on the positive side, we must also remember that UV once won the national championship of the Passerelle division in 2014 when Cebu hosted the finals. They defeated a heavily-favored Chiang Kai Shek team, the predecessor “program” of NU. Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu also won the national championship twice in a row 2010-2011. But can we bring those days back? I haven’t gotten a chance to backtrack but the University of San Carlos also won a couple of national championships (or more) in the past. Another interesting note from here is that many of today’s teams in the UAAP and NCAA Final Four once played in the SBP Passerelle tournament. Ateneo de Manila’s Thirdy Ravena, Nieto brothers, Isaac Go, SJ Belangel and Tyler Tio once played SBP Passerelle hoops. And so did Renzo Subido and Zachy Huang of UST. Ditto for San Beda’s Evan Nelle, Peter Alfaro, Prince Etrata and others who were part of the vaunted Red Cubs’ program. And I’m sure there are more names out there who I missed (my apologies for this). The common denominator for all of them? They are now all in Manila.

And so I ask again, can we beat Manila?