THIS is for real; this is for all the marbles.
After a pair of postponements – first on February 23 because of a fire nearby the game venue and second on February 27 due to an impending nationwide transport strike – the deciding Game Three of the best-of-three Boys Juniors Division finals of the 4th Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) high school basketball competitions will be held Tuesday, February 28, at the Uno High School gym in Tondo, Manila.
Two-time defending champion Saint Jude Catholic School and upset-conscious Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy slug it out for the last time – and fifth overall this season – to finally determine the recipient of the PCYAA Juniors title hardware.
MGC-NLCA grabbed the championship-series opener with a nerve-wracking 88-84 double-overtime victory but SJCS deadlocked the count at 1-1 with a pulsating 69-65 win.
The Judenites, who have gotten the longer end of the stick in three of their four previous head-to-head duels with the New Lifers this season, are bidding for a championship “three-peat,” following in the footsteps of their basketball counterparts in the 12-and-under Boys Developmental division, MGC-NLCA in the 14-and-under Boys Aspirants division, and Uno High School in the Ladies High School division.
In PCYAA table tennis, Saint Peter the Apostle School also accomplished a “three-peat” in the Boys Juniors division.
“Three-peat” title performances appear to be in the vogue in Season 4.
But don’t tell that to the Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy faithful, who believe the New Lifers have the materials to defy the odds and secure their first Juniors cage crown in league history.
MGC-NLCA earlier topped the Developmental division (age 11-and-under at the time) once in the inaugural 2013-14 campaign) and the Aspirants division (age 13-and-under until this season) thrice in succession.
The Taguig City-based school has had nothing but success this season. It beat host Grace Christian College, 2-0, in the Aspirants finals for its third straight diadem; defeated Jubilee Christian Academy (the host for PCYAA Season 5) via a two-game final sweep in Girls High School Volleyball; topped the first-ever, four-school Chess event (against Saint Jude Catholic School, GCC and SPAS); and romped away with the table tennis title in 14-and-under Aspirants Girls division.
Will the Boys Juniors Basketball crown be MGC-NLCA’s fifth this season, halting in the process Saint Jude Catholic School’s two-year title reign?
Or will the Judenites be killjoys to the New Lifers’ ambitious quintuple-championship chase and in the process join the elite list of “three-peat” titlists themselves?
Support the PCYAA! Come and watch the league’s final dish for Season 4!
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