AFTER a brief respite in the breezy countryside, it’s back to the high school basketball salt mines for this battle-scarred Hoopster. My current odyssey takes me to the 18th renewal of the Metropolitan Amateur Sports Association (MASA) high school basketball competitions.
Six Chinese-Filipino schools make up this year’s six-week tournament. These are Saint Jude Catholic School, Hope Christian High School, Philadelphia High School, Philippine Academy of Sakya, Saint Stephen’s High School and host Philippine Cultural College.
The MASA games got underway last October 24 with SJCS, HCHS and Sakya earning their first wins.
A triple bill ushered in the 2015 festivities at the Philippine Cultural College Main gym.
The SJCS Judenites initiated the fireworks with a 48-43 decision over the PCC Seagulls. Title favorite Hope Christian, despite the absence of shooting ace Kris Harvey Pagsanjan, who will be with the Philippine national team to the FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia until November 7, ran roughshod over outmanned Saint Stephen’s High School, 73-53.
Sakya registered a come-from-behind 70-67 win over Philadelphia, tallying the game’s final five points in the last 43.9 seconds after squandering a 12-point lead (42-30) midway through the third quarter.
The top individual performances in the inaugurals include the following:
Points – John Cuyno (Sakya), 25; Siam Dela Cruz (Philadelphia), 23; Luigi Laroco (SSHS), 21; and Philip Midel (Philadelphia), 20.
Rebounds – Kimson Chen (PCC), 14; Siam Dela Cruz (Philadelphia), 11; John Cuyno (Sakya), 10; John Sacundo (Hope), 10; Carlo Carino (Hope), 9; Mac Jacob (Hope), 9.
Assists – Joshua Devara (Hope), 3.
Steals – Edge Andre Sy (PCC), 4; Sean Ng (SSHS), 4; and Ronnie Yap (Philadelphia), 3.
Blocked Shots – Kimson Chen (PCC), 2; Luigi Laroco (SSSHS), 2.
Action resumes on Thursday, Nov. 5, with another tripleheader at the Philadelphia High School gym along Talayan Street, Quezon City. Saint Stephen’s High School and Philippine Cultural College duke it out in a battle between first-day losers (1 p.m.), Hope Christian High School and Philippine Academy of Sakya tangle each other for Win No. 2 (2:15 p.m.), and Saint Jude Catholic School seeks a second victory in as many assignments against Philadelphia HS (3:30 p.m.).
On Saturday, Nov. 7, following the formal opening ceremonies at high noon, it will be PAS vs. SJCS (1:30 p.m.), HCHS vs. PCC (2:45 p.m.) and PHS vs. SSHS (4 p.m.) at the Philippine Cultural College Main gym.
The next day, (Nov. 8), SJCS and HCHS clash at 1:30 p.m. in what could be a preview of the finals; PCC takes on PHS at 2:45 p.m.; and SSHS battles PAS (4 p.m.) at the Saint Stephen’s High School gym.