THE first leg of the 5th Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) basketball competitions concluded last Sunday with the best-of-three finals in both the 12U Developmental Division and 14U Aspirants Division going to the full distance.
Both top-seeded winners registered 2-1 decisions after dropping their respective series openers against their second-seed opponents.
League newcomer Saint Stephen’s High School defeated host Jubilee Christian Academy, 51-42, in the decisive Game Three of the Developmental finals to capture the crown vacated by 2014-15-16 champion Saint Jude Catholic School.
For the second consecutive game, Kirk Cunanan chalked up 23 points and Big Fella Josh Charles Ong, a potential National Youth team candidate with his unique skill set, put together 19 points, 37 rebounds (after clearing the glass for 36 boards in Game Two), nine blocks, three assists and two steals for the Stephenians, who finished the five-week, nine-school competitions with a 12-1 record overall.
Matt Sio produced a double-double for Jubilee Christian Academy with 13 points (nine of them from beyond the arc) and 12 rebounds.
The Jubileeans took the series opener, 62-57, after overcoming a 45-32 deficit after three quarters. Saint Stephen’s HS evened the count with a 66-53 decision in the second game.
For the entire three-game series, the 5-foot-9 Ong, a Grade 7 stude who does not turn 13 until March next year, averaged 23.3 points, 33.3 rebounds, 7 blocks, 5 steals and 2 assists an outing. Ong’s top sidekick, Cunanan, hit at an 18.3-point clip along with 6.7 rpg.
In the deciding third game of the Aspirants finals, Grace Christian College again bucked a gigantic rally by Pace Academy from 18 points (66-48) down after three quarters before eking out a 75-74 decision to secure the 14-under title surrendered by Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy following a three-year reign.
Cat-quick playmaker Ren Cobie Tolentino, the reigning Jr. PBA Most Valuable Player after steering unbeaten Barangay Ginebra to the title, saved the day for the Graceans with an insurance free throw with 16.8 seconds remaining that gave his team a 75-72 lead.
Pace Academy subsequently misfired on a potential game-tying triple (rendering inconsequential a bucket by Pacer Jaspher Fernando as the game buzzer sounded) to seal Grace Christian’s first-ever PCYAA basketball diadem of any kind (Developmental, Aspirants, Juniors or Ladies High School).
Tolentino, who marked his 14th birthday last December 10, racked up 25 points (22 of them in the first half), five rebounds and a pair of steals for GCC in Game Three. His teammates Kobe Chua and Joshua Peter Chan contributed 19 and 18 scores, respectively. Chua also racked up 18 rebounds and four blocks while Chan stole the rock six times for the Quezon City-based school, which completed the five-week, nine-school festivities with a 12-1 ledger overall.
Pace Academy grabbed the series opener, 75-70, but Grace Christian came right back to deadlock the series at 1-1 with an 84-79 triumph in Game Two.
Overall, Tolentino normed 28.3 points in the three-game series. Chan posted averages of 16.3 ppg, 6 rebounds and 4.33 steals and Chua finished with a double-double with 16 ppg and 13 rpg.
The second leg of Season 5 PCYAA Basketball will unwrap on Saturday, January 13, next year with a pair of games in the Ladies High School Division – Grace Christian College vs. Saint Stephen’s High School (12 noon) and Philippine Cultural College vs. Saint Jude Catholic School (1:30 p.m.).
The following day, Sunday, January 14, there will be formal opening ceremonies at the Flying V FilOil Arena in San Juan City that will also have a five-game bill featuring matches in the eight-school Boy Juniors Division and six-school Ladies High School Division.
They are: Grace Christian College vs. Jubilee Christian Academy (Juniors, 11 a.m.), Uno High School vs. Jubilee Christian Academy (Ladies, 12:30 p.m.), Uno High School vs. Makati Gospel Church-NLCA (Juniors, 2 p.m.), Saint Stephen’s High School vs. Saint Jude Catholic School (Juniors, 3:30 p.m.) and Philippine Cultural College vs. Pace Academy (Juniors, 5 p.m.).
MGC-NLCA is the defending champion in the Boys Juniors Division, having beaten 2015-16 winner Saint Jude Catholic School, 2-1, during the 2017 final series.
Uno High School is the three-time defending titlist in the Ladies High School Division, having registered a 31-game winning streak (with no loss) since the division was instituted in Season 2.