LIKE their male counterparts, girls just wanna have fun, too.
It’s three-time defending titlist Uno High School against host school Jubilee Christian Academy in the best-of-three Finals of the 18-Under Girls Juniors basketball competitions in Season 5 of the Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association.
Completing the double-round elimination phase with identical 9-1 records, each team pinned on the other its lone defeat.
The Finals series opener will be held on Saturday, February 17, at 10:30 a.m. The second game will be played on Tuesday, February 20, at 6:00 p.m. If necessary, the third game will be held on Thursday, February 22, at 5:30 p.m.
If their matches in the elimination round were to be the measuring stick – the teams split their two-game head-to-head duels with a combined winning margin of just three points – then this best-of-three championship series will be a toss-up.
The potentially-explosive series could go either way and may yet reach the maximum three games.
During their initial encounter at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City, Jubilee Christian Academy edged Uno HS, 53-51, to halt the Unean Lady Pandas’ 31-game winning streak over three seasons (before that, UHS had never tasted defeated since the tournament’s inception in 2014-15).
In their rematch last February 4 at the Uno High School gymnasium, the Lady Pandas exacted revenge with a spine-tingling 60-59 victory over their Jubileean counterparts.
The Lady Jubileeans were set to claim the scalp of Uno for a second time but the gods intervened and the never-say-die spirit of the Lady Pandas came to fore.
This year’s Girls Juniors Finals are too close to call and there’s no clear-cut favorite to snare the crown.
The 2018 Finals feature some familiar faces.
From Uno, three players – Patricia Angela Yap, Gelsey Nikka Taguibao and Michaella Angelica Co – are seeking their fourth consecutive championship rings. Two others – Angelica Marie Lim (she won in the first two campaigns but sat it out last year) and Leilah Phoebe Soriano (the last two) – are looking for their third title. Another, Aimee Breanna Pangilinan, is aiming for a back-to-back.
From Jubilee Christian Academy, there are four-year veterans Sandra Villacruz, Marie Mikaela Tan, Nell Janine Co, Madeline Tee, Stephanie Joyce Tan, Kyla Denise Uy and Wynne Caira Luychinco who are hungry for the elusive first crown in their third consecutive trip to the Finals.
Again, Uno will bank on its Big Three of mammoth center Gelsey Taguibao, heady playmaker Patricia Yap and Michaella Co.
Taguibao and Yap have gotten their way most of the time but Uno will need to find an antidote to free up Co for her transition baskets. Co struggled in both games against fourth-place Saint Stephen’s High School as her guards stuck to her like a leech in isolation play.
Leilah Soriano and Eirzsebeth Batanes may help in stretches but it’s the tree-like Angelica Lim, who missed out on last season’s championship campaign due to academic woes, who could pose a problem for JCA if left unguarded. The left-handed Lim and Taguibao form a formidable Twin Towers combination against Jubileean rim protector Wylian Cate Luychinco.
Luychinco is an immovable object around the paint with her heft and size. She does not need to score much (the putbacks may suffice) but has been dominant inside with her powerful rebounding and shot-blocking skills.
Luychinco is the third wheel in Jubilee’s own version of the Big Three headed by The Captain, Sandra Villacruz, and Marie Tan.
Villacruz, the tournament’s leading scorer, is an offensive wizard whose points have come often in transition with her dare-devilish drives. The national team prospect also owns a decent perimeter shot.
While Villacruz is evidently the team’s top gun, the lanky Tan is a star in her own right even as a second fiddle as she works hard on both ends of the hardwood. Tan is always a double-double threat in points and rebounds and also a defensive terror with her timely steals and shot blocks.
Reed-thin Nell Co is the straw that stirs the Jubileeans’ drink with her cerebral playmaking. Co, too, is capable of hitting from beyond the arc, if necessary.
Jewel Patricia Moa could be an X-factor. She works hard off the glass and can be relied for some offensive power – as she did show in JCA’s penultimate game vs. third-place Saint Jude Catholic School with her six triples and 22 points.
If any, Uno’s championship experience – especially at crunch time – may yet slightly tilt in its favor. Of course, Jubilee has something to say about this matter.
Take your pick and we can agree to disagree.
It’s the Finals! It’s Women Power to the highest degree!
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.