IT’S back to the salt mines for this Hoopster.
Juniors competitions in the boys and girls divisions of the 7th Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) basketball competitions among the eight Chinese-Filipino member schools in the Metro Manila area will unwrap on Saturday, January 11, at 12 noon at the Uno High School gym in Tondo, Manila.
Opening-day fireworks will feature a quadruple-header. Three of them are in the 18-Under Boys Juniors – Pace Academy vs. MGC New Life Christian Academy at 12 noon, St. Stephen’s High School vs. Saint Jude Catholic School at 3:00 p.m. and Grace Christian College vs. Jubilee Christian Academy at 4:30 p.m. The lone 18-Under Girls Juniors contest will be between Grace Christian College and Jubilee Christian Academy at 1:30 p.m.
A preview of the Boys Juniors Division:
PHILIPPINE CULTURAL COLLEGE is the defending champion in the 18-Under Boys Juniors tournament. But with the team in a rebuilding mode following the loss of 10 players to graduation, including its top-seven rotation, Cultural needs to fend off the challenge of their 2019 finals victim Saint Jude Catholic School, Jubilee Christian Academy and Grace Christian College. The Golden Seagulls are likely to depend a lot on returning veteran frontliner Josiah Chan and the exuberance and competitiveness of their youngsters such as Sherwin Go, Tony Dy, Quinn Cai and recent 14-Under campaigner John Shi.
SAINT JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL is as tough as ever with veterans Mallechi Colby Lim, Andrew Choa, Josiah Filipino, Martin Ang and Kiefe Chu back in the fold and the elevation of Kobe Chong and Jaezen Ngo to the Juniors ranks. Team captain Lim will be SJCS’ meal ticket inside and out and Filipino is expected to do a lot of damage from three-point range as the Green Knights bid to regain the crown they surrendered a year ago.
JUBILEE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY, the third-placer in 2019, is seeking a PCYAA Triple Crown this season behind mammoth Kyle Bradley Ong and a solid battle-scarred lineup that includes Miko Lim, Roland Roldan, Zachary Amin, Julian Evangelista, Adriel Marion Go, Jacky Tiu, David Angelo Lim and Akio Yu plus the entry of rookie mastodon Evan Kim. Earlier, the Jubileeans annexed the 12-Under Developmental and 14-Under Aspirants titles and also tucked the recent Federation Juniors Group B diadem under their belt.
GRACE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE looks to turn around from its sixth-place finish a year ago and is buoyed by the return of pesky playmaker Rencobie Tolentino — the straw that stirs GCC’s drink — and three-point marksman Joshua Peter Chan from a one-year sabbatical, the leadership of team skipper Pierce Sanhi and the continued development of bulky big Harley Ching and hard-working frontliner Kobe Chua, the understudy of do-everything, soon-to-graduate Marcus Lu.
And that is not even to say that the other four teams in the eight-school festivities are pushovers and will just roll over and die.
Host PACE ACADEMY, which lost Jeff Lugay, Dean Ong and Pol Antiporda from its fifth-place outfit a year ago, is retooling around veterans Gabriel Paolo Tiu, Airick Jaden Sy and the hulking Darrel Ong, youngsters Kelvin Ng, Kleivz Fong and Khendrick Chua and several members from their recent 14-Under campaigners like Matt Barandino, Axell Cue and Khendrick’s younger brother, Khendryle Chua.
MGC NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY is banking on one another’s experience from veteran but young lads like Joshua Cheng, Pierce Steven Dino, Ethan Solis, Arver Quiambao and the imposing big Wes Chua. The team hopes that the entry of recent 14-Under performers such as Marcus Qua and the hulking Jotham Santiago to the higher ranks will make a difference as the New Lifers seek to rebound from their seventh-place ranking last year that effectively cut short their season (only the top six teams make the playoffs).
UNO HIGH SCHOOL failed to win in any of its seven appearances in Season 6 but the Blue Pandas can count on Juniors sophomores Steven Tecson and Edison Cai, veterans Jaden Alberto and Alyson Sio and the rest of the team to play their hearts out every time they set foot on their homecourt (all games will be held at the Uno HS gym).
ST. STEPHEN’S HIGH SCHOOL had a decent finish a year ago with a top-four placing but the departure of Dustin Yu, Josiah Yu, Micko Tee, Miko Reyes and even the absence of recent 14-Under campaigner Charles Ong from the team may take its toll on the Stephenians, who are retooling behind bigs Gian Batac and Shewin “The Tank” Li and guards Dhean Yu, Dustin’s younger sibling; Jastine Lao and Prince Pimentel.
There are the pre-tournament title favorites just as there are the spoilers that are expected to strike back at the slightest opportunity and give the title pretenders a run for their money. With that, the Juniors title chase is wide open.
A preview of the Girls Juniors Division:
Reigning champion SAINT JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL is seeking a title repeat in the PCYAA Ladies Juniors basketball competitions.
The SJCS Lady Green Knights have lost do-it-all Faith-Anne Chu to age requirements but she remains as the inspirational leader on the bench as an assistant to head coach Martin Go for holdovers Avina Lok, the team skipper with an outstanding eye from three-point range, and Alyssa Ty, who is dangerous around the paint with her hard drives and timely putbacks.
A year ago, Saint Jude Catholic School shocked JUBILEE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY with a two-game sweep in the finals over the 2018 champion that had swept all of its eight assignments during the elimination round.
Now that the Sandra Villacruz-Wynne Luychinco era, which produced four finals stint, is officially over, the Lady Jubileeans will be rebuilding around playmaker Kim Abigan and three-point artist Aryana Fenix and a new coach in Jollina Go. It will be a herculean task.
ST. STEPHEN’S HIGH SCHOOL, the third-placer a year ago, lost pesky court general Patrice Yu but high-scoring Princess Macinas and several other role players are back to help carry the torch for the Lady Stephenians.
UNO HIGH SCHOOL, which won three consecutive titles before Jubilee Christian Academy took over the throne in 2018, lost heady guard Patricia Yap to graduation but the eight-member Lady Blue Pandas still have frontliners Jena Nicole Sy and Eirzsebeth Batanes back in their fold and are capable of making some noises in their bid to return to prominence.
GRACE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE looks to improve from last year’s 0-8 finish with the return of its pair of biggies, lanky Vivian Hou and pony-tailed, mammoth center Elisa Sy, and playmaker Clarisse Caw.
PHILIPPINE CULTURAL COLLEGE will parade a new team that could spring a surprise or two if the opposition takes lightly of the Lady Golden Seagulls.
The return of Philippine Cultural College from a one-year leave makes it a six-school tournament with a double-round format.