WITH the games of the 2nd Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association basketball competitions in full swing, expect a lot of scouts to troop to the Uno High School in Tondo, Manila to look for potential recruits for college ball.
A number of prominent stars are completing their high school varsity eligibility next month and are just about to have their baptism of fire in the collegiate ranks in a few months’ time.
Some of them have already been contacted by the representatives of top university squads while others are still available and simply making their game do the talking.
Heading the list of elite prospects is sweet-shooting, three-point wizard Renzel Symon Yongco of Saint Jude Catholic School, which owns an immaculate 6-0 record with just one elimination-round assignment remaining, has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming quarterfinal playoffs armed with a twice-to-beat advantage over the No. 8 seed.
An athletic 6-foot-1 forward, Yongco ranks second in the league in production at 23 points an outing. He has netted anywhere from 16 (vs. Grace Christian College) to tournament-high 37 points (vs. Uno High School) and converted at least one three-pointer in five of his six appearances, including seven against the Uneans, six vs. Jubilee Christian Academy and six vs. Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy.
Given an opportunity, Yongco would like to suit up for Ateneo de Manila University or De La Salle University.
Two seniors have been dominant for Uno High School, the defending titlist in the Juniors Division with a 3-2 ledger.
Kenric Aldrich Kok, a lanky shooting guard with an unorthodox shooting stance from the field and free-throw line, has quickly developed into a reliable scorer in heavy minutes after spending limited time as a reserve a year ago when the Uneans defeated Saint Jude Catholic School in last year’s Juniors finals.
The 5-foot-8 Kok, who has incorporated the crossover moves of National Basketball Association legendary great Allen Iverson into his game, is pacing the tournament with a 24.2-point clip in five contests and he is only one of five players to have chalked up double-digit scores every time out.
Kok, who turns 17 in April, has gone 21-31-14-27-28 so far.
Aside from Yongco and Kok, three other players have scored at least 10 markers in every game. They are Kok’s teammate Kyle Christian Tan, John Miko Cheng of Jubilee Christian Academy and Pol Antiporda of Pace Academy.
Tan, a slashing 6-foot-1 frontliner who is also in his final year of HS eligibility, is averaging a double-double for the Uneans with averages of 21.6 points (third in the league) and 13.6 rebounds per game.
Tan has been in double figures in scoring and rebounding in each of his last three games – and four overall – spiked by the tournament’s lone 20-20 effort against Pace Academy.
There are 14 players currently norming 10 points or more.
In addition to Kok, Yongco, Tan, Cheng (18.3 ppg) and Antiporda (18.2), the twin-digit average scorers are Jubilee Christian Academy’s Paolo Lim (16.7), Philippine Cultural College’s Lester Cai (14.4), Grace Christian College’s John Lim (14.0 ppg), Saint Peter the Apostle School’s Byron Tan (13.8), Makati Gospel Church-NLCA’s Aaron Uy (13.6), SPAS’ Jacob Siy (13.2), SPAS’ John Ouyang (11.8), MGC-NLCA’s Carl Ong (11.6) and Pace Academy’s Tyrone Tan (11.0).