HIGH school male athletes do not have a monopoly of the action in the ongoing 2nd Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) basketball competitions.
Even the bubbly boy basketeers from Grade 6 or Grade 7, whose ages are from 13 and below, are making waves in the Aspirants Division of the six-week festivities.
Just like the high school games, there are eight schools from the Metro Manila area taking part in the PCYAA Aspirants Division. These are Saint Jude Catholic School, Grace Christian College, Jubilee Christian Academy, Philippine Cultural College, Pace Academy, Saint Peter the Apostle School, Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy and host Uno High School.
There are three players who have tallied in double digits in each of their team’s assignments through the seven-game elimination round.
They are Jubilee Christian Academy’s Kyle Nathan Barraza (31-27-40-22-17-19-26), Makati Gospel Church-NLCA’s Ike Jordan Lim (20-28-24-27-11-28-25) and Philippine Cultural College’s Michael Manansala (15-17-14-14-16-13-20).
Barraza, a Grade 8 student who turns 14 on February 19, is the Aspi’s scoring leader with a 26-point average in seven appearances. He also owns the highest single-game individual score in the entire PCYAA basketball competitions (including the Boys High School and Ladies High School divisions) – 40 points in JCA’s 73-53 shellacking of Uno High School last January 18.
Saint Jude Catholic School’s Renzel Symon Yongco holds the record in the Juniors Division with 37 points in the team’s 95-58 rout of Uno HS last January 20.
Barraza reportedly is quitting the JCA basketball team after this season to concentrate on his other “love” – swimming. He is a member of the Philippine national swimming team (age group).
Lim, a Grade 7 student who turns 13 on February 11, is the meal ticket for the top-ranked and unbeaten MGC-NLC (7-0), norming a tournament second-best 23.3 ppg every time out.
Manansala, a Grade 9 student who will turn 14 in July, averages 15.6 ppg for second-ranked Philippine Cultural College (6-1), ranking him fourth overall behind Barraza, Lim and Grace Christian College’s Marcus Nathan Lu, who owns an 18.9-ppg clip.
Completing the top 10 in Aspi scoring are 5-Pace Academy’s Jeff Lugay (14.0 ppg), 6-Uno HS’ Warren Spencer Tan (13.3), 7-Saint Jude Catholic School’s Kiefe Chu (12.3), 8-Pace Academy’s Dean Ong (11.2), 9-SJCS’ Mallechi Lim (11.0) and 10-JCA’s Janaro Bautista (11.0).
The quarterfinal playoffs in the Aspirants Division will be held on Valentine’s Day (February 14, starting at 11:00 a.m.) at the Uno High School Gym in Tondo, Manila.
The matchups are 1-MGC-NLCA vs. 8-Saint Peter the Apostle School (0-7), 2-PCC vs. 7-Grace Christian College (1-6), 3-SJCS (5-2) vs. 6-Uno High School (2-5) and 4-JCA (4-3) vs. 5-Pace Academy (3-4).
MGC-NLCA, PCC, SJCS and JCA own a twice-to-beat advantage over their respective opponents. Rubber matches will be held the following day (February 15) if any of the lower-seeded teams emerges victorious in Saturday’s encounters.
The top two seeds will also have the same incentive in the semifinals (February 16), assuming they advance past the quarters.
Meanwhile, host Uno High School and upset-conscious Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy will battle each other today (February 10, 5:30 p.m.) at the Uno HS Gym for the fourth and last Final Four berth in the Juniors Division.
Fifth seed MGC-NLCA defeated fourth seed and reigning champion Uno, 71-70, in overtime last Sunday to force a rubber match.
In the semifinals, it will be unblemished Saint Jude Catholic School (8-0) vs. the Uno-MGC-NLCA winner and No. 2 seed Jubilee Christian Academy (6-2) vs. No. 3 seed Philippine Cultural College (6-2). Both SJCS and JCA will enjoy a twice-to-beat edge against their foes.
During their quarterfinal series, the Judenites walloped winless Pace Academy, 107-32; JCA eliminated Grace Christian College, 76-63; and PCC ousted Saint Peter the Apostle School, 43-41.
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.