Bacolod Tay Tung High School and Talisay Sharks are the grand champions of the United Negros Basketball League 2nd Chairman’s Cup after games played on Sunday at the Luis T. Ong Sports Pavilion at SJI Ayala Northpoint.
The Talisay Sharks led from start to finish, led by MVP Paul Barcelona, who unloaded 18 straight points in the 3rd quarter to finish with 29 points to spearhead his team past Team Kenn 83-68 in the 15-and-under category.
The Ryan Hugnatan mentored Sharks held a 28-16 opening quarter lead behind playmaker Jerry Binguan, with Paul Barcelona and Ace Cortejo at the firing end with 11 and 7 markers, respectively. Thirdy Docto led Team Kenn in the second quarter with 10 to cut the deficit to 42-36 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Team Kenn had no answer for Barcelona, who sizzled with 18 straight points, along with Cortejo who scored the last 7 points for the Sharks in the quarter, erecting a 67-50 lead going into the fourth. Docto and Kristian Melgar tried to salvage the Team Kenn campaign with 8 markers apiece, but the Sharks kept Team Kenn at Bay as the trio of Binguan, Cortejo, and Orbista connected on timely baskets to seal the title for the Sharks.
Cortejo added 25, Toby Orbista – 12, Binguan -11, while the erstwhile undefeated Team Kenn, coached by Irvin De la Peña, was bannered by Docto with 32 points, Melgar – 16, John Matavia – 10, John Sondia – 8, and Zaijan Sarmiento – 6.
Meanwhile, in the 17-and-under category, Bacolod Tay Tung High School held off University of St. La Salle, 57-48, to capture the title of champion.
Handled by Coach Atoy Callora, BTTHS opened the game strong, blanking USLS behind a full court defense and scoring 8 straight points. However, USLS recovered by scoring 10 straight to end the quarter at 10 all.
A balanced BTTHS offensive, led by the 2 triples from Vince Hugo put BTTHS on top, 30-22 at the break. In the third quarter, Josiah Asis was relentless in the low post for USLS as he gathered several rebounds and putbacks to cut the deficit to 39-34. When the payoff quarter came around, Rojie Enderes carried the scoring load for USLS with 8 markers while BTTHS countered with plays from Adrian Alagaban and Hugo to keep the lead.
The biggest chance for USLS to draw the game closer came with the score at 51-46 in favor of BTTHS, and USLS gained possession after a scramble that unfortunately became a turnover that resulted to a 3 point play by Justine Jalea. The ensuing play turned into a squandered USLS offense that resulted in an Ahron Cagayao putback on the other end to restore the lead to 10 with a minute left and the title on the line.
Royal Star Player of the Game Hugo paced BTTHS with 13, MVP Alagaban added 11, Jalea – 9, Ysulan and Ronin Bedonia – 6 apiece.
Enderes spearheaded the Michael Lim mentored USLS team with 15, Josiah Asis – 10, Kian James Ramos and Emmanuel Salvio – 4 apiece.
The Mythical 5 in the 17-and-under category is composed of Rojie Enderes and Emmanuel Salvio from USLS, and Justine Jalea, Vince Hugo, and Adrian Alagaban from BTTHS. Paul Barcelona and Jerry Binguan from Talisay Sharks, John Paul Cabayao of USLS, Francis Lamasan of BTTHS, and Kristian Melgar from Team Kenn made up the mythical 5 for the 15-and-under category.
The UNBL partnered with Toyota Negros Occidental in staging the 2nd Chairman’s Cup. As champions, BTTHS and USLS will advance to the first-ever Chairman’s Cup Philippines in Iloilo City, where they will clash with teams from Iloilo and Palawan on September 14-17.*
