Zamboanga, Cebu rule Batang Pinoy basketball

BAGUIO CITY: Zamboanga City and Cebu City dominated the 2018 Batang Pinoy bas ketball national finals on Friday.

Vince Waminal scored 19 points as Zamboanga won 79- 61 over Mandaue City for the secondary boys title. Playmaker Celvinray Giganto and Jowen Eslao tallied 17 points each also for Zamboanga under coach Sedrito Waminal Jr.

“I told them that we are already here ( finals). We have to focus on the game and everything will follow,” Waminal, the father of Vince, told reporters in Filipino.

Cebu City beat Pangasinan, 72-62, for the girls secondary crown.

“Blessing in disguise for the hard work and especially the teamwork. They focused very well on defense and offense,” said Cebu City girls coach Edelio Abellanosa.

Cebu Province defeated Zamboanga, 63-55, for the secondary girls bronze while Pangasinan bested Olongapo, 9973, for the secondary boys’ bronze.

In secondary boys beach volleyball, General Santos won over Mandaluyong City while Pontevedra Negros Occidental thumped Cebu City.

Meanwhile, Baguio City is poised to win the overall title anew after collecting 46 gold, 46 silver and 57 bronze medals with only few events left in the multisporting competition organized by the Philippine Sports Commission for athletes aged 17 below.

Noted for its athletes' prowess in combat sports, Baguio won 13 gold medals in taekwondo, eight in wrestling, eight in judo, two in archery, two in athletics plus one gold each in karate, swimming and triathlon.

Quezon City is running second with 21 gold medals— 10 in swimming and four in wrestling on top of 12 silvers and 49 bronzes.

Cebu City is third with 20 gold medals, 25 silvers and 28 bronzes. Laguna Province is fourth with 28 golds, eight silvers and 20 bronzes while Cebu Province is fifth with 16 golds, nine silvers and 15 bronzes.

The overall champion will receive P3 million worth of incentives, the first runner- up P2.5M, the second runner- up P2M for, the fourth P1.5M and the fifth P1M.