BOYSTOWN’S WINNING FORMULA

Sisters of Mary School has finally finds its groove and makes the CYBL finals for the first time with an upset win over Don Bosco

Being winless is now a thing of the past for the Sisters of Mary School (SMS-Boystown) Aloysians after making a complete turnaround in the third conference of the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL).

The Aloysians will make their first finals appearance in the Under-18 Division 1 after shocking the Don Bosco Greywolves, 44-28, in the semifinals on Sunday, March 10, at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Mango avenue campus gym in General Maxilom street, Cebu City.

“In our two years with CYBL we were winless and we were eliminated just in the first round. We continue to believe in these kids with our basketball program in place,” said Aloysians head coach Van Halen Parmis.

Boystown’s most promising player, C-Jay Gonzales, did not disappoint and poured in 14 points anchored by four three-point shots, while Mark Vargas added 13 as the Minglanilla-based school registered its biggest win by far in the tournament.

Parmis, also the school’s athletic director, pointed out that it was the team’s exposure in the various competitions that spelled the difference for their campaign this year.

The squad came from a morale-boosting stint in Compostela Valley, wherein they played teams coming from Davao before playing in the semifinals against Don Bosco.

“The different competitions that we joined made us ready for CYBL, it was an additional experience for us,” he said.

Boystown had a fiery 15-2 start and held a 25-7 lead at the half. The team did not let up and walked away with a 16-point win.

The Aloysians will have a daunting task ahead though, as they face powerhouse SHS-AdC Magis Eagles, which recently won the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) in Dumaguete about two weeks ago.

Parmis said that facing the Palarong Pambansa-bound SHSAdC would be a good exposure for his wards.

“Our mindset is to compete with SHS-AdC in the championship. They’re a strong team and in fact they came from the (Cviraa) meet. It will be a good exposure for my team,” said Parmis.

On the other hand, the University of the Visayas (UV) will face SHS-AdC anew in the Under-12 championships after booting out their respective opponents in the semifinals.

UV had an 80-24 blowout win over Don Bosco with Kenneth Cole and Reezzan Gonzaga scoring 21 and 16 points, respectively.

SHS-AdC, meanwhile, recovered from being scoreless in the first quarter to pull off a come-from-behind 37-26 win over Boystown in a separate semis match.

Froiland Maglasang scored eight, while Dylan Jared Lim and Ben Ong IV each had six points for UV.

This is the fourth straight time that rivals SHS-AdC and UV will face in the finals. They faced off in the SBP Passerelle Finals, the CYBL Summer League and the 2018 CYBL Conference last year. /