SMS-Boystown strikes gold
When it rains, it pours. And for the Sisters of Mary SchoolBoystown, typhoon Ompong was ironically a blessing waiting to happen. After launching its basketball program in December 2016, the Aloysians finally won a key championship, winning the SBP Under 16 3X3 Pambansang Tatluhan Regional Finals yesterday at the SMS-Boystown covered courts in Minglanilla. Was it expected? No. Was it planned? Unlikely? Was it welcome? You bet it was!
And winning didn’t come as easy as it sounds, but the rains did pour. Up against Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu in the championship game, SMS-Boystown rained a total of ten two-point baskets en route to winning the shortened game, 21-8. A shot in beyond the arc is worth two points in the 3X3 game, while a regular field goal is worth one point. And when a team reaches 21, it’s game over.
SMS-Boystown opened up the championship game with five straight two-pointers for a 10-0 lead, wowing the crowd and boosting the cheers of the hometown crowd of fellow SMS-Boystown students. Three players connived with the hot start: Michael Carin and C-Jay Gonzales had two each while Emilio Badiana had one. With such a hot start, I felt this was going to be a tough ride for SHS-Ateneo which was favored to win the tournament, owing to its recent gold medal performance in the recent Milo Little Olympics (SMSBoystown won the bronze here).
After Josiah Villamayor scored SHS-Ateneo’s first point, Carin and Gonzales drilled two more two-point bombs for a 14-1 lead. Villamayor and Joel Requioma replied with a 3-0 run to slice the lead to 14-4, but Gonzales replied with yes, you guessed it, two more twopointers, 18-4. “When it rains, it really pours,” was our common sentiment, seated beside Coach Van Halen Parmis, the prime mover of SMS-Boystown’s program. After another 3-0 swing from the guys in blue, Carin drilled yet another twopointer, its tenth of the game for a 20-7 lead. It was typhoon Ompong hitting us hard at the tournament. It was only fitting then that Gonzales, who drilled five two-pointers and had a game-high 11 points, drilled the nail on the coffin with a lay-up to end the game outright and not have to run the clock to zero.
Villamayor, a kababayan of Parmis from Baybay, Leyte, led SHS-Ateneo with five points. This, too, had to tug the heart of Parmis who has a soft spot for his townmates from Leyte. Looking back, making ten two-pointers in a ten-minute game is amazing. If this were a regular 5X5 game, scoring ten triples in a single quarter is good for 30 points. Wow!
I have to admit that I was both happy and sad with the outcome. While I felt that the Magis Eagles were the better team and would win it all, I can’t feel too bad to see SMS-Boystown win. While a big part of me wanted to see the Magis Eagles make the trip to the national finals next month after winning the Milo Little Olympics basketball gold, seeing SMS-Boystown win didn’t make the sad feeling that bad. If there was a team that we don’t mind seeing SHS-Ateneo losing to, it would be the Aloysians. True enough, the sportsmanship and class came out in full view when the SHSAteneo side exchanged “good game” and “congrats” greetings after the game and at the awarding ceremony. They also added “Good luck in the national finals” for good measure. It’s impressive how far the school’s basketball program has progressed.
While it may not be a powerhouse like UV or match the top teams of the CESAFI, SMS-Boystown has surely gone a long way under Parmis and Coach Ralp Enoc (who we all call “Kuya”). They are now regular participants of the SBP Passerelle Tournament and Cebu Youth Basketball League, two major tournaments that we manage. They’re also part of the CESAFI Under 12 division. Funny coincidence? SMS-Boystown bowed to SHS-Ateneo de Cebu in a CESAFI Under 12 game yesterday.
In a chat with SMSBoystown directress Sister Emelan Lee, she chided that SHS-Ateneo might have been too kind and gave way for SMS-Boystown’s win. We assured her that the win was fair and square and that her boys deserved to win. They had gone undefeated from start to end of the one-day tournament, and nearly lost to USPF-B in the semifinals. But a game-winning twopointer (what else?) at the buzzer paved the path to the finals. They now move on to the national finals of this nationwide tournament in Manila next month. And for all of the players, it will be the first time for them to ride a plane.
What a ride it has been indeed forth eA loy si an sand its sports program that cover other sports where they have also done very well, like arnis and running. It comes as no surprise that football, weightlifting and taekwondo could be their next medal producers. It sure looks like the rains are going to fall even more.