BAGUIO CITY – Lucban Elementary School – A routed the Pines Montessori School (PMS), 55-34, in its opening game to usher a good start in the 12th season of the YMCA Inter-School Basketball Tournament for Elementary and High School students that kicked off last Saturday, September 24, 2016 at the YMCA gymnasium here.
Lucban Elementary school had early control of the boards offensively, posting a 17-2 blast over opponent in the first canto of play with a steady display of shooting from David Japeth Esgana.
The shooting spree of Esgana pushed through the second canto of play, connecting three triples in the field. That gave Lucban Elementary School a bigger lead, 16-8, over the opponent to finish the half, 33-10.
PMS woke up from its first half hibernation and started rallying to chip off Lucban’s early lead. They posted an 18-11 blast to counter Lucban’s continuous founding of their mark on the hoop during the third quarter of play and reduce the lead to 16, 44-28, at the end of the quarter.
Lucban’s confidence, however, became even more as they went to ensure their win by limiting PMS to only six points against a 22 point explosion to win the game in the final canto.
The tournament have three categories namely High School Boys Division (16 under, developmental team), High School Girls Division (18 years old and below) and Elementary Division (8-12 years old). Games shall also be played during Saturdays at 9:00-1:00 pm and Sundays, 8:00 – 1:00 pm. The mode of play shall be in a single round robin for the elimination round where the top four teams shall advance in the semi-final round via cross-over system, twice to beat mode of play and the finals in a knock-out mode of play.
The tournament’ purpose is to enhance and promote the sport basketball as a community based program, and also provide a venue where students can develop and enhance their skills in basketball, putting in mind the values of camaraderie, sportsmanship, and friendship among the participants.
