Kudos

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

I WOULD like to congratulate our Region 1 athletes especially our basketball team that bagged the bronze medal in the just concluded 2008 National Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) Games held in Zamboanga City from April 6 to 14.

They made history by placing third, since we joined this annual meet four decades ago the highest position we’ve gained.

Coached by well-known Pangasinan tactician Renato “Jack” Vidal, our Region 1 quintet was composed of only 10 dribblers from the University of Luzon (UL) and Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU).

But despite their handicap, they surprised the nation’s basketball aficionados including this piece-maker.

To win third place in a national event like the PRISAA meet that’s being participated in by the best athletes in the entire archipelago is already a monumental honor.

Perhaps, if our contingent went with a complete line-up. I believe we could have won the silver.

Basketball pundits say we could have even won the gold.

The five absentees who were supposed to make it fifteen were three-point specialist Bryan Santillan and center Allan Roquin, both from the University of Pangasinan, six-foot-four UL pivot man Jenkins Bucao and LNU forward-guard Mabasa and Labitoria (sorry, I forgot their first names).

My insider said two (Roquin and Mabasa) of the five were sick while Santillan and Bucao were processing their travel papers while Labitoria quit the joust for an unknown reason.

Our Region 1 quintet that saw action in 2006 (the year we hosted the National PRISAA Games held in Lingayen and the cities of Dagupan and San Carlos), mentored then by Angel Gumarang, almost captured the bronze medal, if not for that lousy officiating by one of the referees and big blunders by one of the table officials during the pivotal game.

I was there and personally watched that battle for the bronze. And with the help of those two officials, we were robbed of victory that irked the temperamental coach Gumarang.

We landed fourth and that was our best finish since the time we joined the PRISAA cagefest until last week.

Kudos  to Vidal and company, to my friends Seato Gonimil and Phil Celi, PRISAA Region 1 treasurer and executive director, respectively.

And the last but not the least, to Region 1 PRISAA President  Atty. Gonzalo Duque and Dagupan City dad Chito Samson, the two godfathers in the region’s college sports.

* * * * * *

Kudos also to the players of barangay Maasin for successfully defending their crown in the just concluded 2008 Mangaldan Inter-Barangay Basketball Championship.

The Maasin five defeated barangay Guiguilonen twice in row, 80-68 and 70-67 in the best-of-three finals series held at the Macario Ydia Development Center on April 5 and 12.

But what stunned and ruffled me was the ‘knockout game’ for third place between former titlist barangay Anolid and the much-meliorated barangay Alitaya.

Anolid came up with only five players throughout the game and Alitaya with only six and both survived the match without a player fouling out.

The two teams played with much laxity to the disappointment of the crowd. Both squads were not given any applause by the spectators after their game.

They should have done better to please the crowd.

Third place is still a respected honor in any kind of endeavor.  But to the two teams, it seemed that it was not much for them.

(Readers may reach columnist at biking.jess@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/sports-eye/
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