BANNERING the National Capital Region (NCR), the UST Junior Growling Tigresses ruled the Palarong Pambansa 3×3 secondary girls’ basketball tournament after clobbering the Davao Eagles, 21-7, in the finals on Aug. 4.
It was a redemption year for NCR, as UST’s Karylle Sierba, Gin Reliquette, Ysa Visto, and Frankie Pamintuan led the region’s turnaround after finishing in eighth place in 2019.
“This 3×3 basketball win by our high school players at the 2023 Palarong Pambansa is a big confidence-builder for us. We feel proud and happy to have represented NCR on the 3×3 basketball and to have won the gold is considered a great blessing from Him,” UST head coach Arsenio Dysangco told the Varsitarian.
NCR blasted off with a 14-2 run to establish an early lead, but the Eagles retaliated with a 5-1 spurt to trim the lead to eight, 15-7.
The Tigresses halted the Eagles’ momentum with a gold-clinching 7-0 blitz capped by a Sierba and-one play, 22-7.
Sierba took home the Most Valuable Player plum.
“[Sierba] is still young though and she needs to learn more about leadership through experience and maturity,” Dysangco said. “But out there on the court? She definitely commands the respect of her teammates.”
NCR defeated Central Luzon in the semifinals for its finals berth, 20-12. It finished the elimination round with a 5-1 record.
The erstwhile defending champions Davao Eagles were represented by the students of Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School.
NCR was hailed the overall champion of this year’s Palarong Pambansa after bagging a total of 85 gold, 74 silver, and 55 bronze medals.
In early July, the Junior Growling Tigresses competed in the Pre-Qualifying National Meet (PQNM) in which they prevailed over teams from Calabarzon and Bicol to book NCR’s ticket to the Palarong Pambansa.
The PQNM clustered the delegations into four groups based on their geographical locations; NCR, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Bicol Region comprised Cluster 2.
