POWERED by seven UST Tiger Cubs, the National Capital Region (NCR) reasserted its dominance in local high school cage wars with a classic seven-game sweep of the 2006 Palarong Pambansa basketball tournament last May 7-12 at the Metro Naga Sports Complex in Naga City.
Getting key contributions from Thomasians Jonathan Sarsonas, Carl Laconico, Owen Cunanan, Garby Aquino, Franz Perez, Julius Reyes, and former Tiger cub Daryl Basa, defending champion NCR posted an average winning margin of 19.4 points per game in the 14-region hoops meet.
It was déjà vu for NCR and last year’s runner-up Western Visayas in their neck-and-neck 57-53 finals showdown last May 12.
Against Western Visayas’ stubborn defense, NCR found itself trailing, 42-45 with six minutes left in the final canto.
Tiger Cubs Laconico, Cunanan and Basa then teamed up with San Beda’s Borgy Hermida to stage a 13-0 endgame surge that gave NCR a 55-45 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Region 7 dribblers racked up eight straight points in the ensuing plays, but NCR tenaciously hung on courtesy of a Hermida jumpshot to snare the win.
On the way to the finals, the Manila-based cagers demolished Mimaropa-Region IV-B (92-62), Northern Mindanao (82-60), Central Luzon (81-52), last year’s runner-up Western Visayas (80-73) and Central Visayas (58-47).
Tiger Cubs coach Allan Ascue, who called the shots for the NCR team in the Palaro for the first time, expressed mixed feelings about the victory.
“Playing against the best high school teams in the country was a good learning experience but was difficult at the same time because we had to adjust to our opponents’ playing style in every game,” Ascue said.
It was the first time in 12 years that the Tiger Cubs bannered NCR in the annual nationwide sports event. Anthony Andrew G. Divinagracia
