The future of Philippine basketball—both men’s and women’s—is intact. The results of the recent Jr. National Basketball Association (NBA) Global Championship Asia Pacific Selection Camp held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on June 15 and 16 are definitely encouraging.
The two-day camp featuring 34 boys and 34 girls from across the Asia Pacific that competed for the opportunity to represent the region in the Jr. NBA Global Championship—a youth basketball tournament for the top 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls teams from around the world—has just announced the members of the Asia Pacific Team that will compete in the Jr. NBA World Championship in August. We sent five Jr. NBA boys and five Jr. NBA girls to the first-ever camp that will allow young ballers from the region to compete in the global competition.
They competed against young players from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam in a camp that focused on technical and tactical skills development, as well as five-on-five competition. The goal of the Jakarta camp was to select 10 boys and 10 girls who will represent Asia Pacific at the Jr. NBA Global Championship that will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, from August 6 to 11. There they will compete against youth teams from all over the world, specifically the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, China, Mexico, Africa and India.
The good news is: three 2019 Jr. NBA All-Stars made it to the Boys’ Team while a Filipina made it to the Girls’ team. The Boys Team is made up of three Filipinos, one Australian, one New Zealander, one Indonesian, one Japanese, one Malaysian, one Thai and one Singaporean. The Girls Team has two Indonesians, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, one New Zealander, one Vietnamese, one Japanese, one Australian, one Thai and one Filipina on its roster. Filipinos have the most number of representatives to the global youth competition which is being held only for the second time this year.
Sebastian Roy “Basti” Reyes, Henjz Gabriel “Kobe” Demisana (from Bacolod’s Tay Tung High School) and Lionel Matthew Rubico (from De La Salle Lipa) who are three of five boys who topped the recent National Training Camp of Jr. NBA Philippines 2019 presented by Alaska, just got the chance to chase their basketball dreams on the world stage with their selection in Jakarta. Camille Nolasco, a young lady baller whiz from Miriam College, gets the opportunity to test her talents against the most talented female players in the world, as well.
The other Filipino Jr. NBA All-Stars who competed in Jakarta are James Yuan Izon of La Salle Greenhills and Zhan Paolo Moreno from Xavier University Cagayan de Oro of the boys’ team and Justine Vibanco, 13, of Saint Joseph Parish School of Rizal (recently picked up by La Salle Antipolo), Kyla Marie Mataga of De La Salle Zobel, Mikylla Taborada of Corpus Christi Cagayan de Oro and Princess BJ Villarin of De La Salle Zobel of the girls’ team.
Basti Reyes, 14 years old, who now plays for Nazareth School of National University, was the Most Valuable Player of the National Training Camp last May. He is the nephew of the late UP Fighting Maroon and ex-Alaska, San Miguel Beer player Bryan Gahol. “My uncle is my inspiration. I was not yet 10 when he passed away and I was not yet playing basketball. But his passing turned it around for me. I asked my parents to enroll me in a basketball clinic because I really wanted to learn basketball. Eventually, I got recruited by Maryhill College [in Lucena] where I got to improve my skills. Now I’m part of the NU Bull Pups. I joined the Jr. NBA last summer and learned a whole lot more about basketball and the STAR values [Sportsmanship, Teamwork, a positive Attitude and Respect]. I also made a lot of new friends. This trip to Jakarta, we want to show that even if we Filipinos may not be the tallest players, we will fight and never back down. We will play with heart.” He describes himself as a pass-first player who trusts his teammates all the way.
Camille Nolasco, 14, a two-time Jr. NBA All-Star who bagged her first All-Star berth when she was just 12, is in a league all her own. She wowed coaches and observers during the Jr. NBA selection camp and the National Training Camp last summer because of her high-level basketball skills, drive and basketball IQ. She did the same thing in the Asia Pacific camp against the top players of the region in her age group. No less than Jr. NBA Coach Carlos Barroca—who was head coach of the Asia Pacific camp and the Jr. NBA Philippines camp—praised Camille on her selection, giving her kudos for her point guard skills.
One other player worth mentioning here is young and cute Justine Vibanco, who did not make it to the Asia Pacific selection, but just may be the biggest star of the 2019 Jr. NBA. Dubbed as The Headband Killa because she wears a floppy headband while executing her fun but heads-up basketball style. Only 13, Justine’s dribbling and ball handling skills went viral after it was posted on various online sites after her selection in the Jr. NBA National Training Camp. Besides local news sites, the official Women’s National Basketball Association Twitter account featured her and her wizardry with the ball. World Basketball Hall of Famer and WNBA legend Ticha Penicheiro on Twitter and no less than the King himself, LeBron James, wowed about Justine on Uninterrupted, his multimedia site.
The amazing thing about Justine is that she became a Jr. NBA All-Star on her very first try. (Many All-Stars get selected after multiple tries.) She plays softball and volleyball. She just learned to play basketball by watching YouTube.
These young basketball talents are bright promises of what’s to come for us in this sport. Let’s wish our young cagers the best in their upcoming basketball challenge this August.