DON’T look now, but young Pinoy athletes have again made a name for themselves on the world stage.
Last week, four newly minted Jr. National Basketball Association (NBA) Philippines All-Stars—three boys and one girl—represented the Asia Pacific region in a youth basketball tournament for top 13- and 14-year-old boy and girl ballers from all over the world. Called the Jr. NBA Global Championship, it was held from August 6 to 11 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, for only the second time in its bright history.
The Pinoy players were Heinz Gabriel (Kobe) Demisana from Tay Tung High School in Bacolod, Lionel Matthew Rubico from La Salle Lipa, Sebastian Roy (Basti) Reyes from Maryhill College in Lucena and Dianne Camille Nolasco from Miriam College, Quezon City, all 14 years old.
They were chosen at a two-day selection camp in Indonesia last June from among 68 participants from 10 countries across the Asia Pacific region. The three young Pinoys were the largest representatives of any nationality in the boys’ team that was made up of one player each from Indonesia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and Thailand. The lone Filipina joined an AP team that had two Indonesians in the roster and one each from Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam, Japan, Australia and Thailand.
Needless to say, the young players were almost incredulous that they would be going to compete in a regional competition right after being chosen this year’s Jr. NBA All-Stars. Much less participate in a bigger competition of a global scale against the best of other regions in other parts of the world.
“When my name was called at the [Jr. NBA] National Training Camp [last May], sobrang saya ko. I felt so blessed because I would be given a chance to represent the country in Jakarta. When we were selected to represent the Asia Pacific region in the Global Championships, I was even more overwhelmed and excited. We all know the competition would be tougher and the job would be harder. But it is a great honor to be able to show the world how Filipinos play. We want to show what the Filipino puso is all about,” said Basti Reyes, a nephew of the late University Athletic Association of the Philippines and Philippine Basketball Association player Bryan Gahol, who had inspired his nephew to pursue basketball to honor him after his untimely demise.
The Jr. NBA Global Championship was indeed more challenging. It featured boys and girls divisions, separated into US and international brackets that began with round-robin play then progressed to single-elimination competition. The winners of the US and international brackets played in the global championship games on August 11.
The girls’ team fell early and lost by 29 points to Canada, but Camille Nolasco distinguished herself on the world stage by putting up impressive numbers. Although the Asia Pacific Girls Team had a winless run, the Filipina point guard who certainly caught the eye of many international coaches led the squad in points (six), assists (three) and steals (1.4) in the span of three games.
The Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Boys Team got into the single-elimination phase, tallying a 2-1 win-loss record in the tournament’s pool play.
Kobe Demisana, Basti Reyes, and Matthew Rubico helped the Asia Pacific Boys Team defeat China and Mexico. Reyes averaged 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds, Rubico recorded 5.7 points, 4.3 boards, and 2.3 assists while Demisana led the team with 1.7 blocks in the span of three games.
Over and above that, they made history of sorts. The Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Boys Team became the first international team to beat a US team in the Jr. NBA Global Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida. Australian guard Donte Nance scored the game-winning basket against the US South Boys Team for a 61-59 overtime win to finish a successful campaign for Asia Pacific.
Filipino center Demisana tallied eight points and seven rebounds, while point guard Lionel Matthew Rubico contributed four points, three rebounds, two assists and five steals in the victory. In spite of an injury that prevented participation in the single elimination game against Africa, Basti Reyes averaged 3.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals in four games.
“It was challenging to have players coming from different countries, especially because of the language barrier. The way these guys came together to play was amazing and to be the first team to beat a US team was really special,” said Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Girls Team Coach Tony de la Cruz of Alaska.
The US Central Girls Team and the US West Boys Team took home the gold at the end of the six-day tournament. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, three-time NBA Champion and Jr. NBA Global Championship Ambassador Dwyane Wade, and New Orleans Pelicans Vice President of Basketball Operations/Team Development and former WNBA All-Star Swin Cash presented the winning teams with trophies in postgame ceremonies.
The boys and Camille Nolasco came back from their Florida trip Wednesday morning, August 14, ready to resume their classes that were put on hold so they could undergo this once in a lifetime experience. “What an experience it was! It felt so good to be able to represent the country and the region on the world stage. None of us ever imagined we would be placed in that situation, but we were. So we played our hearts out and gave everything we had,” said Camille Nolasco.
In short, these young cagers gave a good accounting of Philippine basketball to the world. The myth of Pinoy basketball continues to grow. Thanks to the next generation who have accomplished great things in the now.