Region 7’s ANS girls hoops squad are the queens of BPBL grand finals in Manila

The Abellana National School (ANS) girls basketball team erupts in celebration after beating Region 10’s Cagayan de Oro in the BPBL grand finals’ championship game on Sunday at the San Juan gymnasium in Metro Manila. | Photo from the BPBL Facebook page

CEBU CITY, Philippines—- The Abellana National School (ANS) girls basketball team will be flying to back to Cebu with the Batang Pilipino Basketball League (BPBL) girls under-18 trophy after beating Region 10’s Cagayan de Oro, 43-36, on Sunday, January 29, 2023, at the San Juan gymnasium in Metro Manila.

It was a dominating campaign for ANS after winning all their five scheduled games over the weekend and beating Region 10 manned by Cagayan de Oro in the championship match.

They led as many as 11 points, 42-31, in the fourth period, and went on to seal the game.

“We were undersized, sa atong opponents, but we’re able to control the game through our speed. Sa speed nato, nakuha nato ang kontra. They are taller and skilled, but they weren’t able to adjust with our defense. Daghan kaayo silag turnovers, didto ta naka advantage,” said ANS head coach Darwin Dinoy.

“Wala ko mag expect nga kami ma champion. Ang among bracket, mga strong teams, ang uban weak teams naa sa uban bracket. Pagkita nako sa Davao ug Cagayan de Oro, well-budgeted teams sila. Kami public school, kami ra nag effort ani tanan sa entrance, walay nag support ultimo rental sa gym wala. Bonus na namo maka place mi,” he added.

However, Dinoy’s initial thoughts before their campaign was completely changed when they started winning by huge margins against their opponents.

“Pag first sa elimination sa among bracket. Naka ana ko, murag 50-50 atong chance makasulod sa top two, complete gyud among kontra, pero pag duwa namo sa elimination, na shock ko kay sa first quarter hapit sila ma zerohan. Wala sila mag expect ma control namo ang game, wala sila maka adjust namo,” added Dinoy.

“Nakahimo gyud mi ug strategy sa championship, sige mi ug review, ni focus mi sa among game plan, ma control namo ang duwa sa defense, amo gyud gi pressure sila sige. Determined gyud akong mga players modaog, ilahang gidala ang Cebu City, among principal, among mga teachers nitabang namo.”

They went home with the P300,000 champion’s purse and the bragging rights of being the national champions of the BPBL girls under-18 division.

On the other hand, Region VII’s Sambag 2 FBA finished as runners-up after losing to Davao, 52-61, in the boys under-18 finals.

The team, according to one of the coaching staff, Sandi Grumo, was undermanned in their campaign with only 11 players. Nonetheless, they made it to the finals and finished as a runner-up despite the setback.

Sambag 2 FBA won’t go empty handed as they also receive a cash prize worth P200,000, as first runners-up.

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