MANILA – Santa Clarita International School Primes-Iloilo aims for a better showing in the 2019 SM-NBTC National Finals, which will begin on Monday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Primes head coach Rodel Camacho said while they are expecting to have tough time against the other competitors in the league, they will give their 100 percent to make the Ilonggos proud.
“I do not want to pressure our players in our campaign here in the National Finals but I can assure that we will give our 100 percent every game to make the Ilonggos proud,” Camacho told Panay News.
He added: “This is a very good exposure and learning experience for our team to play in Manila and an open opportunity for our young senior high school players to be discovered by scouters and recruiters based in Metro Manila.”
Bannering the Primes squad were Ralph Bajon, Franc Steven Tono, Jemar Cepriano, Kim Rey Servano, Myer Refugio, Louwelle Cabasag, Wilmer Dalumpines and Kenth Lindero.
Also in the Primes squad, which were backed by Philip Doce Punzalan of Asialink, were Nayr Sacorin, Earl Tan, Chino Palis, Paul Gabriel Fallarco, Jhames Yap, and Mon Pedrajas.
The Primes became the Region 6A representatives after topping the Iloilo leg by beating St. Robert’s International Academy Panda Rockets and Regional Finals against last year’s qualifier Hercor College Junior Jaguars.
Thirty-two high school teams are set to see action in a reformatted NBTC League, with half of the field already given their place on the brackets and 16 other teams to play in a seeding tournament before the knockout rounds.
The winners in the first round will move on to the next round until a Division 1 champion is determined. The losers of the first round of play will move to Division 2 where there will also be knockout matches with the last team standing being the champion./PN
