ILOILO City – St. Robert’s International Academy Panda Rockets-Elite Lab completed its Iloilo Schools Development Basketball Tournament domination by also ruling its Under-17 category tournament.
The Panda Rockets leaned on the exploits of Erlance Pedrita, Karl Alfred Ferrer and John Lyod Martines to score an 80-76 win over Hua Siong College of Iloilo Red Phoenix in the finals on Saturday at the Iloilo Sports Complex Gym here.
It was a close game for most of the contest with no team pulling away by that much but the Panda Rockets showed its steadiness in the endgame to clinch the championship and end the month-long tournament undefeated.
“It was a championship game full of excitement, intense actions, tough yet not rough,” said tournament organizer Bayani RH Ladrido. “It was a classic finals that will go down as one of the best in the long prestigious history of High School basketball here in Iloilo.”
Pedrita was later named as the tournament Most Valuable Player and was later named as part of the Mythical 12 team along with fellow Panda Rockets’ Ferrer and Martines.
On their way to the championship round, the Panda Rockets prevailed over Sun Yat Sen High School-A in the semis, while the Red Phoenix ousted long-time rival Santa Clarita International School Primes, which later bagged the bronze trophy.
Also part of the Panda Rockets team were Jp Gaspillo, Kyle Sardon, Blake Mahabague, Gian Carlo Gamala, Dirk Adorable, Michsan Rhaey Oñate, Ryan John Ticar, Jose Emmanuel Pet, Paul Jovan Santome, Prince Jurisprudencia, Jhed Suria, Rex Demafeliz, Rengie Ecarma, Ej Secorata and Brian Grijaldo.
Serving as the Panda Rockets head coach is John Guanco with Jureemar Palma Loredo as his assistant coach and Eugene Chua as the team manager.
In November, 2022, the Panda Rockets also ruled the tournament’s Under-15 category by beating the Red Phoenix, 80-67, where Gamala was named as the MVP./PN
