By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After almost two months of waiting, the biggest high school basketball tournament will be witnessed today, December 3, 2022, at the Dinggoy Roxas Civic Center, Roxas City, Capiz.
Thousands of supporters from Western Visayas’ biggest schools are expected to kick off their Saturday with a basketball treat from the JB Amateur Basketball League (JB ABL) and the On D’ Move (ODM) Sports League as the grand finale of the ‘School Wars’ finally takes center stage.
The Saint Robert’s International School of Iloilo and the Panda Rockets squad will be traveling to Roxas City to challenge their champion, the St. Joseph Los Obreros and their 1st runner-up, the Purisima Angels for the grand finals leg of the JB ABL-ODM ‘School Wars’.
To formally kick off the event, the Panda Rockets will be tasked to take down the Angels for the first scheduled game at 10 AM.
After the Panda Rockets-Purisima battle, the main event between St. Robert’s and St. Joseph will take place and is expected to go down to the wire.
The Hua Siong College of Iloilo Red Phoenix was supposed to matchup against the Los Obreros but due to a conflict of schedule with their school, the Iloilo champions were forced to withdraw and give their spot to St. Robert’s which won the second place in the JB ABL leg.
Other schools were also tapped to represent the JB ABL-Iloilo side to travel with St. Robert’s but the same problem as the Red Phoenix prevented them from committing.
As of now, a lineup of surprises for next year’s school wars was already prepared by both Iloilo and Roxas commissioners, Mr. Jayphet Balbacal and Mr. Obera, respectively.
“Sadyahun ta lang ini. This is the culmination of our hard work and brainstorm kung paano nabunga ang School Wars. Wala na ako may ginapangayo pa pero gusto ko lang safe tanan nga kabataan after the games,” said Mr. Balbacal in an exclusive interview with the Daily Guardian.
Both the JB ABL and the ODM ‘School Wars’ tournaments were embraced by their respective provinces and cities and drew positive feedback from the participating schools and even big-time sports enthusiasts in the Philippines.
“Our Iloilo challengers are pretty much welcome diri sa amon sa Roxas City. For the love of the game, let us support our future basketball superstars kag lantawun ta sila sa Civic Center,” said Mr. Obera.
