By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The biggest league in Iloilo City is back.
After almost seven months of hiatus in the local basketball scene here in the metro, the JB Amateur Basketball League (JB ABL) returned with a bang last May 13, 2023, held at the University of San Agustin main campus in Iloilo City.
Opening the set of prepared tournaments by JB ABL and its commissioner Mr. Jayphet Balbacal are the developmental youth league and the inter-ball club categories.
“We are just getting started. We are glad that we are officially back giving an avenue to the Ilonggo ballers sa pag hampang sang pinaka palangga ta nga sport,” said Mr. Balbacal in an exclusive interview with the Daily Guardian.
Basketball enthusiasts flocked to the San Agustin main gym open court to witness the skills of the young Ilonggo ballers that opened the ceremony with games in the Under-12, Under-15, and Under-17 categories.
For the first game, team LCES edged team Red Reapers in a tightly-contested showdown, 61-57, in the U-12 category.
Following the nip-and-tuck affair in the U-12 category is the huge win from the Avanceñans against the Barotac Viejo Sleepers, 75-62, in the U-17 category.
Despite the early lead by Barotac Viejo in the third game of the U-15, the Santa Clarita Primes bounced back in the next three quarters to clinch a dominant 73-34 win.
John Stefan Benemile led the charge for the former ILOPRISAA champion school after putting up 15 big points.
For the last game of the JB ABL developmental youth category, the young and talented ballers from Cabatuan made sure their trip will be worth it after scoring a wire-to-wire victory against team Bolilao, 63-41.
Taking center stage next is the game between team Academy and ITC in the JB ABL inter-ball club category.
Despite going into battle undermanned, team ITC still pulled off the huge victory over Academy, 89-80, led by Zyon Aligaen who dropped 24 points built from several three-pointers.
The last game then featured a duel between team SJBC and team Day 1 where the latter grabbed the lopsided win, 83-59, with local veteran hooper Edu Allado grabbing Best Player of the Game honors when he scored 20 markers.
“Salamat gd sa mga nag kadto kag show support sa opening ta. Amat amatun tlg ah. More games and basi ma discover pa sang iban ang hidden skills sang mga nahuya pa naton nga kabataan. Kabay pa tanan mapalayo sa injuries, let’s get JB ABL started!” added Mr. Balbacal.
