By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After almost 30 years, the Province of Capiz’s biggest basketball league is finally back.
Organized by On D’Move (ODM) Sportswear led by its owner Jeremiah Obera, the Capiz Inter-Town basketball league successfully opened its doors again to all Capiznon hoopers and aspirants.
All the 18 participating towns and its avid supporters flocked to the Dinggoy Roxas Civic Center on April 2, 2022, at 9:00 in the morning to witness the league’s official opening and the superstars who will represent their teams.
An hour after the opening program, the first game marked the official kick off of the league as the town of Sigma nipped team Tapaz in a nail-biter, 72-69.
Seville Geronimo continued his superstar effort as the main gunner of Sigma after winning the Dale’s Kitchenette player of the game award with a double-double finish of 15 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals.
The thrilling and action-packed schedule was followed by a momentum-boosting victory by Roxas B against Dumarao, 70-69.
Roxas B looked to blow the game wide-open after establishing a double-digit lead in the last minutes of the third quarter but a Dumarao offensive run helped them turn things around and trimmed the deficit to just one, 63-62, with five minutes left in the game.
However, the breaks of the game went Roxas B’s way spearheaded by a Ronald Olendo trey and several defensive stops that sealed their first win of the tourney.
The next game featured a basketball clinic from team Mambusao after crushing the town of Jamindan, 97-63.
There was nothing that Jamindan can do as Mambusao quickly asserted their dominance from the get-go and didn’t allow any offensive runs that might cut their lead to single digit.
John Luis Escobar stood out the most for team Mambusao and was awarded as the Dale’s Kitchenette player of the game after dropping 17 points and two rebounds.
During the last game, the star-studded Roxas D survived the young and resilient President Roxas squad, 95-91.
Composed of players from the TJ Cong Tawi basketball team, the Roxas D team was led by veterans Michael Balbarada, Junvan Aringo, Anil Aman, and Jesan Dela Cruz.
Pres. Roxas’ efficient offense helped them stay within striking distance but an Aringo three-point party ballooned their lead to as much as 14 points.
Not willing to let his team go down without a fight, star-shooter Inno Miclat of Pres. Roxas erupted at the right time after burying 11 straight points off one floater and three straight treys.
Miclat’s explosion helped Pres. Roxas cut Roxas D’s lead to just one, 92-91, but an Aman floater dagger with 20 seconds left put the cherry on top for their first league win.
