by Moses Billacura
REGINO “BOY” CUA, our hard-working regional director for amateur basketball development, sent me to three international basketball events to do coverage work for the Ateneo de Davao High School team in 2004 to 2005 Ateneo de Davao earned spots to international meets after winning the national high school championship over the powerhouse San Beda High Red Cubs in the finals. The Ateneo team made up of John David Abundo, Steven Keith Awad, Michael Bryan Briones, Jon Dane Paul Chan, Milton Gerard Condevillamar Cua, Czarlo dela Victoria, Miko Angelo Espanol, Paulo Miguel Lim, Cyrlon Lozano, Gian Jordan Lucas, Jimmy Ortiz Jr. and Carl Anthony Tech, however, did not fare well in the 8th ASEAN Schools Basketball Championships in Thailand. The parents bankrolled the trip of the players, thanks to very supportive parents and guardians like Boy and wife Pearl Imelda, Leo Briones, Dr. Julius dela Victoria and wife Ma. Dolores Lizette, Albert and Marlene Lim, Rodrigo “Ojek” Riola and Francis Awad. The Philippine Sports Commission, at the time, supported the team’s trips by providing uniforms and facilitating accommodations. Ateneo ruled the Tri-Junior Team Basketball Tournament in Singapore, with a memorable victory over a team combined with Singapore’s national youth players to the delight of Philippine Labor attaché Meriam Cuasay and consular assistant Jamelle Fabroa, who cheered Abundo, Awad, Briones, Condevillamar Cua, dela Victoria, Lozano, Lucas, Tech and new members Tym Ymil Gamboa and Jett Bernard Lu. Former professional Davao Eagles assistant coach Ronel Leuterio acted as team coach in the absence of regular coach Adriano “Bong” Go while Fr. Oscar Millar, S.J. was its spiritual adviser. Coach Go returned to Davao to call the shots for Jose Bacaltos, Edrian Villano, Awad, Cua, Marc Serapio, dela Victoria, Chan, Gabriel Nakan, Leigh Birondo, Abundo and Tech in the Pacific School Games in Melbourne, Australia. Fr. Irvin Salanio, S.J. was the spiritual adviser The smaller but gallant Dabawenyos lost to Queensland, Tasmania, South Africa, Australian Capital Territory and host Victoria, but bested a tall Fiji line-up and an Indonesia team. Consul Raul Hernandez and Filipino-Australian foster parents, majority of them Couples for Christ, were there to support the Dabawenyos. The fruitful foreign exposure has not been duplicated by any Ateneo de Davao High School team.
