by Moses P. Billacura
A basketball insider could not help but write a report about the recent boy’s basketball championship round of the Davao City Athletic Association (DCAA) Meet.
This corner finds the report deserving of space which I hope will teach young basketball coaches to always respect their opponents.
We are taught to always be true to the Oath of Sportsmanship but unfortunately, new mentors these days sometimes forget it.
Here’s the report:
Last October 28, the Unit VII secondary boys basketball team composed of 11 students from Holy Child School of Davao and one from Davao Central School thwarted the dream of Unit VI coaches to have their team represent the Davao City Athletic Association (DCAA) in the Davao Regional Athletic Association (DAVRAA)
Meet and, possibly, in the Palarong Pambansa 2012. The boys of Unit VII armed with a never-say-die attitude and strong will to win gave their bigger and older opponents a hard lesson in basketball. Height and heft coupled with coaches’ bravado do not win a game. Hard work and that indomitable spirit to hurdle all odds do.
Parents, teachers, DepEd officials, and students from competing schools witnessed how the Unit VII high school boys basketball team hurdled the first game of the championship showdown with Unit VI team enjoying a twice to beat advantage going into the finals. It is said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. This was exactly what the boys did. Led by sweet-shooting guard Cris Gavia, the boys of Unit VII went to work right away after toss-up and employed a searing run and gun game. Never looking back and not relinquishing the lead at any point of the game, they successfully snatched the opponent’s twice to beat advantage, winning by five points at 56-51.
Having trounced the Unit VII boys in the elimination round, it was easy to assume that the other camp predicted the first game to be lopsided in their favor. The Unit VII team was composed of one freshman, two sophomores, three juniors and the rest were seniors while Unit VI was upper class if not all senior students of Assumption School of Davao, Stella Maris Academy and Ateneo de Davao High School. The statistics were stacked up in favor of Unit VI team. No wonder, as rumors had it, coaches of Unit VI had already promised prior to the DCAA games, the top two players of Unit VII team slots to their team line up.
Allegedly, they were told just to play it lousy as they were already a virtual shoo-in to their team that would represent DAVRAA in the Palarong Pambansa 2012. But the boys, sensing that something was essentially wrong with that less than decent proposal, rebuffed them by playing their hearts out. There was no easy way.
