Junior Olympians beat RP Women's

Akward was the word to sum up what the STI College Junior Olympians felt when they faced the RP Women’s Team in the Fr. Martin’s Cup. The Junior Olympians finally poured it on in the third quarter to beat the Lady Nationals 101- 67. Ranged against former queens of the UAAP the Junior Olympians battled the Women Nationals on equal footing as Ewon Arayi, Diane Jose, Au Adriano, Jo Gloriani and Cassy Tioseco kept the Nationals in the game with their timely hits and accurate shooting. The half ended with the Junior Olympians on top by two 39-37.

In the second half, third year guard Eric Sanchez continued his hot shooting as he scored at will by sinking six consecutive three pointers to lead all scorers with 30 points. The Junior Olympians followed his lead by unleashing their paralyzing full court press by forcing the Lady Nationals to turnovers that they converted to precious points. Then the points started piling up until the game was already beyond recall. It was the third win of the Junior Olympians.

Blue Eaglets beat Junior Olympians

Rebound Action

The Four-peat seeking Ateneo Blue Eaglets shook off opening quarter jitters and then finally caught up on the STI College Junior Olympians to score an 89 - 81 win. New center Chris Porter took care of the inside while incoming senior Kiefer Lim took care of the outside as the debut of Coach Joe Silva seemed pointed to the right direction. The Blue Eaglets paraded a cast of new faces and even played some incoming freshmen to show that they are ready to defend their UAAP title for the third time to get a fourth straight title to match the 1983-1986 romp of the Blue Eaglets.

Eagles on the offensive

Former SBP campaigners Matthew Nieto, Michael Nieto, Martin Mendoza, Enzo Joson also got some playing time and did not disappoint as the veterans guided them against the hard-nosed defense of the Junior Olympians. The Blue Eaglets played minus Lambert Tenorio, Mark Gamboa and Gerard Austria but got good games from Gabe Capacio and Kiefer Lim plus some contributions from the new kids.

back to the action

The Junior Olympians started the quarter with a 16 - 8 lead as the Blue Eaglets played tentatively. The Junior Olympians relied on their guards to stymie the Blue Eaglets offense. Point guards Macky Delorino and Vince Amparo showcased their ball handling wizardry while Erven Silverie and Eric Sanchez attacked the basket consistently. Big men Arjay Napenas and John Parinas had their share of points inside the paint to showcase the balanced attack by the Junior Olympians. Other notable contributors for the Olympians were Raffy Rebugio and John Baquiran.

The two Nietos on the court

Chris Porter and Tomas Ramos stamped their class inside the shaded lane while Kiefer Lim sank three three pointers. The Blue Eaglets also threw a defensive jacket on the Junior Olympians as UAAP juniors Champs surged ahead by 15 in the opening of the fourth quarter. The Junior Olympians fought back by matching the defensive intensity of the Blue Eaglets and this led to baskets by Rebugio, Napenas and Silverie, their efforts cut the Blue Eaglets lead to only six points with three minutes left. This prompted Coach Joe Silva to bring in Chris Porter back who continued his unstoppable romp inside the shaded lane to seal the win for the Blue & White.

Vince Amparo gets the rebound

THE SCORES

ATENEO (89)

Ramos 20, Asuncion 19, Porter 17, Lim 11, Asistio 7, Mi Nieto 6, Capacio 4, Nieto 2, Ladaban 2, Mendoza 0, Joson 0, Vitangcol 0,

STI COLLEGE (81)

Napenas 18, Silverie 17, Rebugio 15, Amparo 8, Baquiran 8, Delorino 6, Pariñas 5, Sanchez 4, Lucban 0

Junior Olympians win in FMC debut

Eric Sanchez scores a three

The first is always the hardest specially for a team that has just been assembled for the past two weeks. The STI College Junior Olympians start their quest for a a Juniors title in the forthcoming 11th NAASCU by joining the Fr. Martin's Cup as a guest team. This way the team can eventually gel, get to run some plays and more importantly know what their roles will be come game time. With only four remaining remnants of last year's team, the road to respectability seems to be a long one considering that the Junior Olympians have yet to make it to the NAASCU final four.

Macky Delorino takes it to hoop

The year's team is led by third year veteran Eric Sanchez who has blossomed into the team's all around player. Together with Sanchez is a cast that can shoot the lights out on any given day as the duo of Erven Silverie and Vincent Amparo showcase the superb outside shooting of the team. Add to the mix shifty guard Macky Delorino and the inside presence of Arjay Napenas and returning center John Pariñas. The six players form the core of the Olympians who are also trying out other junior players who will suit the STI Basketball system.

Erven Silverie sank four three pointers

In this year's Father Martin's Cup, the Junior Olympians are entered as a guest team in the Juniors division and their mission is to hone their skills and gel so that come NAASCU time the team is a well oiled machine. In their first game the Junior Olympians faced a tough stand by the Emilio Aguinaldo College - Immaculate Conception Academy Brigadiers as the Junior Olympians held on to beat their NCAA juniors counterparts to the tune of a 71 - 69 win. Arjay Napenas and John Parinas were the big guns who scored inside while Silverie, Delorino, Amparo and Sanchez each sank at least a three pointer to show the balanced scoring of the NAASCU Junior contenders.

Vincent Amparo was a force

both on offense and defense

The Junior Olympians blew hot and cold as they allowed the EAC squad to get back as they repeatedly turned the ball over after threatening to pull away. In the third quarter the Junior Olympians led 57 - 48 after Erven Silverie sank three three pointers which the EAC zone defense failed to neutralize. In the fourth quarter, the Junior Olympians big men were in foul trouble which prompted coach Hubert delos Santos to go small. The Brigadiers capitalized on this and crawled back until the final seconds where they missed three point blank field goals that would have sent the game into overtime. The Junior Olympians live to fight another day, next stop - the UST Tiger Cubs.

Arjay Napenas gets the rebound

The Scores

STI College Junior Olympians (71)

Napeñas 16, Pariñas 14, Silverie 14, Delorino 7, Sanchez 7, Amparo 6, Boquiran 4, Lucban 2, Pasos 1

EAC (69)

Mendoza 27, Superable 19, Padriones 10, Guinta 7, Manreza 2, Mayone 2

Quarterscores: 20 - 14, 35 - 35, 57 - 51, 71 -69

REDEMPTION for Junior Olympians

Arvin Sarmiento on the defense

Coming off a loss in their last outing, the STI College Junior Olympians came back strong, stumbled for a bit but regained their bearing as they outlasted the stubborn stand of the San Sebastian College Recoletos de Cavite Junior Baycats 68 - 61. The Olympians leaned on the hot shooting of the La Union duo of Ervin Silverie and Vincent Amparo who hit 5 three pointers as Silverie hit two in the first half while Amparo hit two crucial ones in the second half.

Paul Sabacahan scores after being fouled

The Junior Olympians started hot as Silverie went two of three from way beyond the arc and the defense of the Olympians made it hard for the Junior Baycats to penetrate. STI College center Elmer Labis was the focal point of the Junior Olympians defense as he changed a lot of shots of the Junior Baycats while swatting 9 shots. After one quarter the Junior Olympians were on top 19 – 10 and was still on top after the first half 32 - 18.

Center Elmer Labis scores on a dunk

By the third quarter the Junior Olympians were threatening to blow the game open until the Junior Baycats made a last stand to salvage a win. Leading 51 – 38, the Baycats employed a crippling full court press that gave the cavite based recoletos the lead 55 -54 with three minutes and 25 seconds to go. The fourth quarter had the makings of another monumental breakdown for the Junior Olympians in the last two minutes but they eventually recovered their bearing just in the nick of time. With the score tied at 57 – all, Junior Olympian Forward John Pariñas scored on two straight ten foot jumpers to give the Junior Olympians enough breathing room which eventually turned into a win.

One of Elmer Labis 8 blocked shots

It was the fourth time the Junior Olympians lost a lead as with the last one ending up in a loss to their rival AMA Junior Titans. The Junior Olympians improve to 3 wins and a loss and is raring to test league leading CEU Junior Scorpions next week.

STI (68)

Silverie 15, Pariñas 10, Amparo 8, Sanchez 7, Sabacahan 6, Labis 4,Sarmiento 4, Ortega 4, Untalan 4, Dulalia 3, Intong 2, Saldaña 0

SSC-R (61)

Barnales 19, Victa 12, Enriquez 11, Eugenio 6, Monera 5, Cruz 2, Pono 2, Alcober 2, Macaraig 2, Cruz 0

Quarter scores

19 – 10, 32 – 18, 46 – 36, 68 – 6 1

Ervin Silverie topscored

for the Junior Olympians

Junior Olympians beat La Union NBTC Team

Junior Olympians pose before the game

The STI College Junior Olympians leaned on the game long brilliance of Eric Sanchez and Keno Alcantara as they came back after being down 16 points to beat the La Union National Basketball Training Center Youth Team at the San Fernando Plaza in San Fernando City, La Union. The Junior Olympians groped for form the whole game and then finally got their game going in the last two minutes as they won by a whisker 90 - 88.

Eric Sanchez scores

Eric Sanchez, the team's best scorer scored 28 points. His game included three pointers, fastbreaks, drive to the hoop and jumpers. Name it, most probably that offensive arsenal is in his book. When all the chips were down he gave the Junior Olympians a lift by scoring those three pointers with a hand in his face. .

Keno Alcantara scores

The other offensive weapon of the Junior Olympians is Keno Alcantara. The slippery point guard who also has a good range and slithery moves to the hoop helped chop down the 10 point Nokia NBTC lead in the last two minutes as he and Sanchez ignited a killer 15-3 blow that shattered the backs of the La Union youngsters. Alcantara dropped a three pointer and the winning basket as he drove to the hoop to give the Junior Olympians a morale boosting two point win.

Keno eludes his defender

The La Union NBTC Squad was led by the sharp shooting Erven Silverie who sank 7 three pointers including the long triple to tie the score at 88. He eventually led all scorers with 30 big points. His booming three pointers gave the Nokia team a lead of 16 points. Much to the delight of the hometown crowd that cheered the Nokia boys with much gusto, the Junior Olympians bucked the odds by not buckling under pressure and scoring at the right time. Silverie is surely a one of a kind shooter and was immediately offered by the Olympians coach a spot in the team if he opts to study in manila.

Mark Dulalia on the drive

Congratulations to the Junior Olympians, with a month to go, we hope that your progress will continue so that the team will be ready for the 10th NAASCU Basketball season.

Box scores:

STI College (90)

Sanchez 28, Alcantara 22, Ortega 12, Duilalia 9, Saldaña 8, Sabacahan 4, Parinas 4, Untalan 2, de Leon 0, Turringan 0, Magampo 0, Sarmiento 0,

LA UNION NBTC (88)

Silverie 30, Jucar 16, Ojales 8, Amparo 8, Ojales 7, Villoria 6, Wines 5, Moskito 5, Louie 3, Big mak 0

Quarter scores:

11 - 17, 34 - 43, 56- 68, 90 - 88

Junior Olympians lose to Icons

Angelo Cordon fights for the rebound

Team Chemistry is a big factor in making a solid team and the defending NAASCU Juniors champions Informatics Junior Icons showed that as they won against one of the new kids of the NAASCU Juniors, the STI College Junior Olympians 56-51 at the University of Manila Gym. It was a sorry loss for the Junior Olympians who rallied from 12 points down to within 1 point 52-51 with a minute left in the game but ran out of steam in the homestretch.

The Icons started hot as they converted on several fastbreaks after forcing the Junior Olympians to commit 13 first quarter turnovers that the Icons converted to fastbreak points. The Junior Olympians had a hard time attacking the full court pressure defense of the Junior Icons as the Olympian five of Ivan Moreno, Jason Intong, Axel Nolasco, Eric Sanchez and Paul Sabacahan seemed lost after the Junior Icons breezed past the Olympians with a 20-8 first quarter lead.

Mark Dulalia scores off the dribble

The Junior Olympians came back as their half court defense forced their counterparts to take poor shots that enabled the Olympians to get back. Ivan Moreno, Mark Dulalia and Eric Sanchez combined to drop a 12-4 bomb capped by the three pointer by Sanchez that suddenly cut the Junior Icons lead to 1, 52-51 with 30 seconds left. Unfortunately, their unfamiliarity showed as the Junior Olympians were forced to two more turnovers that the Icons converted to four points that put the game beyond recall and send the Junior Olympians packing.

Eric Sanchez twists and scores

It was a bitter pill to swallow since the Olympians shot 7 of 21 from the line and had 35 turnovers. In the last play of the game, the Icons were lucky to get away with a technical foul as they unknowingly fielded in six players. Unfortunately for the Junior Olympians, the three erring referees did not even notice it and there was no penalty whatsoever. Next stop, the University of Makati Junior Herons.

Paul Sabacahan hangs in mid air

The STI Juniors Team

In creating a basketball team, the start is usually the hardest one. A team would usually endure all the pains of losses and then hopefully start winning.  In another move to further improve its basketball team, the STI network of schools have created its first Juniors basketball team that will come out to play in the 9th NAASCU Juniors championships.  NAASCU League rules has it that the Juniors is an eighteen (18) and under tournament which can be the school's farm team.   

The team which is barely three weeks old is entered as a guest team in the High School division of the Fr. Martin's cup for this summer.  Here are some pictures of the game that the STI juniors lost this morning against the UST Juniors team 62-58.  

STI College Balagtas center Cedrick Ablaza led the Olympians with 23 points on top of the many three point plays he got and offensive rebounds.  Former ICCHS Iloilo stalwart and now an Olympian Lester Bocalbo added 10 points in his manila debut.

Former Olympian Seniors member Paul Sabacahan also backed up the team ably with 10  markets. The troika will be the focal point of the Olympians junior team.  Sabacahan came from the Corpus Christi High school from Cagayan de Oro and he rode the bench last year and hopefully be a big contributor to the Juniors team.

Considering the fact that it was their first game as a team, the young Olympians played adequately and defended well. The Olympians were not rattled nor were they problematic, its just that they missed shots in the endgame. After more games they will eventually get the good results.