EGS-Solid North of Abra picked up a huge second victory when it devastated RKF-Iloilo, 86-65, in the ongoing 1st Cebu City Mayor Raymond Garcia Invitational basketball tournament at the Cebu City Sports Institute Gym in Sawang Calero on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025.
John Uduba piled up 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Encho Serrano had 13 points and four steals to propel EGS to the top of the standings with a 2-0 record.
However, coach Yong Garcia downplayed the significance of the victory as RKF’s star Cedric Manzano and some other reliables were not fielded during the game to preserve their energy for their championship match later in the night in another tournament they are also participating in.
RKF-Iloilo is also competing in the Sinulog Cup tournament at the Cebu Coliseum, where they reached the finals against the Welec team crewed by some youthful and promising Cebuano cagers.
“Siguro hindi nila ibinigay ang best nila ngayon dahil in preparation rin sa championship game nila mamaya (Maybe they didn’t give their best today because they’re preparing for their championship game later). They are in the championship, so talagang malakas yung lineup nila (so their lineup is really strong),” Garcia said.
“But still, it’s a good game for us. Kahit papano, pa kunti-kunti nakukuha na yung system and chemistry (little by little we’re getting the system and chemistry), because a lot of our players mga bago naming kuha (are new recruits) and almost one-week pa lang kami nagpapraktis (we’ve only been practicing for almost a week). Hopefully, sa mga next game namin mai-tama na rin ang system (in our next games we’ll get the system right), both defense and offense,” he added.
EGS is a solid team of the Abra Weavers in the MPBL, headed by Cebu’s Paul Desiderio and Afred Batino. Edzel Vallena, who hails from Lilo-an, Cebu, is also the assistant coach.
Garcia revealed that except for Desiderio, Batino, and Mark Yee, the rest of the team is new.
EGS edged Khalifa last Saturday, 79-76, to register its first win in the weeklong tournament where the champion will get P300,000 cash, with P200,000 going to the runner-up, and P100,000 and P50,000 for the third and fourth placers, respectively.
EGS will play against Fiesta Gas of San Carlos City (1-0) on Monday night. / JBM