FROM a mere basketball team to a regional power house.
Berkeley School of Baguio flattened out the competition en route to winning their fifth regional title by edging rival Integrated School of Better Beginnings from Lucena City, 46-36, in the SBP division of the Milo BEST Center twin tournament in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan recently.
Before their finals match–up, Berkeley easily sneaked past Don Bosco–Pampanga and St. John Cathedral School of Urdaneta to arrange another rematch against ISBB which the Baguio school earlier defeated.
“It was a long journey for us, we started our program since 2011 and we were able to win our first championship in the Baguio leg and were runner-up during the 2011 regional finals. We won our first regional title in 2012 and from then on tuloy-tuloy na,” said Russel Go of Berkeley.
The squad is composed of Ralph Cua, Alex Manao, Dion Reyes, Miguel Tibayan, Miguel Valerio, team captain Zak Gumaya, Neo De Leon, Etahn Lozañes, Enzo ngoslab, JR Piamonte, Russel Piamonte, Angelo De Leon, Denver Duca, Yuan Luceñara, and Enzo Dionisio.
Gumaya, who is set to leave the SBP squad and will soon see action in the passerelle division said their biggest adjustment is how they uplift and teach their younger player in understanding their plays during the regional competition.
“As one of the most senior, we need to pass on to our younger players the things we learned,” added Gumaya.
In the passerrelle division, Baguio Champion Saint Louis University Laboratory High School fell short against ISBB in the finals to bring home the first runner–up trophy, despite a double digit advantage early in the ball game.
SLU-LHs however brought home the sportsmanship trophy. (Roderick Osis)