TEAM Black claimed the U11 championship of the 2021 Rollers Basketball Association Spring Madness after fending off Team White 21-18 on Saturday at the Koblerville gym.
Team Black entered the title match well prepared, and it showed as Darren Tibayan and Jeff Pineda put in work with countless rebounds to create second chance buckets, holding on to the lead for a brief moment.
However, during the last seven minutes of the game, Team White players started to find their rhythm. Thomas Lanzo, Payton Pangelinan and David Apatang Jr. sank six points combined to regain control and give their team the lead, 11-10
But Team White started to lose touch as the second half progressed.
Team Black players stepped up their offensive attacks with Venice Enriquez scoring the crucial buckets needed to snatch the lead and maintain a five-point margin.
Team White tried to close the gap but it wasn’t enough; Team Black won the championship, 21-18.
“Everything that we trained for in practice, they executed in court,” Team Black coach David John Apatang said.
“The full-court press, the fastbreaks, passing, scoring — everything came together,” he added. “They worked hard for it. I just want everyone to know that we are one Rollers — one heart. They really had to work hard to beat Team White.”
Apatang said when coaching, “it’s hard to emphasize teamwork because a player’s natural instinct is to go for the ball. But in practice we emphasized positions and the importance of guarding your player so that we could all function together. And they were able to understand that — that was the beauty of it.”
Team Black members pose with the U11 championship trophy during the awards ceremony of the RBA Spring Madness on Saturday at the Koblerville gym.
Photo by James F. Sablan Jr.
Team Black’s Venice Enriquez goes for the shot during the U11 title game of the RBA Spring Madness on Saturday at the Koblerville gym.
Photo by James F. Sablan Jr.
