By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Bacolod Tay Tung High School elementary boys’ basketball team emerged as champions in the Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports Cultural Educational Association (NOPSSCEA) Season 42 on Sunday, December 4, at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos Gym in Bacolod City.
Led by the tandem of James Ramos and center Nicus Calma, the Thunderbolts cruised to a lopsided 113-46 triumph over the St. John’s Institute (SJI) Bacolod Falcons in the gold medal game.
It was a total domination for the Thunderbolts squad of head coach Ryan Nabor and assistant coach Jadd Callora as they swept all of their three preliminary round matches against STI-West Negros University, SJI and St. Scholastica’s Academy.
Also part of the elementary Thunderbolts cagers were Nicus Calma, Miguel Delada, Kevin Babor, Jayjay Verba, Gian Tan, Zach Cuasing, Magz Magbanua, Kiko Alcuran, and Acster Panisales.
Completing the Bacolod Tay Tung elementary cagers squad were Eathan Pananganan, Chad Ledesma, Jared Bunol, Rufos Palma, JB Combite, Santi Coronica, Inigo Jamon, and Tristan Randall.
It is still not sure what will be next for the Thunderbolts elementary cagers as it is yet to be announced whether there will be a Palarong Pambansa competition or a Provincial Meet next year.
Meanwhile, Bacolod Tay Tung was denied a golden double in NOPSSCEA basketball after falling short in the secondary boys category with a 100-93 defeat to Colegio de Sta. Ana de Victorias (CSAV) Titans in the finals.
The Thunderbolts-Titans championship game was tight from the opening whistle but the CSAV managed to come up with timely conversions in the endgame to pull off the hard-earned victory.
The Thunderbolts were dominant during the preliminary round as they pulled off one-sided wins over Don Bosco Technical Institute (101-28) and STROL (117-16) to reach the finals undefeated.
Aside from basketball, the Thunderbolts earlier captured the secondary girls’ volleyball championship, while the elementary girls’ team is vying for a title on December 10./ASC, WDJ