By ADRIAN STEWART CO

University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) Junior Maroons center Heinz Gabriel “Kobe” Demisana was thrilled following his UAAP juniors debut over the weekend.

According to the Negros Occidental’s Pontevedra-native Demisana, there were a lot of differences in style of play during his time with Bacolod Tay Tung High School and now with UPIS.

“Pumunta ako dito sa Manila para mag-improve pa po, maging complete pa po, para maging better pa po,” Demisana said in an interview with Tiebreaker Times.

“Sobrang different po kasi sa amin [sa Bacolod Tay Tung], ako lang ‘yung matangkad, ako lang ‘yung may height,” he said.

“Dito po, maraming skills po ang players at may mga height po,” he added.

However, the 6-foot-8 gentle giant hardly showed any effect of adjustment as he tallied 17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and two steals in UPIS’ 101-94 overtime win over University of the East.

Demisana, a member of the Asia-Pacific team of the Jr. NBA Global Championship in 2019, credited his improved play with his training sessions with UP college players Carl Tamayo and Maodo Malick Diouf.

Junior Maroons head coach Paolo Mendoza was delighted to have Demisana, who was poached by the UPIS from Bacolod Tay Tung just before the pandemic period.

“Swerte, we had somebody like Kobe in our team,” Mendoza said, a former UP Fighting Maroons standout and a one-time PBA champion with Sta. Lucia Realtors.

Mendoza is also hoping that their season-debut win will lead to more victories for the Junior Maroons following their dismal 1-13 record when the UAAP high school hoops were last played in Season 82.

“Hopefully, matuloy-tuloy ‘yung effort na ‘yun, especially with Kobe and ‘yung mga seniors namin like si Jonas Napalang, Clark Villaverde [and] Basty Jacob,” he added./ASC, WDJ