For the second consecutive year, Batang Tiaong has proven to be the class of South Luzon by dominating St. Jude College (SJC)-Dasmariñas, 88-63, in the 2024 NBTC Regional Championship (RC) final held on Sunday at Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
John Renz Apor, Aldwin Herrera, and Maury Gorospe collaborated to score 10 unanswered points in the first 96 seconds.
The home team did not give the Caviteños a chance to try and silence their crowd.
Another 16-2 start to the second quarter, spearheaded by John Rex Villanueva, expanded the Quezonians’ lead to 42-16, and their advantage ballooned to as much as 37, 69-32, midway through the third quarter.
Apor concluded an impressive run in the tournament by scoring 23 points, including five triples, and was hailed as the Most Outstanding Player.
Fresh off their standout performance in the RC, Batang Tiaong now heads to the Philippine basketball under-19 championship, aiming to improve on their quarterfinals finish from a year ago.
The silver in the tournament, hosted by the Provincial Government of Quezon and Rep. ‘Atorni’ Mike Tan and Gov. ‘Doktora’ Helen Ten, went to SJC-Dasmariñas, while Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas (representing West and Southeast Cavite) secured bronze due to a stronger win-loss record than the fourth-placer, One Media TV48-Naga (Albay).
The South Luzon RC Final Four now shift their focus to the 2024 Smart-NBTC National Finals presented by SM Supermalls, scheduled from March 18-24 at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
There, they will be joined by 12 other qualifiers from North Luzon, Mindanao, and Visayas, the UAAP and NCAA finalists, 10 squads from the NBTC’s Global Partners in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, along with two wildcard teams.
“We’re very pleased with how our RCs turned out, with significant support from all our provincial government and officials. From Laoag, Ilocos Norte to Sarangani to Bacolod, Negros Occidental to Lucena, Quezon Province, we can clearly see the promise and potential of young athletes all over the Philippines. We can’t wait to see them fulfill their dream of playing at the SM Mall of Asia Arena,” said NBTC program director Eric Altamirano.
Another player who may also showcase his skills in #MadnessInMOA is Mick Geronimo of Pusong Pinoy Marinduque. Although he and his team went winless in the South Luzon RC, he set NBTC RC records for most points (54) and most threes (14) in a single game, averaging 44.7 markers built on 8.7 treys.
