The UAAP Season 82 high school boys basketball tournament was forgettable for University of the Philippines Integrated School, as they went 1-13 for dead last.
The tourney – swept by Nazareth School of National University led by then-Bullpups Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao – ended on March 9, 2020.
Then, the pandemic struck.
But the Junior Maroons’ coaching staff, led by head tactician Paolo Mendoza, did not rest one bit. Instead, they tried to improve from their frustrating display in Season 82.
August of the same year, UPIS secured the commitment of a 6-foot-8 talent out of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental in Kobe Demisana.
However, COVID-19 lingered on for another two years before some sort of normalcy returned in early 2022, when the UAAP conducted Season 84 men’s basketball bubble tournament. Still, high school play was not allowed by the government.
Demisana, who entered UPIS at 15 years old, only tasted UAAP action last Sunday when high school boys basketball returned after three years.
What could have been a three-year stint for the Junior Maroons was cut short to just a one-and-done deal.
With just one season to show out in the juniors’ ranks, Demisana did not waste time to show why he was a top recruit out of Bacolod Tay Tung.
The long-limbed 6-foot-8 big man who can post up like a big, shoot like a wingman, and bring down the ball like a guard led UPIS to a 101-94 overtime win over University of the East at the Filoil Ecooil Centre.
Demisana stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, 14 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and two steals. He was also a plus-24 in his 29 minutes of playing time.
Despite a dominant debut though, the Grade 12 student quickly acknowledged how different UAAP basketball is from the previous leagues he played in when he was still with Tay Tung.
“Sobrang different po kasi sa amin, ako lang ‘yung matangkad, ako lang ‘yung may height,” said Demisana, a member of the Asia-Pacific team of the Jr. NBA Global Championship in 2019.
“Dito po, maraming skills po ang players at may mga height po,” added the now-18-year-old big.
The admission though did not mean that Demisana is crumbling and that he’s not the only dominant big man in the league.
For one, it was one of the reasons why he chose to transfer to Manila and play in the UAAP.
“Pumunta ako dito sa Manila para mag-improve pa po, maging complete pa po, para maging better pa po,” he shared.
Demisana was earlier prepared to face men as tall as him when he joined the UP Fighting Maroons practice in the early parts of 2022, months before they won the championship in May.
There, he wrestled down low with 6-foot-11 Malick Diouf, 6-foot-7 Carl Tamayo, and 6-foot-6 athletic forward Zavier Lucero.
And with the pressure of winning one game already gone, something the UPIS of Season 82 had to carry until its very last game, Demisana and the rest of the Junior Maroons would not stop at win no. 1.
“Swerte we had somebody like Kobe, ‘yung mga seniors si Jonas Napalang, Clark Villaverde, Basty Jacob,” said Mendoza on what keyed the victory in extra period.
“Hopefully, matuloy-tuloy ‘yung effort na ‘yun.”
