Minglanilla expect tougher title retention bid in Gov’s Cup cagefest

WITH teams now required to have just two varsity players in their rosters, the defending champions Minglanilla Archangels may have a tougher time than they expected in the second season of the Cebu Governor’s Cup Inter-Cities /Municipalities Basketball Tournament.

Compared to the inaugural season of the tournament for cagers 21 years and below, wherein each team can field in an unlimited number of varsity players, the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC) changed the format this year, limiting each team to just two varsity players for a more level playing field.

“Realistically our goal for this season is to make it to the top two in the south division. From there we have to see what happens because I only got two varsity players left and one key player from last season,” said head coach Edito Salacot, who is also the assistant coach of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars.

Salacot says this will be good for the other teams but he is worried for his own team’s chances.

“Since the format has changed, there will be an equal competition for each team. But with this major change, I am not certain if we can defend our title,” he added.

Still, Salacot’s two varsity players are no pushovers. They are University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Green Lancers’ Steve Nash Enriquez and Justine Nebril. The rest of the team are Clent Mahilum, Mark Caparas, Matthew Cañares, Ryzel Gilbuena, Clint Basister, Edriane Laspuna, Allen Cabradilla, Vinz Lenad Macam, Tristan Cabrera, Jhon Tarossa, Jiesel Tarrosa and Wilson Taborada.

He said he will look for ways to still be competitive with this roster.

“We have a relatively small lineup unlike before wherein we had a strong presence in the painted area. So we have to utilize what we have. We are smaller so we have to use our speed. We will use run and gun style of play and impose strong defense like trapping and double team,” Salacot said.

The Archangels shocked Consolacion in the finals series last year to bag the P500,000 purse and the inaugural title.

“We will give our everything to defend our title. We will not give it up easily. We will give our best for Minglanilla and if we do lose, we will still give our opponents a hell of a game,” Salacot said.