Promising Cebuanos near Philippine Under-18 squad lineup, make it to 18-man pool

Four former aces of Cebu’s pre-eminent juniors hoops powerhouse, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, took one step closer towards the honor of representing the country as they made the 18-man pool of the Philippine under-18 squad.
These were current National University Bulldogs Dave Wilson Yu and Rendell Senining, Adamson Falcon Dawn Ochea and University of the Philippines Maroon Henry Asilum.
This was confirmed by Yu and Senining in exclusive interviews last Sunday evening.
“I really can’t describe how happy I am to make it to the national pool,” said Yu, son of former local cager Wilson Yu and beauty queen Cherrypie Yu.
Yu last suited up for the ill-fated 2011 Magis Eagles team along with Ochea and Asilum, which fell to the University of the Visayas Baby Lancers in the Cesafi juniors finals.
“I feel so blessed to be part of this pool and we’ll all continue to work hard and hopefully make it to the final cut,” said Senining, son of the University of San Jose-Recoletos’ amicable team manager Raffy Senining, who helped the Magis Eagles win the Cesafi crown in 2012 with Ochea, the juniors MVP of that season.
He played for the USJ-R Jaguars last year before eventually transferring to NU. Ochea saw little action for the Falcons last year while Asilum continued to make strides in his second season for the listless Fighting Maroons.
Other notable names that made it to the pool include the Ateneo-bound John Apacible, San Beda Red Cub Joshua Caracut, Ateneo’s Aaron Black – the son of Talk N Text head coach Norman Black. The team will be practicing three times a week under the mentorship of head coach Jamike Jarin. From 18, the team will be trimmed down to a final roster composed of 12 players.