Municipal administrator Concordio Mejias (left) and Minglanilla Mayor Lani Peña (right) lead the launching of the Minglanilla Mayor’s Cup Inter-Collegiate Christmas League at the Sunburst One Mango branch.
Glendale Rosal
THE REIGNING Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) men’s basketball champions University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers will lead the list of teams competing in the Minglanilla Mayor’s Cup Inter-Collegiate Christmas Basketball League that starts this Saturday at the Minglanilla Sports Complex.
The weeklong tournament, which offers P100,000 cash to the champion team, will also feature other Cesafi teams such as runners-up University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars, University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers, University of Cebu and Southwestern University Cobras.
The tournament is expected to be a hit for this basketball-crazy town located south of Cebu City, which is home to some of the top local cagers such as rising prospect Steve Nash Enriquez, who is now playing for the National University (NU) Bulldogs.
“We already planned this a long time ago, and now it is finally happening,” said Minglanilla town mayor Lani Peña during a press conference yesterday at the Sunburst restaurant at the One Mango arcade.
“This just shows how crazy the people of Minglanilla is when it comes to basketball. We love basketball so much that we had to make this Christmas league happen.”
Joining the mayor during the launching was municipal administrator Concordio Mejias.
Peña added that they are planning to make this an annual tournament, which will be good for the Cesafi teams as this gives them additional exposure after the season ends.
“We will make this a yearly tournament and hopefully, we can include a high school division next year,” added Peña.
Kicking off the tournament this Saturday will be a game between the Panthers and the Cobras at 7:30 p.m. followed by the showdown between the Jaguars and Webmasters at 9 p.m.