The SWU-Phinma Baby Cobras. | contributed photo
Cebu City, Philippines — A better understanding of one another is what Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Baby Cobras head coach Jerry Abuyabor is pointing to as a key factor in their winning the Cebu Division 1 championship of the SM-National Basketball Training Center Cebu leg last weekend.
After failing to make the playoffs of the Cesafi high school tournament last season, the Baby Cobras refused to bow their heads and defeated the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), 87-85, in the finals last Sunday, March 3, 2019, to earn the right to represent Cebu in the NBTC National Championships on March 18-24, 2019, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Through the lean times, Abuyabor shared that he and his team stuck together.
“The team bonding did well and had good effect sa team. As time passed, we were able to understand each other’s culture and differences including our gifts and our weaknesses,” said Abuyabor.
“The love for the team grew positively and everyone started to treat everybody as a brother,” he added.
Abuyabor said that words are not enough to describe his gritty bunch of youngsters, who had to come back from double-digit deficits in the semifinals and finals to book their spot among the country’s best high school teams.
“The team doesn’t stop till the final buzzer whether we’re up or down.”
Along the way, Abuyabor had to topple his former team, the perennial powerhouse and former NBTC national champions, Ateneo de Cebu, a school that he earned his stripes with and learned a lot from, especially from head coach Rommel Rasmo.
“Honestly it was mixed emotions for me after the big win over Ateneo. I worked for them for almost five years and seeing my former players heartbroken, I was also in tears. On the other hand, I have been blessed by a group of young bloods who’s thirsty for the win and wanted more wins not only in Cebu but want to go to national finals,” said Abuyabor.
With the road getting considerably tougher in the nationals, Abuyabor said he will intensify his team’s training and trust the system that got them there in the first place.
“Wala masyadong babaguhin. We would still trust the system that brought us to the championship.This will be my fifth straight appearance in the National Finals since 2014, the experience I got from coach Rommel will help us a lot. We also have one of the best tacticians in the country in coach Mike Reyes who is with us for this,” added Abuyabor. /bmjo