Third season of Southside Basketball League comes off the wraps on June 1

The Prayboys took the Season 2 title of the Southside Basketball League. |Contributed Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Prayboys hopes to bring over their dominance to the Season 3 of the Southside Basketball League (SBL), which will roll off on June 1, 2019 at the basketball court of the Sacred Heart Center.

The league, organized by the Southside Basketball Club, will run until August with all games to be played every weekend at the Sacred Heart Center.

The Southside Basketball Club is comprised of teams manned by players from all around Cebu, including former players from the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) and former varsity players.

Notable players are former members of the Cebu Institute of Technology now CITU Wildcats—Irish Stallions’ Floyd Taboada and Axel Joseph Rabaya, and Goaldiggers’ Esrom Cuizon and Marcus Jungoy.

Others are Happy Valley Walkers’ Prince Vaughn Malana and Jason Olbedado; and Warlords’ elite player, Filipino-American Stuart Foot. 

The league, however, will not allow current varsity players and professional and commercial players to play.

This is because the SBL was started by the club as recreation or a break from their weekly work grind.   

Since the club organized the first season May of last year, participating teams have been growing in number from eight to 16 in Season 2 and 24 in the upcoming Season 3.

in the upcoming season, teams are divided into three brackets with the top 2 teams each bracket advancing to the playoffs following a single round robin elimination.

The third best from each bracket or teams with the best quotient will get a chance to also advance to the playoffs as the seventh and eight teams.

Top four teams will then advance to the semifinals with the winners to contest the Season 3 title and the losing teams to fight for third place.

Bracket A will have the Warlords, Happy valley Walkers, Sheinkeish, IBC Wildcats, Cordials, Bayhawks, Bohol Panthers and Matadors.

Manning bracket B are Conquerors, Humanalchemy, Assasins, MAC, Warriors, Nala, Musang and Grit and Grind Kings.

Joining the Season 2 champions Prayboys in bracket C are Irish Stallions, Goaldiggers, El Patron, Hoop Junkies, Guardians, SMC Eagles and Pirata.

The champion, first and second runners up will get cash prizes as well as trophies. The Most Valuable Player will also get the same prizes. 

Also, something new for Season 3 is the selection of Mythical Five, who will get medals. /bmjo