Sweet revenge: Coach Rasmo praises Bahay as Magis Eagles beat NU for Palaro gold
Rommel Rasmo. | Photo from SHS-AdC Basketball FB page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Multi-titled high school basketball coach Rommel Rasmo of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles commended his team captain Jared Bahay for delivering a stellar gold-medal performance in the Palarong Pambansa secondary boys basketball competition in Marikina City.
The Magis Eagles who manned Central Visayas (Region 7) in Palarong Pambansa toppled the reigning champions, National University (NU) Bullpups of the National Capital Region (NCR), 77-73, on Saturday, August 5, 2023, to clinch the gold medal.
READ: Cebu City is host of Palarong Pambansa 2024
Bahay scores 28
Bahay, the No. 1 high school basketball player from Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City, scored a whopping 28 points in his final year as a Magis Eagle.
“Si Jared, pinakita niya bakit siya ang No. 1 high school basketball player dito sa Pilipinas. Di lang magaling na player, but also na magaling na leader,” said Rasmo.
(Jared showed us why he is the No. 1 high school basketball player here in the Philippines. He is not only a good player but also a good leader.)
The last time Central Visayas won the Palarong Pambansa gold medal was in 2013, 10 years ago in Dumaguete City which was also won by SHS-AdC.
READ: Bringing back Palarong Pambansa to Cebu City a team effort — CCSC chief
Sweet revenge
For Rasmo, it was a sweet revenge for his Magis Eagles boys against the vaunted Bullpups. It can be recalled that the Bullpups headed by then Cebuano Reinhard Jumamoy defeated the Magis Eagles in the semifinals of the National Basketball Training Camp (NBTC) national championships in double-overtime last March in Manila.
This time, they made sure the Bullpups won’t slip away with the victory.
“It’s sweeter we won against NU. Nagpadagdag sa sarap sa panalo namin na tinalo namin ang NU. When it comes to high school basketball, alam natin na grabe ang NU,” Rasmo told CDN Digital.
(It’s sweeter we won against NU. This adds to the taste of our win that we beat NU. When it comes to high school basketball, we know that NU is really good.)
“Of course, we’re all very happy, aside na syempre na dream namin magchampion sa Palarong Pambansa again,” he said.
(Of course, we’re all very happy, aside, of course, that it is our dream to become a champion of the Palarong Pambansa again.)
READ: Magis Eagles exit NBTC natl. finals vs. NU-Nazareth Bullpups in grueling 2 OT semifinals loss
Close game
Like their previous encounter in the NBTC, the Magis Eagles and the Bullpups fought tooth and nail throughout the game.
With 38 seconds left in the final period, the game was tied at 73-all when Bahay launched a long-distance jumper that put them in front, 75-73.
The Bullpups had all the chance to regain the lead, but wasted their opportunity as time winded down. Instead, Bahay got fouled and missed both his free throw attempts.
Fortunately, big man Wilhelm Josh Go was there for the putback to stretch the lead to four, 77-73, which ultimately sealed the victory for the Magis Eagles.
READ: Bahay leads Magis Eagles to dominating win against Taiwan high school team
Rasmo: Answer to previous games
“To be honest, eto na yung sagot sa mga previous games. If you try to look at it, even during sa CVIRAA and sa ibang pocket tournaments na sinalihan namin, talagang grabe yung labanan na we’re in this kind of situation many times na pwede kaming matalo,” Rasmo said.
(To be honest, this is the answer to your previous games. If you try to look at it, even during the CVIRAA and in other pocket tournaments where we participated in, the competition was really tough that we’re in this kind of situation many times that we can really lose.)
“Dito kami nakabuild ng resiliency from our experiences sa mga ganitong situations and hindi na ito bago para sa amin. We just keep on pounding the rock,” he said.
(It is here that we were able to build resiliency from our experiences in these kinds of situation and it had become not new to us. We just keep on pounding the rock.)
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