Cebu Provincial Board Member Celestino “Tining” Martinez III made the ceremonial toss with players from SHS-AdC Magis Eagles and UC Baby Webmasters in last year’s tournament in Bogo City. | File photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — For the second straight year, Bogo City will hold a pre-season Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation (Cesafi) basketball tournament, which kicks off on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at the Don Celestino Martinez Sr. Sports and Cultural Complex.
The pre-season tournament will feature four Cesafi teams led by the host team, the City of Bogo Science and Arts Academy (CBSAA) Trailblazers, who are the reigning Cesafi high school basketball first-runners-up. They will be joined by the University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters, University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, and University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Green Lancers.
The 2023 edition is billed “Dodong Junie Martinez Cesafi Pre-Season Tournament” as a tribute to the late and former Bogo City Mayor Celestino ‘Junie’ Martinez Jr., who organized the tournament last year.
The pre-season tournament will prepare the participating teams for the September 23 opening of the Cesafi Season 23 at the Cebu Coliseum.
The champion team will take home P40,000, while the first-runners-up will get P30,000. The third and fourth placers won’t go home empty-handed, as they will also receive P20,000 and P10,000, respectively.
On its maiden year, CBSAA’s rival, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo Magis Eagles, became the tournament champions.
Recently, the Trailblazers were seen in action against the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons at the CEC gym along Leon Kilat St. They lost to the Dragons, 74-83, in that tune-up game.
The first game in the Cesafi pre-season tournament on Saturday will feature the Baby Webmasters versus the Baby Warriors at 9:30 a.m. It will be followed by the CBSAA Trailblazers against the Baby Green Lancers at 11 a.m.
The tournament will have a single-round-robin elimination format. The top two teams will advance to the do-or-die championship game.
In case of a triple tie, tournament officials, which will be manned by Cesafi deputy commissioner for basketball Danny Duran, will use the FIBA Quotient System and winner over the other to determine the winning team. / dcb
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