THE BATANG Gilas Pilipinas will kick off their campaign in the SEABA Under-18 Championship for Men against rivals Thailand, today at 5:30 p.m. at the Angkasapura Lanud Hall in Medan, Indonesia.
The schedule was relayed to Cebu Daily News by Batang Gilas Pilipinas assistant coach Joph Cleopas. Next up for the RP Youth Team will be a game versus Laos at 4 p.m. Then on Monday, the Batang Gilas will take on Malaysia before squaring off against Singapore on Tuesday. They will then finish off their elimination round with a game against the hosts Indonesia on Wednesday.
In an exclusive talk from Malaysia, Cleopas, the former head coach of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation Baby Panthers before getting recruited to join the staff of the San Beda Red Lions, divulged that Cebuano forward John Brylle Bahio was named a starter by head coach Mike Oliver.
Incidentally, Bahio is also a proud product of USPF who he helped lead to a third-place finish in the Cesafi juniors competition two years ago. That same season, Bahio was also named to the juniors division Mythical Five.
“(JB) Bahio is getting stronger and improving. He’s already 6-foot-5 and is the tallest on the team as of the moment. He really has improved by leaps and bounds,” shared Cleopas.
Bahio will be joined on the starting five by Jolo Mendoza, Gian Mamuyac, Evan Nelle and Jonas Tibayan as the Batang Gilas try to secure the title and the spot in the Fiba Asia Under-18 Championship that will be held in Iran this July.
As for the rest of the team, Cleopas said that they practiced today (yesterday) and all signs are pointing towards a dominant performance in this tournament for the Filipino youngsters.