It took nearly three decades for James Yap and the rest of the members of Hua Siong College of Iloilo to win a championship.
On Friday night, HSCI relived that high school feeling and there’s no sweeter way on achieving it by winning the crown of the 40-and-up tournament of the Fil-Chinese Athletic Association Inc. at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
HSCI defeated hard-fighting Xavier School, 89-85, in their rubber match, a fitting way for Yap to savor that winning feeling once more.
“Masaya. Hindi na ako sanay manalo,” Yap said in jest while talking to Pinoystep.com.
It was Yap’s first title since last winning a championship in 2014 for the old Purefoods franchise in the PBA — a successful season that saw him and the San Mig Coffee Mixers completing a grand slam.
But Yap couldn’t be happier savoring this moment and sharing it with his former high school teammates.
“After ilang years, nakakasama ko sila, after ilang years, at least ngayon, masaya lahat and Hua Siong community,” added Yap. “All out support sila. Sa PBA kapag nananalo ka ng championship, masaya rin, may kasamang bonus. Pero dito ibang-iba yung feeling nung manalo ka ng championship sa school na pinaggalingan mo kasi dito ka nag-start. Ang sarap ng feeling. First time kong mag-champion sa kanila.”
It was an uphill climb for Yap and the rest of HSCI as they found themselves trailing in the early goings of the match, 25-34, but that desperation half-court heave which he made right before the end of the first half lifted the morale of his team as they picked up their energy from there and brought it in at the start of the second half.
Hua Siong turned things around, outscoring Xaxier, 25-4, and posting its first sizeable lead of the game, 50-38.
But while Yap, who ended the game with a double-double performance of 19 markers and 10 rebounds, provided the inspiration, it was his teammates Rhagnee Sinco, Ken Bono and Eduardo Allado who delivered the devastation.
Sinco played his best game in the best-of-three finals series, leading the way with 26 points followed by another solid game from Bono, who wound up with another double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds all the way to emerging as the Finals MVP.
Allado stole the spotlight as he hit that dagger left quarter court three-point shot in the last 18 seconds that all but sealed the win for HSCI.
Now that he was able to renew that championship feeling, Yap couldn’t wait to get back in action and help his team defend the crown for the next tournament.
“Dahil nag-enjoy ako at nakasama ko mga teammates ko ulit after ilang years, hanggang andito yung Lamtex at Hua Siong, lalaro pa rin ako, at magdi-defend pa kami ng championship,” added Yap.
