WITH THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic still a growing concern for the country, organizers of the Chooks-to-Go National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) national finals and coaches convention moved to postpone their activities for a second time.
An annual showcase of the country’s top high school talents, the NBTC National Finals was supposed to take place from March 21–27 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena but was deferred to April 20–26 when the government declared a state of public health emergency over COVID-19, and subsequently put the entire island of Luzon in enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to help stop the spread of the highly communicable disease.
The Luzon-wide ECQ was supposed to lapse today, April 13, but the government deemed it necessary to extend it to until April 30 to continue the fight against COVID-19 and build on the gains achieved on that front.
The move forced NBTC to push its activities further back to a still-to-be-determined date, citing it was one with the government in looking after the safety and welfare of the people.
“We are one with the government in preventing the spread of the virus and help in flattening the curve,” said Eric Altamirano, NBTC program director, in a statement released last week.
“Chooks-to-Go, NBTC, and SM are still in the process of finalizing the rescheduled date for the National Finals and the Coaches Convention. We assure that the participants and the public’s safety is our utmost priority. We shall inform everyone as soon as possible about the new date for our tournament. Stay safe, stay healthy, and God bless!” he added.
One of the highlights of the NBTC National Finals is the NBTC All-Star Game which features 24 of the top-ranked junior players in the country.
San Beda-Taytay’s all-around forward Rhayyan Amsali and Nazareth School of National University’s Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao occupied the top three spots in the final NBTC rankings this year.
Joining Amsali, Tamayo and Quiambao are Mac Guadana (Lyceum), Jake Figueroa (Adamson), Bismarck Lina (University of Santo Tomas), John Barba (Lyceum), Josh Lazaro (Ateneo), Terrence Fortea (NSNU), Penny Estacio (FEU-D), Jonnel Policarpio (Mapua) and Lebron Lopez (Ateneo).
Also making it to the list of 24 are Cholo Anonuevo (FEU-D), Justine Sanchez (San Beda-Taytay), Forthsky Padrigao (Ateneo), Gerry Abadiano (NSNU), Yukien Andrada (San Beda-Taytay), Tony Ynot (San Beda-Taytay), RC Calimag (La Salle Greenhills), Joshua Ramirez (Colegio de San Juan de Letran), Joshua Cajucom (Hope Christian), Miguel Tan (Xavier School), Isaiah Blanco (University of Cebu) and Mike Boniel (Sacred Heart School-Ateneo). — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
