The Cong. Eric Go Yap Congressional Cup resumed yesterday with what could be the busiest weekend schedule for the 13 municipality tournaments at the Benguet Sports Complex in barangay Wangal here.
It will be the first time that a six-game schedule had been made for basketball with second-ranked Itogon (8-1 win-loss) taking on third seed Tuba (8-2) in the penultimate match at 3PM.
With the completion of the 6-game schedule Saturday, commissioner Roderick Osis said that 60 games will be finished and there will be 18 games left in the Benguet Basketball League component of the cup.
Basketball will be played the next two Saturdays or January 11 and 18 of five games each, then on January 7, 14, 16 and 21, with the last date scheduled for the final eliminations.
Saturday’s six-game schedule will see Itogon follow up on its miraculous win over Tublay last December 15 when only five players reported but still eked a 116-112 victory despite having only three players at the buzzer.
Tuba, on the other hand, ended the three-game winning streak of Mankayan with an 88-71 victory.
Bokod (4-3) is expected to bounce back when it faces 10th ranked Atok (2-5) in the curtain raiser. Seventh ranked Mankayan (3-4) is also expected to bounce back with 12th seed Bakun (1-8) as a possible victim.
Buguias hopes to remain tied with Mankayan in the next game where it faces 11th ranked Kibungan (2-7) in the next match up.
Fourth seed Kabayan (5-2) hopes to carry the momentum of beating last year’s runner-up when it clashes with cellar dweller Sablan (1-9).
Kapangan (4-3) hopes to maintain its fifth seed when it goes up against ninth-ranked Tuba (3-5) in the last game.
On Sunday, the six games that were originally scheduled for December 22 last year will be played with top seed Sablan (6-0) facing one of the tougher teams in Itogon in the penultimate match at 4PM.
Third seed Kapangan (6-1) will also face one of the tougher squads in Tuba (5-2), the fourth seed.
Second-ranked La Trinidad (8-1) will have a lighter assignment as it goes up against the eighth seed Mankayan (3-5). It will also be a reunion of sorts for Jhon Garcia as he faces his former team before he was called to mentor the Trinidad side before the start of Yap Cup.
Fifth seed Tublay (4-3) is expected to bounce back when it tangles with 10th seed Kibungan (2-5) in the opening match.
Seventh seed Buguias also hopes to make a comeback when it goes up against Atok, a five-set winner over Bokod last December 19, then it will be Kabayan (2-3) and last placed Bakun (0-6) in the next game.
The last day of elimination games will be on January 26, a four-game schedule where Sablan and Kapangan will have the last match and will come after the Tuba and Itogon showdown.
All of the last 24 basketball games and 30 volleyball matches are played in the BSC, which is expected to also host the post-season which will start sometime before the end of the month.
The post-season will see eight teams contesting for the final four, with the four highest ranked teams enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage with the first seed facing the eight ranked squad and so on. The semifinals will be a round robin event with the top two teams advancing to the best of three finals.
By Pigeon Lobien
