IT’S been a while since Baguio and Benguet collegiate squads saw action in a highly competitive tournament.
But it won’t be the Baguio – Benguet Educational Athletic League at the helm as the newest basketball league featuring college teams from Baguio, Benguet, and Pangasinan start nearly two months of competition.
It’s game time on Saturday with teams from Pangasinan – Dagupan, Calasiao, and Binalonan in the inaugural Z League at the University of Baguio gym.
Opening ceremonies are at 10:30 A.M. with the parade of teams with their muses followed by the selection of the best muse. This will be followed by the three-point shootout and slam dunk competitions, said Danilo Soria, tournament director.
After three years of near inactivity, eight of Baguio and Benguet college basketball teams are ready to go back to action in a new league that will see them pitted against four Pangasinan teams. One of them is the recently crowned R1 CHESAA champions.
Cordillera’s traditional powerhouse, UB Cardinals, and seven of the 10 BBEAL schools will return to the hardcourt as they renew their rivalry but they will be joined by Pangasinan teams in the single round-robin event.
It will serve as a prelude for the resumption of the BBEAL which has been in ice storage since 2020 after the declaration of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UB is the defending BBEAL champion.
Slated to play are the University of the Cordilleras, Saint Louis University, the Philippine Military Academy, Baguio Central University, Baguio College of Technology, and the Benguet schools of Cordillera Career Development College and Benguet State University.
Of the 10 BBEAL member schools, the University of the Philippines and the Pines City College will be missing out in the upcoming event. The BBEAL opens in October with BSU as the host.
The Pangasinan schools are the University of Luzon and R-1 CHESAA 2023 champion Lyceum Northwestern University in Dagupan, the Calasiao-based Philippine College of Science and Technology, and the latest entry, and the WCC Aeronautical and Technological College in Binalonan town.
The Guico-owned WCC is actually the recent addition to the tournament. Guico is a Bolinao political clan whose members include Ramon Jr., the current congressman of the province’s fifth district and whose son, Ramon III is the governor.
The Z League or the 2023 Pre-Season Inter-Collegiate Basketball League North of Luzon will also have games in Dagupan and all the participating teams will play a six-game event, said Soria, a former UB Cardinal, coach and UB athletic director and one of the remaining founders of the BBEAL.
